UMPIL to hold writers’ congress and awards in Roxas City

The Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL), or the Writers Union of the Philippines, will hold its 44th National Writers’ Congress and 31st Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas on April 28, at the Gerry Roxas Foundation Training Resource Center, Dayao, Roxas City, Capiz, West Visayas.

These events will close this year’s National Literature Month, spearheaded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, and the National Book Development Board.

The theme of the congress is “Kadulom kag Kasanag: Panitikan ng Pag-asa” (Darkness and Light: The Literature of Hope).

Macario Tiu will deliver the keynote address. He is the recipient of the UMPIL’s Gawad Balagtas for Fiction in English and Cebuano in 2016. He has produced two books on Davao local history: Davao 1890-1910: Conquest and resistance in the garden of the gods (2003); and Davao: Reconstructing history from text and memory, which won the National Book Award given by the Manila Critics Circle. He is also a professor of Ateneo de Davao University.

There will be two writers forum. The first forum called “Ang Karimlan sa Panitikan” will feature writers Alice Tan Gonzales, Early Sol Gadong and Agnes Españo. The second forum is “Ang Liwanag sa Panitikan” and will feature Nemesio Baldesco, Nilo Pamonag, Hope Yu and Ma. Felicia Flores.

The Gawad Balagtas is a lifetime achievement award for literary excellence. This year’s recipients are: Abdon Balde Jr. (fiction in Filipino); Ariel Dim. Borlongan (poetry in Filipino); Alain Russ Dimzon (poetry in Hiligaynon); Reynaldo Ileto (criticism in English); Malou Jacob (drama in Filipino); Connie Jan Maraan (fiction in English); Cles Rambaud (fiction in Ilokano); and Myrna Peña-Reyes (poetry in English).

Receiving the Gawad Paz Marquez Benitez, a lifetime achievement award for literary education, is Susan Evangelista, former professor at Ateneo de Manila University and founding president of Ugat ng Kalusugan (Roots of Health) in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

The Gawad Pedro Bucaneg for outstanding literary organization will honor Cebu’s Women in Literary Arts.

The Congress and Awards are supported by the provincial government of Capiz, Gerry Roxas Foundation, Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo, the Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and the Soong Ching Ling Foundation.