UST-PUBLISHED AUTHORS HOLD FORUM ON WRITING CRAFT
Writers from or published by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) will talk about their creative process and recent works during the Philippine Readers and Writers Festival on Aug. 2, 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the Raffles Hotel, Makati City.
Tackling the topic, “Weaving Words into Worlds: The Self and Space in Literature,” the UST writers session will take place at the Namayan Ballroom. Writers taking part in the discussion are all published by the UST Publishing House.
Leading the discussion is multiawarded and prolific author-teacher Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, director of the UST Center For Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS). She will discuss her latest work, “Collected Stories & Tales.” She may talk about the migrant experience present in some of her stories, or the feeling of isolation, of “otherness” endured by many of her characters because of their departure from home or convention.
Paul Alcoseba Castillo, grand prize winner in poetry in Filipino of the 2018 Palanca awards, will talk about his collection, “Walang Iisang Salita,” about the “tyranny of the last word,” while John Jack Wigley, who made a name for himself as the author of humorous memoirs and other nonfiction, will talk about his first shortfiction collection, “Hantong,” featuring characters in constant pursuit for home, their search for kindred spirits amid the bleakness of the Metro.
Both Castillo and Wigley are resident fellows of the UST CCWLS.
Also to discuss their newest books are poets Allan Popa (“Damagan”) and Louie Jon Sanchez (“Aralin at Siyasat”).
Organized by National Bookstore, the Philippine Readers and Writers Festival will run Aug. 2-4.