Prize-winning Penmasters II

Winners of this year's Philippines Free Press Literary Awards were announced last night. Charlson Ong led the Board of Judges for Fiction, which included Timothy Montes and Dr. Paraluman Giron while Ricardo de Ungria chaired the Board of Judges for Poetry, which included J. Neil Garcia and Danton Remoto.

The winners are:

FICTION:

First Prize: Rhea B. Politado, for Epic Life.
Second Prize: Menchu Aquino Sarmiento, for Marita Pangan.
Third Prize: John Bengan, for Bad Heart and Sasha Martinez, for Catherine Theory. (tie)

POETRY:

First Prize: Arkaye Kierulf, for Textbook Statistics.
Second Prize: Sid Gomez Hildawa, for Poet Talks to an Old Movie.
Third Prize: Mikael de Lara Co, for Mebuyen.

Congratulations to all the winners, especially to Kael!

Info source: Sungazer (Eliza Victoria): Four eyes, etc.

Prize-winning Penmasters

Winners of this year's Philippine Graphic-Nick Joaquin Literary Awards were published in the July 6, 2009 issue of the said magazine. Literary editor Marra PL. Lanot headed the Board of Judges, which was also composed of award-winning fictionists Luis Katigbak and Susan Lara. Awarding rites were held last June 25 at the Manila Grand Opera Hotel in Santa Cruz, Manila.

The winners are:

First Prize: Rosario Cruz Lucero, for Papa's Field.
Second Prize: Erwin E. Castillo, for Cape Engaño.
Third Prize: Sasha Martinez (published as Fe P. Koons), for This Fleet of Shadows.

This is the second time Lucero won first prize in this particular contest. I loved her stories since owning a copy of her National Book Award-winning Feast and Famine: Stories of Negros, and had an ultimately rewarding time learning from her in the fiction-writing class I took several semesters ago. I find it so amazing that every time she wins in a literary competition, it's always first place. Kainis, ang galing.

Congratulations to Ma'am Chari and the rest of the winners!

He's the Man (Asian)!

2008 Man Asian Literary Prize winner Miguel "Chuck" Syjuco

I'm sure most, if not all those in the Philippine literary community have heard--and are rejoicing, I would imagine--by now that Montreal-based Miguel "Chuck" Syjuco won this year's Man Asian Literary Prize--the Asian equivalent of the Booker Prize--for his debut novel Ilustrado. This win naturally reinforces the terrific buzz surrounding the novel after it garnered the Grand Prize at the Palancas last September. Now a lot of people, myself included, eagerly await its publication.

I don't know the man personally, but I can't help but feel happy for him. Imagine, winning at his age (31) and with his very first novel? Very few writers can pull that off. More importantly, I'm happy about Syjuco's win for it may help bring overdue attention to the country as an emerging force in the global literary stage. Maybe the exposure resulting from the victory may get more people, particularly those in the West, interested in the stories we tell and how we write them. Wouldn't that be sweet?

At the same time, I can't help but notice how, judging from the premise and the excerpt, history plays a pivotal role in the narrative. In that sense, it appears Ilustrado is the latest in a very long line of novels where history is a major player. Needless to say, history will remain a top topic for writers to tackle--and that's something I sort of feel ambivalent about, at least as I write this.

In any case, Syjuco winning the Man Asian Literary Prize is a huge encouragement. Not only to him, but also, to a certain extent, to the Philippine literary community. For that, among many things, his victory should be celebrated.

Photo: The Man Asian Literary Prize

Winning Wordsmiths

Earlier this evening, I browsed through the pages of the latest issue of the Philippine Graphic (dated August 11, I believe) and saw that it has already announced its winners for the 2007-2008 Philippine Graphic-Nick Joaquin Literary Contest:

First Prize: Virgilio Harry C. Tejero, for How Baby Doll Became an Amazon.
Second Prize: Raymund P. Reyes, for Marie, 22, DH.
Third Prize: Danton Remoto, for Wings of Desire.

Apparently, the awarding ceremony took place last month, and according to Remoto, he learned about his win in mid-June. Tejero's first-prize win this time marks his fourth, and as such is inducted into the competition's Hall of Fame.

Belated CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners!