Ninety participants from around the country attended the lecture of MSU-IIT Professor and Playwright Steven Patrick C. Fernandez, DFA, on Philippine Theatre.
Fernandez was invited by the Philippine Center of International PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Essayists and Novelists), the organization of creative writers worldwide, for the series of literature teaching workshops across the country. Two National Artists are in the PEN organization, Francisco Sionil Jose, Founder, and Bienvenido Lumbera, a member of the Board.
Joining Fernandez in this event was poet Merlie Alunan. The lectures were held at the Holy Name University in Tagbilaran, Bohol last February 27.
Another poet from MSU-IIT, Anthony Tan, guested when this lecture series was held in Cebu City last year.
Called “For Love of the Word: Workshops on Teaching Philippine Literature in High School and College,” this project retools and upgrade the skills of literature teachers in the country. It is supported by PEN International in London and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
The awarded Fernandez is a sought-after lecturer and consultant in Literature and the performing arts. Being a luminary in Philippine Letters, busloads come to the institute to hear his lectures on the Humanities.
His Bohol trip came immediately after his attendance in the 6th Tanghal, the National University Theatre Festival, where the Institute’s Integrated Performing Arts Guild (IPAG), performing his “Uwahig,” displayed its class among peers on the national stage.