Seventeen writing fellows from around the Philippines converge for 5 days at the MSU-IIT in Iligan City where their works will be critiqued by some of the country’s most respected teacher-writers.
The MSU-IIT-based Iligan National Writers Workshop (INWW), one of only 3 national workshops and the most reputable in these parts, convenes its 18th edition of a workshop where criticism and apprenticeship have been the most effective means to hone the craft of writing.
Directing the workshop is Dr. Christine Godinez-Ortega, poet and Professor of the Department of English, College of Arts and Social Sciences.
Screened from among 78 applicants, the fellows are supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the MSU-IIT, and bursaries from Canada-based and former MSU-IIT faculty member Ricardo Jorge S. Caluen, the family of the late historian Manuel E. Buenafe, and TV personality Boy Abunda.
The 18th INWW, held from May 23 to 27, includes these panelists: Merlie M. Alunan, Erlinda Kintanar Alburo, Steven Patrick C. Fernandez, German V. Gervacio, John Iremil Teodoro, and this year’s Keynote Speaker, Pearlsha B. Abubakar, 2002 INWW alumna.
The MSU-IIT resident Integrated Performing Arts Guild (IPAG) performs during the opening program on May 23 at the MSU-IIT Mini-theatre. The closing program on May 27 launches the 17th INWW proceedings titled “The Poetry of Place,” edited by Godinez-Ortega. (The INWW is the only writers’ workshop that publishes its proceedings which are launched annually, a tradition that is the INWW’s distinctive feature.)
The best works will receive the Jimmy Balacuit Literary Awards during the closing ceremonies. (The award is named in memory of former Vice Chancellor of Research Balacuit who was a staunch supporter of the workshop.)
The 18th INWW is hosted by the Mindanao Creative Writers Group (MCWG) and the MSU-IIT Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Extension.
Topics : english