For the past two weeks, I was able to do something I was never able to do in real life: read and critique literary work while consuming copious amounts of free food and coffee.
First stop: Baguio for the UP National Writers Workshop (May 10-17). I was accepted as a Writing Fellow here.
After checking in at the AIM Igorot Lodge, we headed to BenCab Museum to read/recite poems for the National Artist. This was my third time in the museum, but my first time to have a guided tour. I didn’t know there were different kinds of bulol! Dancing bulol, house guards — I just assumed they were all for fertility. You learn something new every day. (Such as: huwag mag-assume.)
There was a new exhibit called “The Garden of Acedia” by Marcel Antonio.
There were also new pieces by BenCab, because some of the old pieces had been moved to Manila for his 50th anniversary exhibit.
That night, we had a short meeting after dinner to formally open the workshop.
Good morning! We had three panels every day to cover the 12 submitted manuscripts.
The panels made me miss my undergrad days.
When in Baguio, I usually just stick to Session Road, but now that we’re in Camp John Hay I couldn’t pass up the chance to drop by Choco-late de Batirol.
We also had a film screening of Teng Mangansakan’s Qiyamah, which tackles the end-times from the perspective of a small Muslim village. Absolutely stunning.
On Thursday, we dropped by the University of the Philippines-Baguio for a lecture on Young Adult Literature by panelist Eugene Evasco and fellows Will Ortiz and Segundo Matias. I tagged along and also answered some questions about writing fantasy, and writing in general.
And of course we went to Batirol again! I tried their Baguio Blend this time, which was the Traditional Tsokolate drizzled with strawberry syrup. Yum.
Kidlat Tahimik also dropped by to screen his film Balikbayan Box No. 1.
My workshop panel was on Friday, where I presented the science fiction story collection I’m working on right now. Positive comments, good points from the panelists and the fellows. You can read my poetics here.
That night: Poetry Slam! The Poetry Slam used to be held in Mt. Cloud Bookshop, but Mt. Cloud proved to be too small for the crowd the event now attracted. This year, it was held in Cafe Yagam.
The organizer brought books from Mt. Cloud, and I was delighted to see that they carried all three of my books! Thank you to the fellows who bought copies.
How it goes: Round 1, perform a poem. Round 2, perform an original poem. Round 3, poets will be given 15 minutes to write an original poem based on a theme that will be provided that night. I signed up for the heck of it but got eliminated after Round 2! Ha! I can’t perform to save my life. Congratulations to Mida Mabitad and Ned Parfan of the UPNWW, who were absolutely amazing!
We had a short graduation ceremony on Saturday night. I was asked to give a response (along with Rhod Nuncio) on behalf of the fellows. Here’s what I said (from what I can recall):
We, the Fellows, understand the importance of workshops, of community, of having time and space carved out of our realities in which we can spend our days reading stories and discussing literary work with people who understand us. We know how humbling and heartwarming it is to realize that we are not unique in our views, and that we are not alone. Thank you for this opportunity, and we hope to see you all again after this week.
Thank you to the UP ICW! I really enjoyed my stay.
For more information, you can visit the workshop blog: https://upworkshop2015.wordpress.com/
You can also read the tweets to get a feel of the discussions: https://twitter.com/upworkshop
Special thanks to Vlad Gonzales for some of the photos here.
Eliza Victoria 
Critique literary work while consuming copious amounts of free food and coffee – how glamorous!
I haven’t written anything creative in a looong while now and reading this post and reading about Baguio makes me miss those nights when I had that luxury for creative work. #supergreenwithenvy
It is super hard to find time to write! You should go back to Baguio, away from the city’s crazy humidity. :)
Why did I have a feeling Kidlat Tahimik would be in this post??? I guess because every picture, every detail, screamed art. How I miss Baguio, spent some of my best years there (age 17 – 21), the small and intimate UP Baguio community, the hiking trails on Camp John Hay, the cold showers when we were late, treading the pine needles to the campus from St. Francis Dorm on cold early mornings, the only two most popular cinemas that time in Session Road (one showed foreign films, the other, Filipino films, maybe three months late?), etc. etc… A friend fondly calls it our four-year vacation. Thanks for taking me back.
About to read one last story in “Unseen Moon.” Ang galing.
You seemed to have done really well at the workshop, you. Congrats!
Aww thank you so much! And yes, Baguio is my favorite place in the world. I would have loved to see the city through your 17 yo eyes. You should post some photos! :)
It really must’ve been a great pleasure to be with all these giants!
Kidlat Tahimik and Virgilio Almario were some of my heroes when I was in college, the artists whose work and advocacies I connected with deeply. I’ve met them both briefly in person, and it’s amazing how sincere they are about their work.
Luna Cleto was my PI100 prof. She was by far the most sensitive and humane prof I had in UP. She’s so humble and patient with us, her non-liberal arts major students.
Hi DJ! I agree, sobrang bait ni Ma’am Luna. :)
And thank you for linking your poetics piece! I don’t share your passion for horror, but I’m also obsessed with the City as a character, on the page and in real life.
Thanks for reading!