As part of its annual convention, the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (Umpil) will hold the Colonial Literature Revaluation Conference for Teachers Aug. 23-25 at Silangan Hall, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Pasay City. Guest of honor is National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario.
Fr. José Mario Francisco, SJ (Ateneo de Manila University) tackles the pasyon; Nicanor Tiongson (UP Diliman) the komedya; Dr. Edgar Samar (Ateneo de Manila) the korido “Ibong Adarna”; Louie Jon Sanchez (Admu) the awit “Florante at Laura”; Jason P. Jacobo (Admu) the epistolary “Urbana at Felisa”; and Jerry C. Respeto (Admu) the narrative “Tandang Bacio Macunat.”
To inspire teachers to explore methods of teaching these texts, veteran educators will demo-teach on the poetic and prose forms, namely Danilo Francisco M. Reyes (Admu) and Ferdie Lopez (University of Santo Tomas).
On Sept. 27, the annual Umpil members convention features the Writers Forum and Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas. All previous recipients of the Gawad are invited to attend this whole-day event.
Writers Chris Millado (drama), Carlos Piocos (poetry) and Eli Guieb (fiction) will be the resource persons for the writers’ forum called “Pakikipagtuos sa Halimaw: Ang Pagharap ng Manunulat sa mga Bagong Anyo ng Kolonyalismo” (Facing the Monster: How Writers Deal With the New Forms of Colonization).
The event is made possible by the support of Cultural Center of the Philippines, Commission on Higher Education and Department of Education.
Umpil members, teachers and other interested parties are encouraged to attend the conference as well as the convention.
For details, text Eva Cadiz at 0917-8453721 or e-mail the conference director and Umpil secretary general Michael M. Coroza at mcoroza@ateneo.edu.