Cebu hosts PEN writers confab, Dec. 4-5

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine Center of the International PEN will hold its annual conference on December 4 to 5 at the Celebrity Ballroom, Montebello Villa Hotel, Cebu City . Theme of the conference is Solidarity in Literature Without Borders.

The conference has the support of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

Keynote speech will be delivered by Cebu Judge and multi-awarded poet Simeon Dumdum Jr. The annual Jose Rizal Lecture, the high point of the conference, will be delivered by highly respected Cebu scholar Resil Mojares.

This year’s conference is unique because it aims to gather not only Filipino writers in the archipelago, but also writers from the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas . Foreign writers who will join Filipino writers from all over the country in several panel discussions of current issues in literature and writing include Ignacio Martínez de Pisón (Spain), Nori Nakagami (Japan), Nguyen Bao Chan (Vietnam), Alvin Pang (Singapore), Robin Lim (Indonesia), Lina Zerón (Mexico), Ruth Elynia Mabanglo (USA), Marianne Villanueva (USA), and Joseph Akawu Ushie (Nigeria).

On the eve of the conference, PEN officials will hold a “Meet the PEN Authors” session on December 3, 5 p.m., at Powerbooks-SM Cebu. To talk about their latest literary titles, mainly published by Anvil Publishing, are National Artist and Philippine PEN chairman Bienvenido Lumbera, Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) literature head Herminio Beltran, poet-teacher Marjorie Evasco, and fictionists Charlson Ong and Jun Cruz Reyes.

Also during the Powerbooks session, the Philippine PEN will distribute reading guides to the works of Philippine PEN authors for teachers, students and literature lovers. The guides can help facilitate appreciation of the literary works and are part of a grant to boost literature appreciation and teaching in the Philippine education system. The grant is by the International PEN based in London and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

The Philippine PEN is a member of the International PEN (Poets & Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists), with headquarters in London and centers in some 150 countries worldwide. Founded in 1958 by National Artist F. Sionil Jose (who remains Philippine PEN founder and chair emeritus), the Philippine PEN has always stood in defense of the freedom of expression and speech, especially during the Marcos years. It swears allegiance to the International PEN Charter, which upholds writer’s freedom.

In last year’s congress at the Cultural Center of the Philippines , the Philippine PEN condemned the Maguindanao massacre, in which several journalists were killed.

A former president of the International PEN is Peruvian-Spanish Mario Vargas Llosa, this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Patrons of this year’s conference include Senator Edgardo Angara and the READ Foundation, Anvil Publishing, Aria Edition, Asia Foundation, Ateneo de Manila University, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr., Ms. Josephine Aboitiz Booth, Chinese-Filipino Business Club Inc., De la Salle University, Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, Instituto Cervantes de Manila, International PEN (London), The Japan Foundation, Manila, Ms. Doris Magsaysay Ho of Magsaysay Maritime Corporation, Mexican Embassy in the Philippines, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), SM, Solidaridad Bookstore, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Mr. Washington Sycip, Ms. Marlinda Angbetic Tan, and The Varsitarian of the University of Santo. (THE FREEMAN)