Balitaw Writing Contest

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebuano Studies Center of USC is sponsoring a balitaw-writing contest. Entries should be at least five pages long, single spaced, in Times New Roman 12 font. Theme of the balitaw, which takes the form of a debate between man and woman, is Reproductive Health.  Each speaker’s turn should have four lines using any rhyme scheme.

Ms. Linda Kalayaan Faigao-Hall, playwright daughter of the late poet Cornelio Faigao, will donate P6,000 for the first prize, and P4,000 and P2,000 for the second and third prizes. Winners will be notified a week after the deadline on January 30, 2011.

Entries, with contact details included, should be addressed to: Cebuano Studies Center, USC (for hard copy) and [email protected] (e-copy).  

The first prize winner will be performed at the SM during the celebration of National Arts Month in February.

The Cebuano balitaw is basically a song-and-dance verse debate between a man and a woman usually on love and courtship, domestic and social life, but it may also be on almost any subject. The standard format has a man and a woman alternately exchanging extemporaneous verses.  (FREEMAN)