Thumbs up for Gel (& other youthful triumphs)!
April 19, 2004 | 12:00am
A poet laureate at 19. Hoo-hah! Make that Hee-haw!
We’re ecstatic for Angelo V. Suarez, the long-haired teener who enters junior year at UST this June. At the age when Rimbaud abandoned his illuminating poetry, our own Gelo has notched up a significant achievement, on a global scale at that.
Word’s out that he’s been declared the winner of the Struga Bridges award for a first book of poetry, to be given in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in August.
Here’s the eye-popping release from UNESCO:
"Young Philippine poet Angelo V. Suarez is the first winner of ‘Struga Bridges’ for his debut book The Nymph of MTV. The laureate was unanimously selected by a jury including Zoran Ancevski, Vlada Urosevic and Venko Andonovski after they considered all the competing debut poetry books (including those) translated into English and French.
"’Struga Bridges’ was established with a cooperation agreement between the Macedonian Minister of Culture and UNESCO Secretary General signed during last year’s Struga Poetry Evenings.
"A number of poetry books by young authors from all continents arrived (for) the open international competition for the best debut book in UNESCO member countries. Ancevski (said) that 23 poets from 15 countries including Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Iran, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, New Zealand, Oman, Tunisia, Croatia and Czech Republic competed for Struga Bridges."
Angelo heard about the contest from the National Commission for Culture & the Arts or NCCA. Along with three other Filipino poets, he entered his first book late last year. Now he’s given Philippine poetry a signal honor indeed.
On March 21, or what is now billed as World Poetry Day (which used to be October 15), the Best Young Poet of UNESCO was declared at its headquarters in Paris. This was Angelo V. Suarez, who also automatically became the Bridges of Struga International Poetry awardee. In effect, it’s two awards or distinctions that Gelo has brought to our country.
Here’s another release from UNESCO:
"Philippine poet Angelo V. Suarez, 19, is the first laureate of ‘Bridges of Struga,’ a new international poetry prize created by the international festival Struga Poetry Evenings in cooperation with UNESCO to reward young poets from all over the world. The proclamation, took place Thursday evening at Organization Headquarters, during a ceremony organized for World Poetry Day (March 21).
"During the same ceremony, Portuguese poet Vasco Grassa Mura was proclaimed laureate of the ‘Golden Crown’ of the 43rd edition of the Struga Poetry Evenings.
"Chosen from among 24 candidates from 15 UNESCO Member States, Angelo V. Suarez is a student at the Faculty of Arts and Letters of Santo Tomas University in Manila. He received the award for his collection of poems, The Nymph of MTV (UST Publishing House). The poems submitted to the jury by all of the candidates will be published in a multi-lingual anthology."
At that ceremony, our Ambassador Hector Villaroel, Permanent Delegate of the Philippines to UNESCO, stood in for Suarez to receive the Best Young Poet citation. UNACOM, the local committee affiliated with UNESCO, reportedly begged off from sending the teen-aged poet owing to lack of funds. As well as time.
But the actual prize-giving ceremony will be held during "Les Soirees Poetiques de Struga" (Evenings of Poetry) from August 25 to 29 in Macedonia.
We’re hoping that Angelo can receive his prize in person. UNACOM says it still has no funds to send him, but recommended him for a travel grant from the NCCA. Only fair, we suppose, since it was from the NCCA that our young poets learned of the competition.
In fact we think that the Pontifical University ought to pitch in, too, as its young student certainly makes the whole of UST proud. Ironically, we know that Suarez’s manuscript was nearly turned down by UST Press upon its submission last year. We imagine that it could only have been words of support from UST’s premier poet ever, Ophelia A. Dimalanta who heads the strong Creative Writing Center there, that pushed Gelo’s manuscript into eventual acceptance.
While we’re on this matter, we should express that it must have been Gelo’s age that worked against him in the evaluation process. There’s also been an undercurrent of cynical assessment running against this young boy, just because he’s seen to be a protégé of, firstly, Ophie Dimalanta, and secondly, this writer. That our names have appeared in a playful poem or two of his have probably marked us out as padrinos getting the mutual backslapping treatment.
Here’s assuring everyone however that it hasn’t been our predisposition to bat strongly for certain young writers just because they’ve expressed a liking for our work, acknowledged our influence, or have come up to us for guidance.
Personally, I recall that without knowing him at all then, when I first heard Angelo V. Suarez read a poem a few years ago, at the UP Creative Writing Center-sponsored "Love Out Loud" Valentine’s Day activity – and subsequently read a few of his early poems – I doffed my cap for whatever it was worth, and jokingly called him "the Kobe Bryant of Philippine Poetry." He was 16 then, a high schooler. That should’ve been "the LeBron James of…," except that LBJ still had to emerge on the horizon of greatness in 2001.
I like to think that I can spot young talent, like an experienced scout. Which is why I can only grimace in mock dismay whenever I hear some snide or envious talk of "bata-bata" —- referring pejoratively to a padrino system in Philippine letters.
Suarez has always had it in him. His poetry is bold and imaginative, his influences diverse, but his variant style not exactly derivative. He always brings something of his own into any idea or lyric attack he wields in his poems.
I didn’t get to review The Nymph of MTV in this space; I couldn’t, because I had already written a back-cover blurb for it. Which I shan’t quote here. Get a copy of this internationally prize-winning book if you want to know what I really think of Suarez’s poetry. Or, more importantly, of what sort of quality work gains the nod among judges in as foreign a land to us as communist Albania.
But I can share an excerpt from a recent review, in the April issue of MTV Ink magazine, written by its own savvy editor-in-chief Kristine D. Fonacier:
"… (D)on’t think that The Nymph of MTV is full of sappy odes to first girlfriends or black angst-ridden pieces that you may expect from someone not quite out of his teens. There’s a very mature discipline and a sense of reserve in Gelo’s work – even as he tackles subjects as diverse as history, family, love (of course), TV, and bowel movements. But even when the discussion turns scatological, don’t expect South Park-style scribblings here. Expect, instead, political musings (‘Potty Politics’), existential ruminations (‘Once, Beyond the Septic Tank’), and Zen-like sensualism (‘Constipation’). Not bad for a debut."
Yup. Not bad at all, winning an international prize and putting the Philippines prominently on the world poetry map. No mean feat for a young fellow barely a year past his own debut.
Now here are two other very young voices in Philippine literature that should be giving Angelo Suarez near-peer competition in the years to come. Mark these names: Ma. Gabriela Aparentado and Marie La Viña. They’ve just graduated from the Philippine High School for the Arts, where they "majored" in creative writing.
Privilege coming in serendipitous moments, a phone call nearly a year ago led to my official mentorship of these two high school seniors, both at 16, for ten months all throughout their final schoolyear on Mt. Makiling.
At least twice a month, Ia and Marie would visit me at home on Sunday mornings, and show their works, which were designed to serve as their theses in the form of published books. Ia wrote short stories; Marie wrote prose poems.
It became very easy to guide these students. Both are early adepts of the written word. Precocious is an undeniable description for both. They added an extra challenge for their respective works-in-progress by developing a singular theme for the stories and poems: phobias for Aparentado, and a dysfunctional clan for La Viña.
Last March, a week or so after having marched up what I imagine to be a garden or forest path on their beloved mountain off Los Baños, to claim their diplomas, Ia and Marie launched their books at Conspiracy Café. I was very proud to share the moment with them and their understandably beaming parents.
Anyone interested in their books, The Stain on the Tapestry and Other Stories by Maria Gabriela Aparentado and Karenina and Humanity’s Sad Gun: Prose Poems by Marie La Viña, can call the PSHA, which saw to the printing of limited, numbered editions.
Already, Ia Aparentado has had one of her stories published in PowerBooks’ READ magazine, its pilot issue.
Here’s a sample of Marie La Viña’s work, one of her prose poems, titled "Vial":
"She moves with delicacy, though imprecise. More than a deliberate grace, it is a clumsy precaution, the lesser of two evils, a sort of faithless cure.
"Inside her, ingrained in the narrow space between her ribs, there is a glass vial always on the verge of shatter. It is already cracked, a faultline at the fragile base, a small fracture in that lovely opacity.
"She knows it’s only a matter of time before it’s a pyre of shards. She waits for lightning without warning, doesn’t expect to hear the thunderous victory cry.
"Although beyond panic, she’s in a perpetual state of feverish anxiety, immersed in the tepid pool between death and salvation."
Anong bata-bata? To the swift belongs the race. These fleet-footed girls are on their way toward a future literary pantheon. Next month they take part as "fellows" in the 43rd National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete City, directed by National Artist for Literature Edith L. Tiempo, whose "Mom-hood" will certainly rub off very well on these young ladies and further inspire them toward excellence in craft.
Thumbs up for Gelo, Ia and Marie. To the young belong the spoils, and they’re not for brat-hood.
We’re ecstatic for Angelo V. Suarez, the long-haired teener who enters junior year at UST this June. At the age when Rimbaud abandoned his illuminating poetry, our own Gelo has notched up a significant achievement, on a global scale at that.
Word’s out that he’s been declared the winner of the Struga Bridges award for a first book of poetry, to be given in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in August.
Here’s the eye-popping release from UNESCO:
"Young Philippine poet Angelo V. Suarez is the first winner of ‘Struga Bridges’ for his debut book The Nymph of MTV. The laureate was unanimously selected by a jury including Zoran Ancevski, Vlada Urosevic and Venko Andonovski after they considered all the competing debut poetry books (including those) translated into English and French.
"’Struga Bridges’ was established with a cooperation agreement between the Macedonian Minister of Culture and UNESCO Secretary General signed during last year’s Struga Poetry Evenings.
"A number of poetry books by young authors from all continents arrived (for) the open international competition for the best debut book in UNESCO member countries. Ancevski (said) that 23 poets from 15 countries including Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Iran, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, New Zealand, Oman, Tunisia, Croatia and Czech Republic competed for Struga Bridges."
Angelo heard about the contest from the National Commission for Culture & the Arts or NCCA. Along with three other Filipino poets, he entered his first book late last year. Now he’s given Philippine poetry a signal honor indeed.
On March 21, or what is now billed as World Poetry Day (which used to be October 15), the Best Young Poet of UNESCO was declared at its headquarters in Paris. This was Angelo V. Suarez, who also automatically became the Bridges of Struga International Poetry awardee. In effect, it’s two awards or distinctions that Gelo has brought to our country.
Here’s another release from UNESCO:
"Philippine poet Angelo V. Suarez, 19, is the first laureate of ‘Bridges of Struga,’ a new international poetry prize created by the international festival Struga Poetry Evenings in cooperation with UNESCO to reward young poets from all over the world. The proclamation, took place Thursday evening at Organization Headquarters, during a ceremony organized for World Poetry Day (March 21).
"During the same ceremony, Portuguese poet Vasco Grassa Mura was proclaimed laureate of the ‘Golden Crown’ of the 43rd edition of the Struga Poetry Evenings.
"Chosen from among 24 candidates from 15 UNESCO Member States, Angelo V. Suarez is a student at the Faculty of Arts and Letters of Santo Tomas University in Manila. He received the award for his collection of poems, The Nymph of MTV (UST Publishing House). The poems submitted to the jury by all of the candidates will be published in a multi-lingual anthology."
At that ceremony, our Ambassador Hector Villaroel, Permanent Delegate of the Philippines to UNESCO, stood in for Suarez to receive the Best Young Poet citation. UNACOM, the local committee affiliated with UNESCO, reportedly begged off from sending the teen-aged poet owing to lack of funds. As well as time.
But the actual prize-giving ceremony will be held during "Les Soirees Poetiques de Struga" (Evenings of Poetry) from August 25 to 29 in Macedonia.
We’re hoping that Angelo can receive his prize in person. UNACOM says it still has no funds to send him, but recommended him for a travel grant from the NCCA. Only fair, we suppose, since it was from the NCCA that our young poets learned of the competition.
In fact we think that the Pontifical University ought to pitch in, too, as its young student certainly makes the whole of UST proud. Ironically, we know that Suarez’s manuscript was nearly turned down by UST Press upon its submission last year. We imagine that it could only have been words of support from UST’s premier poet ever, Ophelia A. Dimalanta who heads the strong Creative Writing Center there, that pushed Gelo’s manuscript into eventual acceptance.
While we’re on this matter, we should express that it must have been Gelo’s age that worked against him in the evaluation process. There’s also been an undercurrent of cynical assessment running against this young boy, just because he’s seen to be a protégé of, firstly, Ophie Dimalanta, and secondly, this writer. That our names have appeared in a playful poem or two of his have probably marked us out as padrinos getting the mutual backslapping treatment.
Here’s assuring everyone however that it hasn’t been our predisposition to bat strongly for certain young writers just because they’ve expressed a liking for our work, acknowledged our influence, or have come up to us for guidance.
Personally, I recall that without knowing him at all then, when I first heard Angelo V. Suarez read a poem a few years ago, at the UP Creative Writing Center-sponsored "Love Out Loud" Valentine’s Day activity – and subsequently read a few of his early poems – I doffed my cap for whatever it was worth, and jokingly called him "the Kobe Bryant of Philippine Poetry." He was 16 then, a high schooler. That should’ve been "the LeBron James of…," except that LBJ still had to emerge on the horizon of greatness in 2001.
I like to think that I can spot young talent, like an experienced scout. Which is why I can only grimace in mock dismay whenever I hear some snide or envious talk of "bata-bata" —- referring pejoratively to a padrino system in Philippine letters.
Suarez has always had it in him. His poetry is bold and imaginative, his influences diverse, but his variant style not exactly derivative. He always brings something of his own into any idea or lyric attack he wields in his poems.
I didn’t get to review The Nymph of MTV in this space; I couldn’t, because I had already written a back-cover blurb for it. Which I shan’t quote here. Get a copy of this internationally prize-winning book if you want to know what I really think of Suarez’s poetry. Or, more importantly, of what sort of quality work gains the nod among judges in as foreign a land to us as communist Albania.
But I can share an excerpt from a recent review, in the April issue of MTV Ink magazine, written by its own savvy editor-in-chief Kristine D. Fonacier:
"… (D)on’t think that The Nymph of MTV is full of sappy odes to first girlfriends or black angst-ridden pieces that you may expect from someone not quite out of his teens. There’s a very mature discipline and a sense of reserve in Gelo’s work – even as he tackles subjects as diverse as history, family, love (of course), TV, and bowel movements. But even when the discussion turns scatological, don’t expect South Park-style scribblings here. Expect, instead, political musings (‘Potty Politics’), existential ruminations (‘Once, Beyond the Septic Tank’), and Zen-like sensualism (‘Constipation’). Not bad for a debut."
Yup. Not bad at all, winning an international prize and putting the Philippines prominently on the world poetry map. No mean feat for a young fellow barely a year past his own debut.
Now here are two other very young voices in Philippine literature that should be giving Angelo Suarez near-peer competition in the years to come. Mark these names: Ma. Gabriela Aparentado and Marie La Viña. They’ve just graduated from the Philippine High School for the Arts, where they "majored" in creative writing.
Privilege coming in serendipitous moments, a phone call nearly a year ago led to my official mentorship of these two high school seniors, both at 16, for ten months all throughout their final schoolyear on Mt. Makiling.
At least twice a month, Ia and Marie would visit me at home on Sunday mornings, and show their works, which were designed to serve as their theses in the form of published books. Ia wrote short stories; Marie wrote prose poems.
It became very easy to guide these students. Both are early adepts of the written word. Precocious is an undeniable description for both. They added an extra challenge for their respective works-in-progress by developing a singular theme for the stories and poems: phobias for Aparentado, and a dysfunctional clan for La Viña.
Last March, a week or so after having marched up what I imagine to be a garden or forest path on their beloved mountain off Los Baños, to claim their diplomas, Ia and Marie launched their books at Conspiracy Café. I was very proud to share the moment with them and their understandably beaming parents.
Anyone interested in their books, The Stain on the Tapestry and Other Stories by Maria Gabriela Aparentado and Karenina and Humanity’s Sad Gun: Prose Poems by Marie La Viña, can call the PSHA, which saw to the printing of limited, numbered editions.
Already, Ia Aparentado has had one of her stories published in PowerBooks’ READ magazine, its pilot issue.
Here’s a sample of Marie La Viña’s work, one of her prose poems, titled "Vial":
"She moves with delicacy, though imprecise. More than a deliberate grace, it is a clumsy precaution, the lesser of two evils, a sort of faithless cure.
"Inside her, ingrained in the narrow space between her ribs, there is a glass vial always on the verge of shatter. It is already cracked, a faultline at the fragile base, a small fracture in that lovely opacity.
"She knows it’s only a matter of time before it’s a pyre of shards. She waits for lightning without warning, doesn’t expect to hear the thunderous victory cry.
"Although beyond panic, she’s in a perpetual state of feverish anxiety, immersed in the tepid pool between death and salvation."
Anong bata-bata? To the swift belongs the race. These fleet-footed girls are on their way toward a future literary pantheon. Next month they take part as "fellows" in the 43rd National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete City, directed by National Artist for Literature Edith L. Tiempo, whose "Mom-hood" will certainly rub off very well on these young ladies and further inspire them toward excellence in craft.
Thumbs up for Gelo, Ia and Marie. To the young belong the spoils, and they’re not for brat-hood.
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