Skip to main content

Agistorya tayu, ubing!

Forget Mark Solis. (I'm not even putting a link to his story here. Snort!) Here are a few UPians we could be talking about instead.

 Therese Ingrid Dado, a BS Biology student in the University of the Philippines, Baguio, has just been awarded first prize for her children's story, Ang Kahon ng Kayamanan. The story is about two boys who help their parents out by collecting recyclable/reusable garbage, which they sell. One day they find a big box into which they both fit. When they play inside the box, the brothers pretend they are gallant prince warriors, fighting evil people in the world. They go on adventures together, inside the box. The wealth that the box contains is really the rich imagination of the two boys.

Jason Robert Lobaton's (BA Communication) story, Si Marty at ang Sikreto ng Batek, was awarded second prize. Batek refers to the traditional Kalinga tattoo. The story is about Marty's grandmother, whose arms are covered in batek, but it is also very much about Marty, a city boy, and his child's eye-view of his Kalinga grandmother, who lives in her home village. The story had dialogue in both Ilokano and Filipino. After a short excerpt was read at the awarding ceremony, I wondered how Marty's view of his grandmother's strange-to-his-eyes markings, and his relationship with her, will change as the story progresses. Intriguing, isn't it?
Si Pompyang Pagong, written by Mercy Ann Delos Santos (BS Physics), is about a little turtle who's singing affects the weather. One day, there is so much rain that many small turtles are swept away from home in a flood. All the while, Pompyang Pagong was singing, blithely unaware. The adult turtles organize a rescue, and Pompyang Pagong learns of the tragedy. What happens next? I wish they had read the entire story at the program, and not just a short excerpt! The story won third prize.

Si Tino Piloto, written by Cathy Joy Luna (BA Languages and Literature), was awarded fourth place. The story is about a boy who lives by the shore. His father is a fisherman. Tino dreams of becoming a pilot some day, to help his parents out. He wants to become a pilot because his father tells him that in heaven, no one is ever sad, no one suffers. Tino asks his father when he will go, and if he will take Tino with him. His father laughs and gently tells Tino that he should know where to find him if some day, he doesn't come home from the sea. Although again we were only given a taste of a short excerpt, something about this story left me feeling mournful and wondering about the fate of Tino and his father.

The competition, entitled Agistorya Tayu, Ubing! (Let's tell stories, child!) was organized and sponsored by the UP Baguio's College of Arts and Communication (CAC) for Buwan ng Wika, last month. Developing children's literature, or future writers of children's literature is part of the CAC's advocacy; it's part of the College's strategic plan.

These students didn't write these stories for dollars or for world renown. The cash prizes were modest; with the top three winners getting P3000, P2000 and P1000 respectively. The competition was held within UP Baguio only. The winners received lovely, hardbound notebooks for future scribbling, and a guaranteed slot each in a forthcoming workshop on writing for children, which the CAC will be organizing.

These UP students may not be internationally or even nationally recognized (yet), they may not have garnered any big prestigious prizes (yet), but they have the gift of stories and the words with which to tell them. And they write for children; they write for the future. I hope that sometime in the future, we will be reading their books to our children and grandchildren.

 Some people might snort and dismiss this as small time news from a small town girl. This may well be the case, but I beg to differ from the usual formula of what is newsworthy. You don't need to cover a famous person to make a good story. In my humble opinion, the existence of these budding and ORIGINAL talents is news worth sharing with everybody.

First place winner, Therese Ingrid Dado, with award-winning author Luchie Maranan and illustrator Duday Maranan.
Luchie and Duday were in UP to launch their latest children's book Ang Pangat, Ang Lupang Ninuno, at ang Ilog.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Good mother, good academic?

I wrote this four years ago. The struggle remains the same, so yes, publish. And god, I so want to be over this dilemma. 2016. Yesterday I was proofreading my manuscript at home when the Little Big Boss came over crying. I had to put my pen down and console her. She didn't want to leave my lap so we compromised. We put her play doh on the table and I tried to work while she played. It went smoothly -- for about five minutes! Haha! The Artist in Residence is familiar with this scene. Starting when she was eight years old, she had to come along with me to academic conferences. She'd stay in her chair reading, or drawing and writing in her notebooks. People praised her and commented on how she was remarkably well-behaved. I had no idea just how remarkable her ability to sit still and focus was, until the Little Big Boss came along. With this one, sitting together quietly for a stretch of time is a much bigger challenge. The things that kept the Artist content at conference...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lola of Maipon

It's all too easy to fall asleep under the blanket of everyday life and to smother dreams with the mundane things I surround myself with. But once in a while, along comes a sparkling vision that jolts me out of my daily sleep and reminds me of the existence of convictions and worlds so different from my own. "Our beloved LOLA of Guinubatan, Maipon, Albay is the last true messenger of God. So, let us follow her holy teachings so that we will gain TRUE SALVATION without sufferings and without death." In another story I, the intrepid heroine, the adventurer seduced by mysteries, the pilgrim in search of truth, would follow them back to Guinubatan from Session Road, thirsting to see and hear their Lola for myself. However, it's all too easy -- much safer! -- to fall back asleep under the blanket of everyday life, and to smother dreams with the mundane things I surround myself with. Then along comes 9 a.m., and really, it's time to down the dregs of coffee at the bott...
4 comments
Read more

Cordillera Folktales and Story-telling

It was cold and wet outside on the day of the launching of The Golden Arrow of Mt. Makilkilang and other Cordillera Folktales . But inside Mt. Cloud Bookshop we were warmed by stories read and performed by the Aanak di Kabiligan community theater group. Storytelling on a stormy afternoon. Paco Paco. A Benguet story from the book, published by the Cordillera Green Network. Aanak di Kabiligan means children of the mountains. The theater group was born out of the Cordillera Green Network's eleven years of conducting workshops in which children transform their grandparents' stories into theater productions. Here they perform the title story of the Golden Arrow of Mt. Makilkilang and Other Cordillera Folktales.
Post a Comment
Read more