Submitted by Vox Bikol on
Naga City (June 2 2011) - Three award-winning Bicol writers will launch a a book titled Sinaraysay: Halo-Halong Blog nin Buhay, a compilation of articles selected from the writers' columns in the Naga-based weekly newspaper, Bikol Reporter.
Sinaraysay will be launched on June 4, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. at the STA Auditorium of the Naga City College Foundation, the main sponsor.
An apt description of the book, Sinaraysay is a term coined from the combination of the Bikol words sinurat (written), sinaray (compiled) and sinaysay (narrated).
It gathers in a single book the writings of H. Francisco V. Peñones Jr. (Halo-Halo), Rizaldy M. Manrique (Bikol Blogger) and Judith Balares-Salamat (Hinghing nin Buhay). The columns of the three writers alternately appear in a common space in the print edition of the weekly newspaper.
Their columns feature reportage and discussions on the contemporary Bikol cultural scene viewed through the lenses of the respective academic disciplines of the three writers who are friends and share similar literary and educational backgrounds.
Peñones finished his MA in Teaching Literature from the De La Salle University and his MFA in Creative Writing from the San Jose State University.
Manrique, on the other hand, has an AB-English (Creative Writing) degree from the University of the Philippines (U.P.) and MA in English from the University of Nueva Caceres.
Judith Balares Salamat has a PhD in Comparative Literature from U.P. and M.A. (Honours) English in Post-Colonial Literatures from the University of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia.
All three have also won their respective recognitions and awards for their writing from the likes of Palanca and the Premio Tomas Arejola.
NCF President Michelle Marguerite Padua-Hornby will welcome the authors and their guests during the launch, which will include readings of column samples, writer's stage interpretations and review of the book by Willie B. Prilles, head of the City Planning and Development Office of Naga City.
The launching event culminates in book signing and giving of responses by the authors followed by donation of book copies to the NCF Library and the Naga City-Roco Library. (fpj)