Santos, Cordero to Launch Bikol Anthology of Poems

Literary critic and historian Paz Verdades Santos and poet Kristian Sendon Cordero are set to launch a new anthology of Bikol poems entitled Sagurong: 100 Na Rawitdawit Sa Manlain-lain na Bikol/The Bamboo Lifelines: 100 Poems in Bikol Languages on September 5, 2011 at 4: 30 PM, at the Arrupe Convention Center, Ateneo de Naga University. The book launching which will be highlighted with poetry performances by contributing poets and selected faculty members of university, is the first of the many literary and cultural activities sponsored by the newly created Ateneo Center for Arts and Culture.

Published by the Vibal Publishing House for De La Salle University in celebration of its centennial anniversary, the poetry anthology is the first collaboration of Santos and Cordero who both agreed that there is still a need for a continuing effort to mainstream Bikol literature and culture in the universities and local communities in the region.

Santos, who is set to receive this year’s Gawad Paz Marquez Benitez Awards from the Writers Union of the Philippines is one of the most admired literary and cultural critics in the country who specializes in Bikol studies. She authored, Hagkus: Twentieth-century Bikol Women Writers, a pioneering study on writings of the women from the region, and she continues to write cultural studies and book reviews for academic journals and local papers. On the other hand, many consider Cordero as the enfant terrible of Bikol contemporary writings after his literary debut in 2003. He serves as a lecturer in the Social Sciences Department of Ateneo de Naga while Santos is a part-time faculty member of Ateneo de Naga Graduate School.

Among the contributors in the anthology are Luis Cabalquinto, Marne Kilates, Abdon Balde Jr., Merlinda Bobis, Jazmin Badong-Llana, Rose Alibin, Allan Popa, Franz Clavecillas, Rita Lladoc, Frank Penones Jr., Alvin Yapan, Carlo Arejola, J. Pilapil Jacobo, Vic Nierva, Wilmer Tria, Christine Bellen, Judith Balares-Salamat, Gode Calleja, Raffi Banzuela, Jun Belgica, Jason Chancoco, Jimple Borlagdan and many others. The public is invited to come.