PROFESSOR Emerita Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo will step down as director of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS) on July 31 after 14 years at the helm.
The acclaimed writer and former Varsitarian editor in chief said she was not retiring or cutting ties with the University, expressing hope that she could continue teaching at the UST Graduate School, subject to the approval of Dean Michael Anthony Vasco.
“The secret is out: while I can help it, I don’t wish to be a ‘lady of leisure,’” she said in a July 17 Facebook post.
Before returning to UST, where she taught undergraduate literature courses after graduation, Hidalgo served as vice president for public affairs of the University of the Philippines and director of the UP Press and Likhaan: the UP Institute of Creative Writing.
In 2010, after retiring from UP, she went back to her alma mater upon the invitation of Rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P., to lead the UST Publishing House (USTPH), which was named Publisher of the Year by the National Book Development Board the following year.
Following a two-year stint as USTPH director, Hidalgo was appointed director of the CCWLS.
“In 2012, I was given instructions to revive the Center for Creative Writing. It had lost its founding director, with the passing of Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta, and had only four writers left. It needed to be revived. I was to be its new director,” Hidalgo said on her Facebook page.
“Today, we are 15 active members, publishing regularly—in some cases, publishing continuously—and winning national and, in some cases, even international recognition,” she said.
Under Hidalgo’s leadership, the center established six flagship programs, including the UST National Writing Fellowship and “TOMÁS,” its biannual peer-reviewed literary journal.
Resident fellows of the CCWLS designed UST’s creative writing program, which was launched by the Faculty of Arts and Letters in 2018.
Hidalgo remains a member of the Board of Advisers of Likhaan, where she participates in writing workshops and the selection of the Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award winner.
She has received three Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature for her works in short fiction, essay and novel.
Hidalgo received the Southeast Asian Writers Award, or S.E.A. Write Award, in 2023, a top honor conferred by Thai royalty on leading writers from Southeast Asia.
CCWLS Assistant Director Ralph Semino Galan will succeed Hidalgo as director, with Prof. Augusto Antonio Aguila staying on as co-director. Charlize Anne D. Lavastida
