Assoc. Prof. Ralph Semino Galan, incoming director of the Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS), plans to launch new literary programs whose inaugural editions were postponed because of the conflict in the Middle East.
“No one wants to travel when there is a world crisis going on, especially senior writers,” Galan told the Varsitarian.
Concerns over travel and transportation costs amid the uncertainty led to the postponement of the programs, he said.
Among them is the planned Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta Memorial Lecture, a series honoring the center’s founding director.
“Pagpupugay sa Natatanging Husay” will commemorate Thomasian National Artists for Literature. Galan said the center intends to collaborate with partner institutions, including De La Salle University, on programs honoring literary figures Cirilo Bautista and F. Sionil Jose.
“Primera Klase,” the CCWLS master class series, will feature active canonical writers in the Philippines.
“It was a bit of a surprise for me to be named Dr. Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo’s successor as director of the UST CCWLS, [because] for most of the time I had been working quietly behind the scenes since the center was revived in 2011 as part of the quadricentennial celebrations,” Galan said.
Galan also proposed reviving “Brushes with Words and Chords,” a collaboration among the College of Fine Arts and Design, the Conservatory of Music and the Faculty of Arts and Letters featuring art exhibits, literary readings and musical performances.
“We have [had] several iterations of that program in the past, during the time of Dr. Dimalanta and in the early years of Dr. Hidalgo’s term,” he added.
Galan plans to work with writing institutions outside Metro Manila to broaden the CCWLS’s representation in the national literary scene.
He also expressed interest in launching a forum on ecocriticism and nature writing in response to concerns over climate change.
Galan is an associate professor at the UST Department of Literature.
His first book, “The Southern Cross and Other Poems,” was published as part of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ UBOD New Authors Series in 2005.
He is also working with poet Allan Popa on a collection of translated poems at the Research Center for Culture, Arts, and the Humanities.
Galan will begin his term on Aug. 1, with Prof. Augusto Antonio Aguila serving as co-director. Charlize Ann D. Lavastida
