THE UNIVERSITY’s Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS) has launched the UST Writing Fellowship, which will replace the UST National Writers’ Workshop.
The fellowship will focus on fiction, creative nonfiction, and hybrid submissions in its first edition.
According to project coordinator Assoc. Prof. Chuckberry Pascual, the UST Writing Fellowship will help “advanced writers” develop book-length manuscripts.
“Sa ngayon, marami nang nagbibigay ng workshop for writers,” Pascual told the Varsitarian. “Kaya naisipan naming iba naman ang service na ibigay sa writing community.”
(There are already numerous workshops for writers. That’s why we thought of providing a different service to the writing community.)
“Para sa medyo advanced writers na ito kasi required na published na,” he added. “‘Yung consultation, mas in-depth at mas focused ang usapan tungkol sa writing project at mas collegial rin ang approach.”
(This is for more advanced writers because it requires fellows to have published works. The consultation will be more in-depth and more focused on writing projects and will be more collegial in approach).
Applicants must submit a sample of their previously published work, or individual pieces published in journals and anthologies or staged in films and plays.
It will be open to Thomasians and non-Thomasians.
The fellowship will have one-on-one consultations and craft lectures, a departure from the format of the UST National Writers’ Workshop which was first mounted in 1999.
Excerpts of accepted fellows’ revised works will be submitted for publication in the center’s peer-reviewed journal, Tomás.
The 2024 UST Writing Fellowship will also mark the center’s first onsite writing clinic since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Kontribusyon ito ng UST sa pagpapayabong ng panitikan sa bansa. Nagpo-promote din ito ng sense of community sa writers, hindi lang sa loob ng Unibersidad kundi pati sa labas,” Pascual said.
(This is UST’s contribution to the development of Philippine literature. This will also promote a sense of community to writers, not only in the University, but also outside.)
The CCWLS aims to hold the fellowship in June or July 2024.
Submission of applications will be open until Dec. 18.
Pascual said the center will focus on poetry, drama, and screenplay submissions in 2025.
