COMING BACK from the pandemic that barred in-person events, the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS) relaunched 13 titles of its resident fellows at the Tanghalang Teresita Quirino of the Benavides Building on Oct. 24.
The “Redux” event reintroduced books published and launched online by the CCWLS from 2019 to 2022, a time when on-site book launches were sidelined due to Covid-19 restrictions.
It was part of the center’s UST Author Series and was done in collaboration with the UST Publishing House.
“Doing the UST Author Series live adds more dynamics because the readers can chat directly with their favorite authors,” UST Publishing House Director, Asst. Prof. Benedict Parfan told the Varsitarian.
“A live setting gives it a more focused feel [because] you know your audience, [and] you know the exact people you’re talking to,” he added.
Among the titles reintroduced were “What I Wanted to be When I Grow Up” and “Catch a Falling Star” by CCWLS Director SEAWrite awardee, Professor Emerita Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo.
Literature professor Joyce Arriola’s “Pelikulang Komiks,” a recipient of the 2021 Outstanding Book Award from the National Academy of Science and Technology, and “Ang Huling Emotero” by Mark Angeles, who was recently feted the Mananaysay ng Taon title by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, were also relaunched in the event.
Also featured in “Redux” was Assoc. Prof. Joselito delos Reyes’s “The Lives of a Filipino High School Student” and “#Pasahero: Mga Nakikisakay na Sanaysay,” which won Best Creative Nonfiction in Filipino at the 2022 Gintong Aklat Awards.
UST Publishing House Deputy Director Paul Castillo’s “Lunas sa Nabubuong Lubos,” and Literature professor John Jack Wigley’s fictional novel “Kadenang Bahaghari” were also reintroduced.
A collection of books written by Assoc. Prof. Chuckberry Pascual of the Literature department was also relaunched, which includes his coming-of-age sci-fi horror novel “Mars, May Zombie,” and his compilation of short crime and horror stories, “Bayan ng mga Bangkay.”
Pascual’s Filipino translations of Miguel Syjuco’s novel “Ilustrado” as well as Hidalgo’s “Ballad of a Lost Season (Kundiman ng Panahong Naiwan)” and “Where Only the Moon Rages (Sa Bayan ng Nagngangalit na Buwan)” were also reintroduced during the event.
Six books relaunched during “Redux” were UST Publishing House titles, while others were published by Lampara Books and Adarna House.
The UST Authors Series is one of the regular programs of the CCWLS aimed to showcase the center’s contributions to the University’s mission in fostering the development of Philippine literature.
