22 January 2013, 11:06 p.m. – THE RECTOR of the University blessed the new home of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies this afternoon, formally reviving the haven for Thomasian writers fourteen years after its establishment in 1998.
Prof. Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo, director of the creative writing center, said the new office at the Benavides Building serves as a springboard for the renewed appreciation of literature among Thomasians.
“We, writers and artists, are not orphans. We are welcomed here,” Hidalgo said in her opening remarks.
The center, which used to be under the Faculty of Arts and Letters, is now an autonomous unit under the Office of the Rector.
Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. said in his speech that he was more than happy with the revival of creative writing in UST.
“I decided to revive the center because I believe in its importance in molding the creative minds of students,” he said.
The center went on hiatus in 2008 when the administration shut down all research centers for review and streamlining.
TOMAS, the literary journal published during the late Ophelia Alcantara-Dimalanta’s term as a director, was also revived. It will be published every semester.
Pantoja told the Varsitarian that it was the Rector’s decision to relocate the office to the Benavides (UST High School) Building because of frequent flooding at the ground floor of St. Raymund’s Building.
The event was graced by Bambi Harper, former head of the Intramuros Administration; novelist Charlson Ong; Shirly Lua, head of De la Salle University’s creative writing center; and Vim Nadera, former head of the UP creative writing center. Jon Christoffer R. Obice
