TOMÁS, the official literary journal of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS), published the first issue of its sixth volume on Jan. 30, featuring contributions from Thomasian and non-Thomasian writers.
The issue contains 26 works, including 13 poems, four critical essays, three works of flash fiction, three poetry suites, two creative nonfiction stories, and one short story.
Among the featured works is a suite of poems titled “Beatitudo at iba pang tula,” by Prof. Jovito Cariño of the Department of Philosophy.
“Beatitudo at iba pang tula” drew inspiration from the philosophies of Theodore Adorno, Hannah Arendt, and the university’s patron saint, St. Thomas Aquinas.
Creative writing professor Paul Castillo examined Lav Diaz’s 2018 Cinemalaya film “Baconaua” in his article “Dostoevsky Hanggang Diaz: Ang Parodya ng Utang at Kamatayan ng Crime and Punishment sa Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan.”
Castillo focused on how Diaz reworks the classic crime-redemption arc, drawing parallels between 19th-century St. Petersburg and Marcos-era Manila to challenge the original narrative.
Amanda Dela Cruz from the literature department discussed bodily autonomy and empowerment for women in her essay “I, the thinking nude.”
Other contributions include “Miss M,” in which CCWLS co-director Augusto Antonio Aguila revisits childhood traumas, and “Trigger Warning and Other Translations,” a selection of Allan Popa’s poems translated by assistant director Ralph Galan.
Caroline Hau, professor emerita at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies of Kyoto University, was among the contributors, with an English translation of an excerpt from “Materyales sa Komplisidad” by Amado Anthony Mendoza III.
The work explores themes such as the “complicity of literature” in various forms of societal oppression and the legitimization of repressive regimes.
Submissions for Tomás are open year-round to writers who wish to contribute literary or scholarly works. However, undergraduate students are not eligible to submit, as the journal focuses on contributions from experienced writers, educators, and researchers.
“We also published dagli, a native Filipino narrative form, which was removed from the current Basic Education Curriculum and is not clearly tackled in higher education institutions,” Tomás managing editor Mark Anthony Angeles said.
Founded by former Varsitarian literary editor Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta, Tomás serves as the flagship publication of CCWLS and is released biannually.
Volume 6, Issue 1 of Tomás can be accessed through its official website.
Printed copies will be available in the second week of February, said Prof. John Jack Wigley, the associate editor of Tomás. C.A.D. Lavastida
