Manila Bulletin writers win Palancas
(Binagkatko ti adda iti baba manipud iti website ti Manila Bulletin, broadsheet a kabsat ti Bannawag, a no diyo pay ammo, pagpapaayak kas maysa kadagiti tallo a kameng ti editorial)
Manila Bulletin writers win Palancas
By PINKY CONCHA COLMENARES
MANILA, Philippines — Four short stories and a children’s poem won a “Palanca” for five writers of the Manila Bulletin and its sister-publications in the 61st Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature held the other night at a hotel in Makati City.
Three of the winning staff members of the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation had previous wins in the country’s most prestigious awards for literature – Johannes L. Chua, of the Manila Bulletin and Cruising magazine; Ariel S. Tabag, of Bannawag magazine; and Richel S. Dorotan, of Bisaya magazine.
The first-time Palanca awardees were Juan A. Asuncion, also of Bannawag, and Kris Lanot Lacaba, former Manila Bulletin on-line editor.
Chua, a reporter from the Motoring and Property Sections of the Manila Bulletin, won 3rd place in the Short Story category for his entry written in English titled “Prodigal.”
A well-respected Filipino writer, Chua won his first Palanca Award in 2000, taking 1st place in the Filipino Future Fiction category. He was also cited as one of the youngest Palanca awardees then, winning it at age 19.
His second Palanca was won in 2004, when he took 3rd place in the Filipino Short Story category. Johannes now joins a small group of writers who have won Palanca awards for writing in both Filipino and English.
“I’m quite surprised that I won since I think I’m part of a few who have won in both English and Filipino in the short story categories,” Chua said. “(This award) validates one’s standing as a writer as it is still the benchmark of excellence in creative writing.”
Tabag, the Poetry, Entertainment and News Editor of Bannawag, shares a similar view about the awards and points out the importance of writing in the native tongue and how the Manila Bulletin has promoted contemporary Iloko literature through its publication.
Also a previous winner, Tabag won 1st prize in this year’s Short Story-Iluko category for his piece, “Saddam,” which is about a closet gay Filipino working in Kuwait during the Gulf War.
“The Palanca Awards program is also an opportunity for fellow writers who write stories in our own native language. We are proud of our regional heritage and of our being Ilokano,” said Tabag, a native of Sta. Teresita, Cagayan.
He now has five Palanca awards under his sleeve, including 2nd place in the same category in 2003 and the last three consecutive years.
Another multi-time Palanca winner, Dorotan took the 1st prize in the Short Story-Cebuano category for his work “Ang Tawo sa Punoan ng Nangka sa Hinablayan”.
Having won a fourth time, he said he always believes that “a writer creates his works not for prizes or livelihood, but as a part of his life.”
“I write because I feel the need to unleash the ‘demon’ within – the passion to write,” he said.
Meanwhile, first-time Palanca winner Juan A. Asuncion who won 2nd prize in the Short Story-Iluko category for “Ayuno” is the literary editor of Bannawag.
A native of Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, the 40-year-old scribe has published short stories since 1991 and cites fellow Iluko fictionists Reynaldo A. Duque and Cles Rambaud as his influences. “I wrote ‘Ayuno’ after wondering if it’s really true that the Philippines is a poor country,” Asuncion said.
Manila Bulletin’s former online editor, Lacaba, also took his first Palanca award with his entry “The Shaggy Brown Chicken and Other Poems for Children (and for Chickens of all Ages),” which won 3rd place in the Poetry for Children category.
“I took a writing class under Carla Pacis, who introduced me to wonderful poets focusing on children’s literature, including Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, and Theodore Roethke. I enjoyed their poems very much because of (1) the humorous paradoxes their poems explored and (2) the fact that their poems are great for reading out loud,” said Lacaba about his passion for writing children’s literature.
He is the son of literary greats Jose “Pete” Lacaba and Marra P.L. Lanot.
In honor of Don Carlos Palanca, Sr., the Awards program aims to help develop Philippine literature for writers to craft their most outstanding literary work; to be a treasury of the Philippines’ literary gems from our gifted writers; and to assist in its dissemination to the public, especially students.
Manila Bulletin writers win Palancas
By PINKY CONCHA COLMENARES
MANILA, Philippines — Four short stories and a children’s poem won a “Palanca” for five writers of the Manila Bulletin and its sister-publications in the 61st Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature held the other night at a hotel in Makati City.
Three of the winning staff members of the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation had previous wins in the country’s most prestigious awards for literature – Johannes L. Chua, of the Manila Bulletin and Cruising magazine; Ariel S. Tabag, of Bannawag magazine; and Richel S. Dorotan, of Bisaya magazine.
The first-time Palanca awardees were Juan A. Asuncion, also of Bannawag, and Kris Lanot Lacaba, former Manila Bulletin on-line editor.
Chua, a reporter from the Motoring and Property Sections of the Manila Bulletin, won 3rd place in the Short Story category for his entry written in English titled “Prodigal.”
A well-respected Filipino writer, Chua won his first Palanca Award in 2000, taking 1st place in the Filipino Future Fiction category. He was also cited as one of the youngest Palanca awardees then, winning it at age 19.
His second Palanca was won in 2004, when he took 3rd place in the Filipino Short Story category. Johannes now joins a small group of writers who have won Palanca awards for writing in both Filipino and English.
“I’m quite surprised that I won since I think I’m part of a few who have won in both English and Filipino in the short story categories,” Chua said. “(This award) validates one’s standing as a writer as it is still the benchmark of excellence in creative writing.”
Tabag, the Poetry, Entertainment and News Editor of Bannawag, shares a similar view about the awards and points out the importance of writing in the native tongue and how the Manila Bulletin has promoted contemporary Iloko literature through its publication.
Also a previous winner, Tabag won 1st prize in this year’s Short Story-Iluko category for his piece, “Saddam,” which is about a closet gay Filipino working in Kuwait during the Gulf War.
“The Palanca Awards program is also an opportunity for fellow writers who write stories in our own native language. We are proud of our regional heritage and of our being Ilokano,” said Tabag, a native of Sta. Teresita, Cagayan.
He now has five Palanca awards under his sleeve, including 2nd place in the same category in 2003 and the last three consecutive years.
Another multi-time Palanca winner, Dorotan took the 1st prize in the Short Story-Cebuano category for his work “Ang Tawo sa Punoan ng Nangka sa Hinablayan”.
Having won a fourth time, he said he always believes that “a writer creates his works not for prizes or livelihood, but as a part of his life.”
“I write because I feel the need to unleash the ‘demon’ within – the passion to write,” he said.
Meanwhile, first-time Palanca winner Juan A. Asuncion who won 2nd prize in the Short Story-Iluko category for “Ayuno” is the literary editor of Bannawag.
A native of Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, the 40-year-old scribe has published short stories since 1991 and cites fellow Iluko fictionists Reynaldo A. Duque and Cles Rambaud as his influences. “I wrote ‘Ayuno’ after wondering if it’s really true that the Philippines is a poor country,” Asuncion said.
Manila Bulletin’s former online editor, Lacaba, also took his first Palanca award with his entry “The Shaggy Brown Chicken and Other Poems for Children (and for Chickens of all Ages),” which won 3rd place in the Poetry for Children category.
“I took a writing class under Carla Pacis, who introduced me to wonderful poets focusing on children’s literature, including Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, and Theodore Roethke. I enjoyed their poems very much because of (1) the humorous paradoxes their poems explored and (2) the fact that their poems are great for reading out loud,” said Lacaba about his passion for writing children’s literature.
He is the son of literary greats Jose “Pete” Lacaba and Marra P.L. Lanot.
In honor of Don Carlos Palanca, Sr., the Awards program aims to help develop Philippine literature for writers to craft their most outstanding literary work; to be a treasury of the Philippines’ literary gems from our gifted writers; and to assist in its dissemination to the public, especially students.
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