What is the role of writers in a fake news and post-truth era? How is mythology seen in Philippine pop culture today?
These intriguing questions will be discussed by poet and critic Dr. J. Neil Garcia and playwright Eljay Castro Deldoc at the Abraham Sarmiento Hall, UP Baguio, at 1:30 – 4:30 pm on 4 April 2018. The lectures are free of charge and open to the public.
Dr. Garcia will speak on “Mythopoeia and Communal Subjectivity: Mistranslations of Mythology in Philippine Popular Culture.” Deldoc will tell us how to “Be Lit and Legit sa Mundong Full of Clickbait and Shi*t”.
J. Neil C. Garcia teaches creative writing and comparative literature at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, where he serves as Director of the university press and a Fellow for Poetry in the Institute of Creative Writing. He is the author of numerous poetry collections and works in literary and cultural criticism. His most recent books are The Postcolonial Perverse: Critiques of Contemporary Philippine Culture, Homeless in Unhomeliness: Postcolonial Critiques of Philippine Literature, and Myth and Writing: Occasional Prose. Dr. Garcia coedited the famous Ladlad series of Philippine gay writing and Aura: the Gay Theme in Philippine Fiction in English. His poems, essays, and books have received a variety of recognitions and prizes, including the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards, the Philippines Free Press Literary Prize, and the National Book Award. He regularly contributes film and theater reviews to GMA News Online. He is the director for the Philippines of Project GlobalGRACE: Global Gender and Cultures of Equality, a world-wide research and arts consortium sponsored by the Research Councils of the United Kingdom and Goldsmiths, University of London. He is currently at work on “Likha,” his seventh poetry book.
Eljay Castro Deldoc, a native of Hagonoy, Bulacan, earned his degree in Communication Arts from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. His most notable original plays are “Ang Goldfish ni Prof. Dimaandal”, “Si Maria Isabella at ang Guryon ng mga Tala”, “Ganito ang Pinangarap Kong Kasal”, “Kasaray Duma: Mga Supling ng Sigwa”, and “Pilipinas Kong Mahal With All the Overcoat”. He also penned stage adaptations of Filipino novels, namely “Para Kay B”, “Ang Favorite Book ni Jude”, and “Ligo na U, Lapit na Me The Musical”. He has been a fellow of Cordillera Creative Writing Workshop, the 14th Iyas National Writers Workshop, and the 15th Ricky Lee Scriptwriting Workshop. Eljay is a member of the Writers Bloc and The Quiapo Collective. He is also the artistic director of Tabsing Kolektib, a Manila- and UPLB-based theater company.
Garcia and Deldoc’s lectures are part of the 57th UP National Writers Workshop (UPNWW), which has been reformatted to mentoring writers in mid-career. The workshop aims to help writers who have already published (or are on the verge of publishing) a book, or have won major literary awards, further hone their craft.
Likhaan: The UP Institute of Creative Writing will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. It is an institute and hub of Creative Writing and research dissemination in the University of the Philippines system. It has lived up to its role and mandate, and has become known for its major programs, which include the UP National Writers Workshop.
The 5th UP National Writers Workshop Lectures is hosted by the UP Baguio College of Arts and Communication and co-sponsored by the Sentro ng Wikang Filipino-UP Baguio.
(This is a press release.)
