Projects

 

PROJECT 1: Writing Fellowships

BNSCWC awards an annual fellowship to a deserving member of the Lasallian community (faculty, non-teaching staff, or alumni) who is completing a work in any of the following genres: poetry, fiction, drama, creative nonfiction, criticism, and screenplay.  Fellows are nominated and selected by the Center’s Director and Associates.

The fellows are expected to complete a publishable writing project during the academic year covered by the writing grant.

Since its initial offering in 1991, the writing fellowships have enabled writers to make contributions to the diverse and growing body of Philippine literature. Past fellows include Marjorie Evasco, Connie Jan Maraan, Buenaventura S. Medina Jr., Juaniyo Arcellana, Gerardo Z. Torres, David Jonathan Bayot, Vicente Garcia Groyon, Jhoanna Lynn Cruz, Ronald Baytan, Sid Gomez Hildawa, Dinah Roma, Genevieve Asenjo, Manolito Sulit, John Iremil Teodoro, Ernesto Carandang II, Genaro Gojo-Cruz, Antonette Talaue-Arogo, Ma. Teresa Wright, Anne Frances N. Sangil, Carlo Vergara, Joshua Lim So, Noelle Leslie Dela Cruz, Roseann Tan-Mansukhani, Maynard Manansala, among others.

back to top

 

PROJECT 2: The Bienvenido N. Santos Literary Museum

Inaugurated on March 22, 2007, the literary museum houses the books, manuscripts and memorabilia of the late Bienvenido N. Santos, best known as the chronicler of the lives of Filipinos in the US.

back to top

PROJECT 3: National Writing Workshops

BNSCWC organizes workshops for writers of various skills and levels writing in various languages.

Initially, the national writing workshops handled by BNSCWC were the KRITIKA La Salle National Workshop on Art and Cultural Criticism and the IYAS National Writers’ Workshop.  KRITIKA is based at DLSU; and IYAS, at University of St. La Salle Bacolod. Their first edition was held in Bacolod and organized with the cooperation of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

KRITIKA focuses on critical writing in the following arts: literature, visual arts, architecture, film, music, performing arts, and multi-art. The first KRITIKA was held in May 2002.  The latest edition, KRITIKA10, was held online via Zoom from February 7 to March 1, 2022. Rolando Tolentino, BNSCWC Associate for Criticism, served as director. The panel of art critics included Anne Frances Sangil (film), Lisa Ito (Art Studies), Ronald Baytan (literature), Carlos M. Piocos III (cultural studies), Isidoro “Sid” Cruz (literature), John Iremil E. Teodoro (literature), Layeta Bucoy (Drama), and Jazmin B. Llana (Performance Studies).

Co-founded by Elsie Coscolluela, Isagani R. Cruz and Marjorie Evasco and first conducted in 2001,  IYAS annually awards ten to fifteen fellowships in the genres of fiction, poetry, and drama, and the languages English, Filipino, Cebuano, and Hiligaynon. The 2021 IYAS was directed by John Iremil Teodoro and supported by a panel of writers headed by Marjorie Evasco.

In its present incarnation, IYAS is the only national writing workshop that foregrounds the exploration of human relations with the environment and uses ecocriticism in the appraisal and appreciation of the fellows’ creative works.  In 2021, IYAS also started accepting creative nonfiction works.

Other small-scale workshops undertaken in the past include De La Salle Lipa Creative Writing Workshop, De La Salle-Dasmariñas Creative Writing Workshop, Barlaya Writing for Children Workshop with Adarna House, Bohol’s Bansay sa Ting-Init, and the Playwriting Workshop for Cordillera Women, among others.

In recent years, BNSCWC has added creative nonfiction writing for doctors and screenwriting to its list of national writing workshops.  The First Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Workshop for Doctors (subtitled Pathography: Writing the Pandemic) was held in September 2020 under the directorship of Dr. Marjorie M. Evasco.  The panelists were Dr. Joey Tabula and Dr. Lance Catedral.  The workshop name was eventually changed and included “National” and “La Salle.”  The Third La Salla National CNF Writers’ Workshop for Doctors is scheduled this November 2022 with the same set of panelists and workshop director.

The 2022 DLSU Young Screenwriters’ Workshop is the latest addition to BNSCWC’s national-level workshops.  The recently concluded workshop included twelve fellows with Artist-in-Residence Dr. Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr. as workshop director, Coreen “Monster” Jimenez and Ida Anita Q. del Mundo as panelists, and Mary Jessel Duque as project coordinator.

The most successful young writers’ workshop organized by BNSCWC is Luntiang Palihan.  Established in 2018, the workshop aims to promote creative writing in local languages and to hone the craft of talented individuals who have the potential to contribute to the growth of Philippine literature.  Every year, the workshop focuses on two languages:  Filipino and another local language.   Initially offered to undergraduate and graduate students of Metro Manila, the workshop now accepts applicants from all over the Philippines.  Unlike KRITIKA and IYAS, Luntiang Palihan is smaller in scale with only five to six fellows, puts premium on local languages, targets beginning writers, and is held only as a full-day workshop.

Complementing these national workshops are campus and local workshops on various genres and languages targeting students and upcoming writers.

back to top

PROJECT 4: Campus, Local, and Regional-Level Writing and Theater Workshops

BNSCWC regularly holds writing workshops for DLSU as well as students from La Salle schools in the Philippines.  These workshops under the BNSCWC Young Writers Series are usually organized for beginning writers who wish to learn the basic techniques of fiction and poetry writing.

From time to time, BNSCWC partners with student organizations at DLSU to hold workshops designed to address specific writing needs of budding  writers on campus.

In 2019, BNSCWC also instituted a theater workshop under the directorship of the late BNSCWC Associate for Theater Lito Casaje.  The 2019 BNSCWC Theater Workshop for Children was open to children of DLSU faculty members and staff.   The 2022 BNSCWC Theater Workshop for La Salle Students was organized on July 23, 2022 and was open to senior high and undergraduate students in any La Salle school in the Philippines.

back to top

PROJECT 5: Hosting of Visiting Writers/Artists and International Linkages

The Center has widened its linkages through programs that encourage La Sallian writers to share their works in international literary festivals and host the visit of foreign writers. It has formed partnerships with institutions and organizations such as Instituto Cervantes de Manila, British Council, Japan Foundation, Asialink-Australian Arts Council, International Theater Institute (ITI), Korean Language Institute, among others.

Visitors included Sally Gutierrez Dewar, Anglo-Spanish visual artist and documentary filmmaker; Alex Fleites, Cuban poet; Alvin Pang, poet from Singapore; Nguyen Phan Que Mai, Vietnamese poet; E. San Juan Jr., Filipino-American scholar; and Beatriz Álvarez Tardio, a Rizal scholar from Spain.

The most recent visiting writers are Merlinda Bobis and Joe Jackson.

Through the partnership with Asialink-Australian Arts Council, the Center has hosted the visit of Australian writers for a three-month residency. The list includes Beth Yahp, Ma. Lourdes Doronila, John Alsop, Robin Hemley, and Stuart Cooke. During their stay, the visiting writers interacted with writers’ groups in and outside of campus, read their work, gave craft lectures, or/and conduct writingsample

back to top

PROJECT 6: Conferences

BNSCWC organizes national and international conferences to gather writers and scholars together towards a meaningful artistic and critical exchange.

Two of the most recent national conferences organized by BNSCWC are The First National Literary Conference on Cirilo F. Bautista held on July 8 and 9, 2022 to celebrate the 70th birth anniversary of National Artist for Literature Bautista; and You Lovely People: An Online Literary Conference on Bienvenido N. Santos held on March 22, 2022 to celebrate the 111th birthday of Mang Ben.

Both of these conferences address the dearth of scholarship and teaching resources on Philippine canonical writers. They aim to offer readers and teachers new theoretical perspectives and approaches in the study of Santos’s and Bautista’s works as well as Philippine literature in general.

 

 

back to top

PROJECT 7: Craft Lectures and Book Events

BNSCWC organizes craft lectures and book events every term.

The center invites writers and artists to talk about their craft and share with the audience their current creative projects.

BNSCWC also regularly organizes book events for Lasalle and non-Lasalle writers to promote the reading and appreciation of Philippine literature as well as to celebrate the works of Lasallian writers.

 

 

back to top

PROJECT 8: Roundtable Discussions and Fora

Our RTDS and fora aim to address contemporary issues—ranging from current trends in artistic forms to global problems such as the pandemic and gender equality—usually from inter- and multi-disciplinary perspectives.   In these events, we gather artists and scientists, creative artists and theorists, writers and historians, in a meaningful critical exchange.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

back to top

PROJECT 9: Book Projects

From time to time, BNSCWC embarks on book projects that aim to enrich the Philippine literary and cultural heritage.

One recent project is the groundbreaking anthology Direk: Essays on Filipino Filmmakers (2018), edited by Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr. with the assistance of former BNSCWC director Shirley O. Lua and published by De La Salle University Publishing House.  The international edition of the book was published by Sussex University Press in 2019.

In the last three years, BNSCWC has been working on the Lasallian Literary and Cultural Heritage Series.   The LLCH Series aims to:

  • To preserve the Lasallian literary and cultural heritage
  • To locate Lasallian literary and artistic works in the national and regional traditions of artistic production in the country;
  • To commemorate the contributions of DLSU writers and teachers to the Lasallian community and to the nation;
  • To contribute to the evolving discourses on Lasallian identity; Lasallian pedagogy and philosophy; and the Lasallian experience.

At present, the Center is working on the twin-book project on Lasallian teaching:  Kaming mga Lasalyanong Guro: Mga Tinig sa 2401 Taft Avenue (edited by Nonon Carandang) and We Lasallian Teachers: Memories and Perspectives from 2401 Taft Avenue (edited by Vicente Garcia Groyon).

Target project completion for KMLG and WLST is November 2022.

back to top

PROJECT 10: Digital Resources:  The DLSU Writers on Writers (WOW) Project

The DLSU WOW Project is an omnibus information and educational campaign aimed at providing teachers, students, and lovers of literature well-written and critically enriching online resources for their research and literature classes.  WOW is a joint project of BNSCWC and the Department of Literature of DLSU.

One of the primary WOW projects is the production of digital lectures and instructional videos on landmark Filipino texts.  The first WOW video was created and disseminated to the public on the 22nd of December 2020.  John Kervin Caesar B. Calabias delivered the lecture titled “The Ecocritical Erotic in Marjorie M. Evasco’s ‘Elemental.’”

The second lecture titled “Worlding Diaspora in ‘Scent of Apples’” was given by Dr. Clarissa Militante.  The lecture premiered on the 22nd of March 2022 during You Lovely People:  An Online Literary Conference on Bienvenido N. Santos.

The other important WOW project is the creation of an online database consisting primarily of links to available resources on the net featuring the creative works of Lasallian writers.  This project aims to assist students and scholars who are conducting research on Lasallian writers.  It also aims to preserve and promote the Lasallian literary heritage.  The first phase of the WOW Online Resources project shall be completed by mid-2023.

 

  • THE ECOCRITICAL EROTIC IN MARJORIE M. EVASCO’S “ELEMENTAL”
    by JOSE KERVIN CESAR B. CALABIAS

          https://tinyurl.com/DLSUWOWProjectElemental

back to top

PROJECT 11:  THE DLSU Mini-Grants in Creative Writing

The DLSU Mini-Grant for Creative Writing is a project of the College of Liberal Arts Research and Advanced Studies Office with support from the DLSU Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation and the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center.

BNSCWC administers this program and selects the grantees.

The DLSU Mini-Grants for Creative Writing seeks to lend modest assistance to DLSU writers and artists who are in need of minimal resources to produce creative work—poetry, fiction, drama, creative nonfiction, or film (screenplay).  Each fellow will receive a mini-grant of PHP 10,000.00.  The grantees shall be given one year to complete the manuscript, which may be any of the following: five pages of poetry; one short story; one short play; one essay; and a film script.

The bursary will be given upon submission of the creative work.

Within a year after submission of the final output, the work must be submitted for publication, exhibition, or contest, whether local, national, or international. Grantees are also expected to acknowledge De La Salle University when the work is published (print or online), exhibited, performed (for drama), or filmed (for the screenplay).

back to top