The Varsitarian

HINDI maipagkakait na mababa ang pagtingin ng ibang tao sa mga Tagalog romance pocketbooks maliban sa mga bumabasa nito. Masasabing “cheap” ang mga ito dahil nabibili ito sa mga tiangge at narerentahan.

Samantala, sa kabila ng lahat ng pagsisikap na matamo ang paghanga mula sa mambabasa ano man ang estado ng buhay, hindi maiiwasan ang mga kritiko sa paggamit ng wikang “Taglish” o “Engalog” at pagsulat ng nobela dagdag pa ang stigma sa lipunan na ang mga ito ay para sa mga nabibilang sa mababang uri ng lipunan.

Ani Roberto Ampil, isang guro ng Filipino sa Faculty of Arts and Letters, karamihan ng kabataang kaniyang nakasalamuha ay nahihiyang aminin na nagbabasa sila ng mga pocketbooks.  read more »

SAAN nga ba nagkakasalubong ang klasikal at popular sa mundo ng panitikan?

Ang puwang na namamagitan sa dalawang ito ang naging pokus ng Literature from Shakespeare to Bob Ong: Bridging the Divide Between the Popular and the Canonical na ginanap sa Thomas Aquinas Research Complex (TARC) noong Agosto 17 at 18.

Sa pamumuno ng palimbagang Visual Print Enterpise (Visprint) at tulong ng Department of Literature, Literary Society, Thomasian Writer’s Guild at ng Varsitarian, nagsama-sama ang mga kilalang Pilipinong manunulat at kartunista upang magbahagi ng kanilang mga saloobin at kaalaman ukol sa sining ng pagsusulat at pagguhit, lalo na’t sa koneksyon nito sa canon, ang grupo ng mga klasikong akdang kinikilala pa rin hanggang sa kasalukuyan. read more »

Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle once described a “true University” as a collection of books.

Holding true to this statement, the Miguel de Benavides Library (UST Central Library) makes a showcase of its rich collections through Lumina Pandit: an Exhibition of Historical Treasures, a multimillion international exhibit that is one of the highlights of UST’s Quadricentennial.

“Book lovers, antiquarians, academicians, historians, students, and all Filipinos who want to develop their sense of history can come to UST and be part of this spectacular exhibition.” Rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P., said in a speech during the formal opening last June 17.  read more »

In Miguel Syjuco’s acclaimed novel, Ilustrado, the “enlightened” ones have taken on a modernized form.

During the 19th century, ilustrados were originally known as men who bore radical ideas of liberalism and nationalism in the waning years of the Spanish colonization.

But today, the ilustrados are the “balikbayan” or repatriate Filipinos, like the author himself who after leaving his motherland in search for greener pastures, still chose to write for truth rather than to write the “truth”.

Reaping awards such as the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize and Palanca Grand Prize, Ilustrado opens with the protagonist venturing into a fictional in-depth investigation of the life of his mentor and friend, Crispin Salvador.  read more »

IT’S POETRY on wheels.

In an unconventional mix of love for literature and the environment, Instituto Cervantes, together with Renato Redentor Constantino and the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), launched the “Berso sa Metro: Jeepney Poetry Tour (La Poesia Viaja en Jeepney)” last April 17, a poetry-reading event which made pit stops at various bookstores in the metro via electric jeepneys, an innovation of the iconic Filipino transport vehicle ran by electricity and does not require gasoline to fuel its engine.

A Different Bookstore in Bonifacio High Street, Powerbooks at Greenbelt 3 in Makati and Mag:Net Café in Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City were the three stops of the route which served as venues for the readings. read more »

A hiss curling around
the ears, cutting the dirty
beige façade of a building.
Tonight, I use gunmetal grey—
a fast color for this city, this canvas
where flowers shoot
from the barrels of Remingtons;
where empty theaters,
smoke-blackened gates,
and half-burnt bath-tile walls
are robed with layers of
stickerpaperstenciled murals
in paintaerosol. read more »

IT WAS exactly like my first day in the University.

The air teemed with that familiar awkwardness as I entered the room, yet the fellows seemed to know what they were there for - their heads high despite the imminent critiques they would have to endure for the next few days.

For the past ten years, UST held an annual National Writers Workshop, where only two to three fellows were Thomasians, the rest coming from other schools.

But this time, the workshop was exclusively for members of the Thomasian community—students, alumni, faculty members, and non-teaching staff – and I was one of them.  read more »

IT’S NINE in the morning and Wide-hipped Neighbor is starting the didactics on her husband, who most probably has just woken up. We heard last night that he was once again laid off a construction job. Word has it that he drove the loading truck towards the site’s barriers and into the street, filling the air with drunken laughter as he did.

And here goes Fred, two hours late for work. He’s staring at the ceiling, fingernails scratching his left palm, ears shut from the children’s squeals, from Old Maid’s attempts to shoo them away from her gate, from the repeated honking of horns at the nearby road. I lie here, staring at his profile, but he doesn’t mind. He looks at ease just lying there on the crumpled bed sheets. read more »

Lovely women
clad in animal skin
strut the streets
with phony smiles
and painted faces.

Clever men with
crooked schemes
play games, perform
magic tricks.

They vanish
as their prey
rummage through
empty purses.

Sleek rides
strike
in intense speed.
Red, green and amber
do not mean
the same thing: ‘Go!’
But she can’t tell.
She moves ahead,
never knowing what hit her.

Azer Parrocha read more »

DOZENS of FXs have passed you by. You’ve been waiting by a lamp post along Roxas Boulevard for half an hour. The sun has set and the multi-colored lights are on. People are walking to and fro staring at your Hawaiian polo-shirt as they pass A bronze-skinned boy with a gap between his front teeth snickered and gave you the loser sign. You sighed and checked your watch. It’s 6:45p.m. Your cousin’s recital is about to start. You are so stubborn. You shouldn’t have gone to Siargao.    read more »