The Contributors
JOI BARRIOS is currently lecturer in Filipino and Philippine literature at UCBerkeley while on leave from UP Diliman. She has received numerous awards, including the Weavers of History (from the Philippine Centennial Commission, Women’s Sector (1998), and the TOWNS (2004), and published five books, including Ang Pagiging Bababae sa Pamumuhay Sa Panahon ng Digma (IWS, St. Scholastica’s Colege, 1990).
DUSTIN EDWARD D. CELESTINO holds a degree in philosophy from De La Salle University. He is working toward an MA in creative writing at UP, and teaching world literature at the Asia Pacific College.
FRANK CIMATU, bilingual poet and journalist, has been Baguio correspondent for the Philippine Daily Inquirer since 1993. His poems have been published in various magazines and anthologies and have won awards.
MIKAEL DE LARA CO has an undergraduate degree in environmental science from the Ateneo, and has been a fellow at various national writers workshops. He has received both local and international awards, including the Carlos Palanca first prize for poetry in both English and Filipino and was a runner-up for the Meritage Press Holiday Poetry Prize in 2006.
KRISTIAN CORDERO has published three collections of poetry. Mga Tulang Tulala: Piling Tula sa Filipino, Bikol, at Rinconada (Goldprinting, 2004) won the Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award in 2006.
CARLOMAR ARCANGEL DAOANA, poet, journalist, columnist for the Manila Bulletin, and former junior associate of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Studies, is the author of Marginal Bliss (UP Press, 2002).
EUGENE Y. EVASCO is an Associate Professor of malikhaing pagsulat and panitikang Filipino at UP Diliman, specialized in Philippine folklore and children’s literature history and criticism. He has received numerous awards, and was inducted into the Carlos Palanca Hall of Fame in 2009.
VLADIMEIR B. GONZALES teaches panitikan, malikhaing pagsulat, and kulturang popular in UP Diliman; and has published two collections of creative nonfiction, both bestsellers, Isang Napalaking Kaastigan (Milflores, 2008) and ASide, B-Side (Milflores, 2009), and blogs at dirtypopmachine.multiply.com. He is a member of the Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND).
JOSE CLAUDIO B. GUERRERO has a BA in creative writing and is about to get an MA in the same field, both from UP Diliman, where he also teaches English and creative writing. The essay included here won a Palanca first prize in 2008.
BAMBI L. HARPER has an MA in English Literature from Georgetown University in the US, and is currently enrolled for a PhD in creative writing at UP Diliman. She describes herself as an antique dealer, cook, columnist for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and Intramuros housekeeper. She also has a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres from the French government.
BIENVENIDO L. LUMBERA, poet, scholar, critic, and librettist is a UP professor emeritus, and continues to serve as adviser to the UP ICW. He received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for journalism, literature, and creative communication arts in 1993 and was named National Artist for Literature in 2006. He has also received numerous other awards including the Philippine Centennial Literary Prize for Drama in 1998 and the Cultural Center of the Philippines Centennial Honors for the Arts in 1999.
EDGAR B. MARANAN, bilingual poet, fictionist, essayist, playwright, translator and writer of children’s stories, has numerous awards and has attended writing programs in various countries, and served as information officer of the Philippine Embassy in London. He was inducted into the Carlos Palanca Hall of Fame in 2000.
KARL R. DE MESA, author of Damaged People: Tales of the Gothic Punk (UP Press, 2006), has worked as journalist, marketing account executive, communications consultant, executive producer, editor, and tarot card reader. He plays guitar for the instrumental post-rock band Biscochong Halimaw and runs a horror in media blog.
SHARON ANNE BRIONES PANGILINAN has an MA in Philippine studies from UP Diliman, where she also teaches panitikan and kulturang popular. She is a member of the Amado V. Hernandez Resource Center, a grassroots cultural institution.
CHUCKBERRY PASCUAL has an MA in Philippine studies and is working on a PhD in malikhaing pagsulat in UP Diliman. He teaches Filipino at the Ateneo High School and is a member of KULITI, a young writers’ group.
ZOSIMO QUIBILAN JR. won the Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award for Pagluwas (UP Press, 2006) in 2008. He continues to write in Filipino despite having moved to Los Angeles some years ago, and is working on his forthcoming novel.
JUN CRUZ REYES teaches at UP Diliman and has won numerous awards, including the Philippine Centennial Literary Prize for his novel Etsa-Puwera (UP Press, 2000) in 1998. Aside from serving as panelists in the writing workshops held by UP and other universities, he holds regular free writing workshops for different groups in Hagonoy, Bulacan.
ROMMEL RODRIGUEZ has a PhD in malikhaing pagsulat from UP Diliman, where he also teaches panitikan and malikhaing pagsulat. He is an active member of the CONTEND and does volunteer work for Karapatan.
RICA BOLIPATA SANTOS has a BA in humanities and an MA in English literature from the Ateneo, where she teaches. She currently heads the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writing (ALIWW), teaches English and literature at the Ateneo, and is working on her PhD in creative writing at UP Diliman. Her first book, Love, Desire, Children, Etc. (Milflores, 2005) won the Madrigal-Gonzalez Award in 2007.
JOEL M. TOLEDO, has undergraduate degrees in journalism and creative writing, and an MA in creative writing, all from UP Diliman. He has been published by UST and Giraffe, and most recently, by UP Press (The Long Lost Startle, 2009). He has won several literary awards including the prestigious Bridport Prize in the UK.
RICARDO M. DE UNGRIA served as Chancellor of UP Mindanao for two terms and is at present Commissioner for the Arts at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). He is a fellow of the UP ICW, and has published several poetry collections, including the groundbreaking Pidgin Levitations (UP Press, 2006) and Waking Ice (Anvil, 2000), which have won him both national and international recognition.
All are fellows of the UP Institute of Creative Writing.