Award-winning writer steers Ibabao literary workshop

CATARMAN, Northern Samar — Multi-award-winning poet and fictionist Merlie Alunan headlined a group of literary icons who mentored aspiring writers at this year’s Ibabao Writers’ Workshop.

Eleven writers were chosen from a pool of over a hundred applicants across the province to participate in the annual fellowship program.

“It’s crucial to nurture our local talent and encourage them to actively contribute to the growth of our literature in various languages,” Alunan said.

“We’re witnessing a nationwide literary revival,” she observed. “Many young writers, mostly university-educated, are creating bilingual or even trilingual works, enriching literature in their mother tongue as well as English and Filipino.”

The five-day Ibabao Writers’ Workshop, held from 7 to 11 June, is the only government-funded creative writing program in the country. The Northern Samar provincial government finances the initiative as part of the month-long Ibabao Festival.

Alunan, a retired University of the Philippines professor with over two decades of service, continues to write and garner recognition for her work. She is a multiple Palanca Awards winner, including a first-place prize in 1988 for her poetry collection “Poems for Amina” and a second-place win in 1991 for “Poems of a Season.”