Mesándel Virtusio Arguelles, one of the leading younger voices in Filipino poetry, has been described by fellow poet and High Chair editor Allan Popa as “a student of the short lyric: the delicate art that requires sharpened senses for the little variations and nuances brought by each poetic ingredient...” Ayer, as he is called by friends, is part of Batch 1998 of Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (Lira), the long-running poetry clinic by National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario (Rio Alma). He has also been a fellow of the 36th UP National Writers Workshop (2000) and has won awards for his poetry from the Commission on the National Language. Ayer has published four books of poetry, Menos Kuwarto (2002), Ilahas (2004), Hindi Man Lang Nakita (2005), and Parang (2008).
Denise O'Hara is a perennial student of Comparative Literature in UP Diliman, Quezon City. She was a member of UP Quill and was published in their folio, Sitting Amok. Post college, she has pursued poetry through her friends, and has joined several writing contests. Apart from poetry, she is also trying her hand at playwriting and film writing, but always finds herself distracted by the Internet. Presently, she's struggling between being an Internet junkie and a senior writer in a television network, writing teleseryes.
Jaime Jesus Borlagdan was a representative of younger writers (under 40) and writing from the regions at the recently concluded Taboan Writers Conference which is part of the National Arts Month celebrations lead by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). One of the most active Bikol writing today, and one of the most active in the Web, Borlagdan, maintains several literary sites: www.jimplejimple.blogspot.com and Karangahan (Pagranga sa Pagsurat Bikolnon) at http://karangahan.multiply.com, a site “honoring Bikol literature that has been written and still being written in contemporary times.”
Kristian Cordero teachers literature at the Ateneo de Naga University and is a bilingual poet (writing in his naitve Bikol and the Filipino national language), and one of those recognized as representative of the new Bikol writing and revival. He won the 2008 NCCA Writers Prize for poetry (a grant for completing a book project) and is one of the most awarded younger poets from the Bicol Region. The author of three award-winning books of poetry, Kristian has attended the University of the Philippines National Writers Workshop and has won the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards and the Premio Tomas Arejola for Bikol Literature, among many others.
Francis C. Macansantos was last heard singing the Laudate for a Latin High Mass over unleavened pulutan and San Mig at the UP University Hotel in the after-hours of the Taboan Writers Conference. Also heard singing the responses to his antiphons were old friends and concelebrants Tony Tan, Tony Enriquez, Ricky de Ungria, Krip Yuson, Jimmy Abad, and sacristan Marne Kilates. When not singing the Tridentine Mass in secret, Francis is a poet, cultural worker, and literature teacher, a Palanca Award winner, and member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council (PLAC). He recently launched his epic, Womb of Water, Breasts of Earth, which is excerpted for this issue. The epic won the 2003 NCCA Writers Prize.
Pablo Tariman, journalist and short story writer, takes a break from reviewing long-hair music and opera or playing impresario for famous artists like pianist Cecile Licad with the little diversion of a book feature for his friends painter Marivic Rufino and National Artist Rio Alma, and translator and comprovinciano Marne Kilates. As impresario and music lover, Pablo takes pride in bringing classical music to the provinces, even at the risk of floods, mudslides, aging or untuned pianos to be played by the likes of Licad and visiting virtuosos, and nearly nonexistent box office returns.
Jury Gregorio’s Woman among GI Sheets is only the second of his photographs featured on our cover page, and won’t be the last. Formerly of Manila but now based in Singapore working for one of the large advertising multinationals there, Jury is a writer and creative director who used to work with the editor when the latter was still in the industry. Jury has won awards for his creative work and has since gone on to make a name for himself in advertising outside the country, while pursuing his passion for photography. He has exhibited in Singapore, Japan, and Berlin, among other places. His photographic portfolio may be viewed at http://jurygregorio.com.
Claro Cortes IV travels widely as professional photographer for Reuters, formerly of Beijing but more recently based in Singapore. He is a member of the Banggaan e-group, an informal network of Filipino photographers, artists, and writers from Manila and the Diaspora. More of Claro’s photographs will be featured in subsequent issues of poet’sPicturebook.
