Victor Peñaranda is another of our constant supporters and regular contributors who used to send us poems from his many wanderings abroad as development worker, but since he has come maybe for good, he sends us those poems from his frequent travels all over the country. Often, his poems serve both as postcards from and meditations on the many places he visits, from Bhuttan and Macedonia to Mt. Matutum or the Cordilleras. His second collection of poems, to be published by Anvil, includes ones first published online in poet’Picturebook.
Reuel Molina Aguila, poet and playwright, was one of the young literary firebrands coming out of the famous independent workshop called Galina sa Arte at Tula (then conducted by now national artist Rio Alma). Reuel has however refused to let his political engagement get in the way of the the lyricism of his poetry, plays and various works that have won for him the Makata ng Taon (Poet of the Year) given by Institute of National Language, the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas, several Palanca Awards, and other honors. Also a longtime scriptwriter for film, television and radio, Reuel has worked with the late Lino Brocka and Behn Cervantes. A former fellow of the Iowa International Writing Program, Aguila has also taught at the Philippine Science High School, was a Monbusho scholar in Japan, before coming back to teach at his alma mater, the University of the Philippines, where he is currently pursuing a doctorate in creative writing.
Jaime Jesus Borlagdan, now one of our regular contributors, and being also the youngest in the present issue, 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 perhaps the busiest 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.”
Jose Marte A. Abueg is managing editor of Inquier.Net and overall editor in charge of its Money website. As a longtime journalist, he has been editor at different Philippine publications and Philippine correspondent of foreign publications, including The Australian Financial Review and Asian Business magazine. Mart’s literary awards include the Palancas for fiction and the Philippines Free Press award for poetry. He has been published in the Ani literary annual of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Philippines Free Press, Sunday Times Magazine, and the website, A Critical Survey of Philippine Literature, among others. His collection "Bird Lands, River Nights and Other Melancholies" won for him the Grand Prize in Gawad Likhaan: The University of the Philippines Centennial Award, for poetry in English.
Joel M. Toledo is busy with both his academic profession and literary projects. Holding a Master’s degree in creative writing (poetry) from the University of the Philippines (where he graduated with degrees in English and Journalism), he is currently preparing his third book of poems, teaching literature at Miriam College, conducting the fortnightly “gig” of the Happy Mondays Poetry Nights at Mag:Net Cafe and Gallery on Katipunan, and playing drums for the band Los Chupacabras, which performs on the same night as the poetry readings. Apart from the Palancas and the NCCA Writer’s Prize, Joel’s awards and venues of publication for his poetry are international, including the Bridport Prize from the U.K. and the Meritage Press Poetry Prize from San Francisco, U.S.A., Softblow, Rogue Poetry Review, Concelebratory Shoehorn Review, and Washington Square, among others.
Rodolfo "Rod" Samonte, painter, printmaker, photographer, and digital artist, is a resident of Burbank, California, having migrated there after he had well established his name in Manila. He has shown his work in 19 solo exhibitions and numerous group shows in the Philippines, the U.S., Europe, and South America. The critic Alice Guillermo, writing about one of Rod's exhibits of his digital creations, remarks about the "new technologies... stunningly displayed," where "he is only proving his excellence in his employment of the new digital language."
