Likhanan: A Community of Creatives

Women who write

2008-08-21T17:37:00.000+14:00

Mentoring

Back in college [in the early ‘80s], I attended a couple, or probably more and I just couldn’t remember, of creative writing workshops. It was a high experience for me as I got acquainted with named literary writers and authors, and I received tips I needed for the craft I wanted to be good at—fiction writing. At that time, though, I was still writing short stories in Filipino; I now write in English, and I can’t write short stories anymore. My story ideas tend to evolve into novel material. I guess this is the result of years of reading novels. Anyways, I promised myself then I would follow in the footsteps of the Filipino greats I met during those workshops.

I didn’t follow in any of their footsteps. In fact, I got disillusioned by my own writing and writing experience that I decided at one point during my 20’s that literary writing was not really for me, only to wake up one morning in my mid-30s, probably also the beginning of mid-life, that I needed to ‘find’ and express myself again. I was looking for something I wanted to do that would be deeply connected with who I am, at a more personal level. To make the long story short from that mid-30’s period to my early 40’s now, I decided to write again.

Just like when I was in college, mentoring has also been an important part of my becoming and being a writer now. I received this ‘mentoring’ through the books I’ve read and continue to go back to—a number of them serendipitously encountered and bought. Topping the list are Julia Cameron’s The Right to Write and The Artist’s Way; a book of essays, which I stumbled upon one afternoon at the previously-owned books bookshop Bound, where I got ‘enlightenment’ from George Orwell and Joan Didion’s essays among others, and; Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola. This one was given to me by my former boss at my first ever job [Philippine News and Features]. It was Christmas 1994 when she gave it to me but I didn’t read it from cover to cover in a few sittings, because I found out while reading it that Pinkola’s book is something that has to be experienced. I would always know when it is time to read and go back to it, and during all these times I always find what I need. Many times, this book has ‘saved’ me from myself and from life’s complications that I’ve formed a special bond with it. I know it’s kind of weird to have a ‘relationship’ with a book, but it’s just how it is with Pinkola’s book. Then there’s another good find, Anna Quindlen’s anthology of essays, Living Out Loud, and most recently Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones.

I still read about my craft, and there is this book I’ve used as reference a lot of times, Mastering Point of View by Sherri Szeman. But I am no longer inclined to attend workshops. I believe workshops have an upside to them and have benefited a lot of writers, but what I realized based on my experience in the last eight years, when I was struggling with the idea of becoming a writer or when I doubted whether the pursuit and practice of a writing life was real or would bring real significance to me and my family and to society, is that a writer needs a nurturing environment.

Critiquing a writer’s work may teach him or her something, but what will make an individual sustain this writing life is the presence of a community of friends and fellow writers who come together and share their work, just talk and understand the unique process each one is going through. It’s only through this kind of mentoring that a writer/artist could face up to the challenge of “artistic survival,” which according to Cameron is “one of the most difficult tasks” for an artist. And when she said this in The Artist’s Way, she was not referring only to economic or financial survival.

“All artists must learn the art of surviving loss: loss of hope, loss of face, loss of money, loss of self-belief…They are the hazards of the road and, in many ways, its signposts. Artistic losses can be turned into artistic gains—but not in the isolation of the beleaguered artist’s brain,” wrote Cameron.

Introducing Women who write

2008-08-06T12:55:00.000+14:00

By Clarissa Villasin-Militante

It took me a long time to adjust to a writing life. Though I quit a regular job in 2001 and decided to go free lance [sometimes as writer, sometimes as editor and sometimes as researcher, and with two brief intervals doing and quitting full-time jobs], realizing and accepting what it means to live a life devoted to my personal writing—my fiction, essays and blogs—happened only seven years after. But as in other discoveries and epiphanies, it took only an instant of a mind shift to realize that it is happening and that I accept it. Even writers sometimes take a while to name ideas and emotions, to articulate what they are going through, especially if the time to release these ideas and feelings has not arrived. But that instant was waiting to happen, because the preparation for it was already taking place in those past years.

A phrase from Anna Quindlen’s book “Living Out Loud” named “it” for me. [In fact, I was already re-reading some of her essays and was sure I’ve read this line before, but only now did it affect me] Talking about her life and her writing, former journalist and now columnist/author Quindlen said “…my work became a reflection of my life.” Realizing that this was what she wanted, her being a writer, being a woman, wife, mother, friend and everything else she did outside of writing fell into place.

That’s what I want to do—for my work to reflect my life. In fact, that’s what I’ve been trying to do all these years, but there was guilt, fear and apprehension in accepting that, because it’s very personal; very individualized. Other women have careers; other women go to office. Others are involved in politics or are doing social development work or are in media. Others are homemakers. But I choose to write—to put my writing in equal terms with being a woman, being a wife, being a friend, being an activist, being whatever aspect of life a woman wants and needs to be.

Women who write is about defining these other aspects of life through writing so that all things fall into the right place, because of this writing life—whether it be writing in a personal journal, or writing a blog, an essay, fiction or poetry or music, or whether it gets published or uploaded into the internet, whether it is only read to a group of friends or the writing becomes a career or not. There is no writing on the sideline or when there is “free” time or writing that happens after laboring first on more supposedly deserving endeavors, like an income-earning work or home-related chores, or after being a wife and mother and friend and mentor and other things and roles that women live.

There is no condition in which this writing should happen.

Dr. Clarissa Pinkola in Women Who Run with the Wolves wrote “It is right and proper for women to eke out, liberate, take, make, connive to get, assert their right to go home. Home is a sustained mood or sense that allows us to experience feelings not necessarily maintained in the mundane world…home is the pristine instinctual life…where all is as it should be, where all the noises sound right, and the light is good and the smell makes us feel calm rather than alarmed…for some, home is taking up an endeavor of some sort. Women sing again after years of finding reason not to. They commit themselves to learn something they’ve been heartfelt about for a long time. They seek out lost people and things in their lives. They take out back their voices and write. They rest. They make some corner of the world their own…and do something that leaves foot prints.”

What I hope in beginning Women who write is to make it a means to share stories and express ourselves and find our voice in whatever form of creative writing, and in so doing help us find, journey back to, sustain or create this home—whether it’s just for ourselves, with friends or with family. Women who write does not intend to be a monologue.

UP Asterisk's Cultural Night, Feb 22!

2008-02-22T12:03:00.000+14:00

The University of the Philippines Asosasyon ng Kabataang Artista, Kritiko, at Iskolar ng Sining at Kultura (UP ASTERISK) is celebrating its 2nd Anniversary in a two-week event entitled "Isang Siglo, Buksan 2: Ikalawang Anibersaryo sa Sentenaryo" from February 11-22, 2008 at the UP Diliman campus.

On Feb 22, join them on their Cultural Night and watch the performance of seasoned artists, U.P. Singing Ambassadors and Kontra-Gapi, plus great UP-based (and alumni) bands like The Purplechickens, Jeebus, Makopa, 10-storey Fall and more!!!

Venue is the CAL New Building (CNB) atrium located in between the Faculty Center and the Vargas Museum.

Admission is absolutely free!!!

Poster design by Tinakuting

Photo taken from http://topofyourschool.blogspot.com/2006/01/college-of-arts-and-letters-cal-new.html.

Open Mic: Asian Roots and Routes (January 27, 2006)

2008-02-19T19:16:00.000+14:00

A S I A N R O O T S

_____________________________________________

an open mic to welcome 2006 & celebrate new beginnings

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

& R O U T E S in literature

Likhanan and the Philippine-China Development Resource Center (PDRC)

invite you to this gathering of friends

at Arabica Hills* , 6:30 pm, Friday, January 27, 2006.

Come with poems, short stories, songs and your dreams and visions.

* ARABICA HIILLS DINERS’ CAFE

Philippine Social Science Center

Commonwealth Avenue,

Diliman, Quezon City

+63 2 9229626

About the Sponsors:

• Likhanan stands for "likha" (to create) and "tahanan" (home). Likhanan is a community of creatives.

• PDRC is an NGO that promotes mutual understanding and development

cooperation between the Philippines & China.

Open Mic: Never Again War (March 20, 2004)

2008-02-19T19:09:00.000+14:00

THE ROMANTICS

2008-02-19T18:51:00.000+14:00

OJO! All you lovers and friends out there,

don’t just say it with flowers and chocolates;

shout it out in the Dreaded Poets Society’s

almost Valentine’s Day open mic

THE ROMANTICS

6:00-9pm, Friday, 13 February 2004

CONSPIRACY BAR & RESTAURANT, 59 Visayas Avenue, Quezon City, (beside Ninang’s, near 7/11)

TRANSLALATIONS

2008-02-19T18:43:00.000+14:00

Because each tongue speaks our own hope,

we dare you to grab the open mic for

翻译

TRADUÇÕES

TRADUZIONI

TRADUCTIONS

TRADUCCIONES

ÜBERSETZUNGEN

MGA PAGSASALIN

TRANSLATIONS

We double dare you!

6 -9pm, Friday, 28 November 2003

Books & Bytes, Benjamin I Building,

#62 Sgt Esguerra cor. Mother Ignacia Sts., South Triangle, QC (near Hi-Top)

Free For All

2008-02-19T18:39:00.000+14:00

FREE FOR ALL

Of course, all open mics are free for all.

But this one is to mark June 12 and our aspirations for freedom --

freedom from want and domination, freedom of expression, etc.

Speak up for the freedom you enjoy, want and envision.

Listen and be heard.

Join us for another open mic on June 18 (Wed.), 7:30 p.m.

at Bistro 70s, # 46 Anonas St., Project 2, Quezon City.

Noel Cabangon endorses this third-Wednesday-of-the-month habit.

He will monopolize the mic after 9:30 pm.

(He has christened us the “dreaded” or “dreadful” poets’ society, depending on the outcome of the night’s event.)

So, please come and bring friends.

Be counted among the dreaded or the dreadful.

ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING GOES

2008-02-19T18:32:00.000+14:00

OPEN MIC:

ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING GOES

The mic is absolutely open and yours.

You can rap, rhyme, declaim, declare, read, recite,

denounce, speak up, speak down, do stand up comedy…

anything to keep the mic busy.

Share your angst and awe, love and lust, grace and rage.

Listen and be heard.

Join us for another open mic on May 21 (Wed.), 7:30 p.m.

at Bistro 70s, # 46 Anonas St., Project 2, Quezon City.

Noel Cabangon endorses this

third-Wednesday-of-the-month habit.

He takes over the mic from 9:30 pm.

(He has christened us

the “dreaded” or “dreadful” poets’ society,

depending on the outcome of the night’s event.)

So, please, please come and bring friends.

Be counted among the dreaded or the dreadful.

OPEN MIC: NEVER AGAIN WAR

2008-02-19T18:28:00.000+14:00

Violence and atrocities against innocent people do not end

when military operations stop.

The war being waged by Bush on Iraq is not primarily against

Saddam.  It does not stop with the fall of the regime.

It is against justice, respect for human lives, the sovereignty

of the Iraqi people and the security of the community of

nations.  As military action appears to ease,  the peoples of

the world must be more vigilant against the arrogance of

those who think they "own", as an American military officer

put it, Iraq and any other country that may be next in line for

some “shock and awe”.

Time and again, the peoples of the world have spoken against

this war. We continue to protest this and any form of aggression that may yet come from those who claim for themselves global police powers for their own interests.

We invite you to an open mic night of protest on April 23

(Wed.), 7:30 p.m. at Bistro 70s, # 46 Anonas St., Project 2,

Quezon City.  (Our dear friend Noel Cabangon performs at

9:45 on this day. He invites us to also use the break time for

the open mic.)

Let us build our strength through our words, poetry, music,

imagination, creativity and unity.

Ang Maging Bata - Open Mic to Celebrate Children's Month

2007-10-25T23:58:00.000+14:00

The Philippines Against Child Trafficking (PACT) and LIKHANAN, in cooperation with Bistro ‘70s, invite you to a night of poetry, music and other forms of artistic expression to celebrate Children’s Month.

Come to Bistro ‘70s* on October 26, 2007 (Friday) and join us in remembering children who suffer, are exploited and violated; and in renewing commitment to children’s rights.

Please invite children. The program is from 7 – 9:30 P.M.

*Bistro 70s, # 46 Anonas St., Project 2, Quezon City

Top Indie Artists Perform at "Pa-Gig Para sa Puso"

2007-03-27T18:02:00.000+14:00

Likhanan organized a fundraising concert called "Pa-'gig Para sa Puso" on March 24, 2007 at '70s Bistro for a friend, Rorie Fajardo, whose brother Ronie suffered from a heart attack and recently underwent angioplasty. He is now recovering and undergoing therapy.

The event opened with a speech by Becky Lozada who talked about Likhanan's other activities and projects. Rorie Fajardo then gave the audience an update on her brother's condition and gave some good advice on health.

The intro was followed by the screening of the Purplechickens' video for their song, "Dream Systems," which won 1st place at the 19th Gawad CCP for the Animated Video category.

The gig featured some of the country's most critically-acclaimed independent artists---Cynthia Alexander, Cambio, Ciudad, the Purplechickens, and Peryodiko---for going out of their way to perform for a good cause.

Likhanan would like to express its heart-felt gratitude to all the artists, attendees, and donors. That night, Likhanan was able to raise around P10,ooo worth of ticket sales.

Special thanks goes to the '70s Bistro for opening their door once again to Likhanan and for giving all ticket sales and cover charge to the fund.

Likhanan would also like to thank Aldus Santos, author of Vocalese and singer-songwriter for the Purplechickens, for all the hard work in booking and coordinating with the bands.

No less than Cynthia Alexander opened the night with her heart-wrenching song, "U & I," from her second album "Ripping Yarns."
Known as a staunch advocate of the Clean Air Act, Cynthia requested the audience not to smoke, after which she sang "Malaya," because "after all," she said, "we're all entitled to our own opinion."

The usually "in-your-face" but poetic rock band Purplechickens played a "silencer" set and performed new materials from their second album, "Girls, Etc.," slated to come out this year. This includes a beautiful song in Filipino, "Patihulog," which, Aldus explained, means "freefall."

Ciudad (left) gave the audience a good dose of geek-rock music, which energized the crowd mid-way the event. They closed their set with the dainty but heavy-hearted song, "My Emptiness," from their new album.

Cambio's lineup was enough to wow the crowd: Kris Dancel on vocals; Ebe Dancel on vocals and guitars; Jason Caballa on guitars; Buddy Zabala on bass; and Raimund Marasigan on drums! They opened their set with "DV," a smart spoken word litany of street names, followed by the very apt "Call Center," a song about, well, call centers. Cambio closed with the chills-down-my-spine-brutally-honest song "Patlang."

Vin Dancel took over the last set with his new band "Peryodiko," which featured a new new line up of equally brilliant musicians. Peryodiko played all new materials from their upcoming debut album. Aldus sang back-up vocals for the first song "Pikit." The other songs---"Agawan-base," "Tayo," and "Kumapit Ka Twing Lunes"---all have the Vin Dancel trademark of excellent writing.

Pa-gig Para sa Puso: A fundraising concert for a heart patient

2007-03-21T16:42:00.000+14:00

Likhanan invites everyone to "Pa-gig Para sa Puso"!

Be blown away by some of the best local indie bands today

Cambio
Ciudad
The Purplechickens
and
Peryodiko

March 24, 8 P.M. at the '70s Bistro, Anonas Ave. Quezon City.

Also, catch the screening of the Purplechickens' video for their song "Dream Systems," which won 1st place at the 19th Gawad CCP for the Animated Video category.

Have fun and contribute to the fundraising for Rorie Fajardo, writer and journalist, whose brother recently underwent angioplasty at the Philippine Heart Center. Rorie, a friend of Likhanan, is the family's breadwinner. Unfortunately, like millions of Filipinos, she and her family have no medical benefits, insurance or savings.

All ticket proceeds will go to a fund that will help Rorie’s family pay hospital and post-recovery therapy bills.

For the tickets, please contact Becky (09175362638), Clarissa (09212750731), Grace (09178167492) or Liezl (09209085734).

For more information on the fundraising cause, please contact Rorie (09053154986).

About the bands...

Cambio, in a nutshell, is a supergroup. More or less ten bands are well-represented in this group’s ranks, featuring at least three frontmen, a frontwoman, and the most celebrated rhythm section of the past decade. Their major label debut, Derby Light, is still out in the market, although these days, they could be heard previewing several songs from their upcoming follow-up disc.

Ciudad can get you to bob your heads, shake your toes, and, not surprisingly, they can get you to jump around, too. This is geek rock, sure, but these guys are no lightweights in musicianship and songwriting. Their third album, It’s Like a Magic, is a collection of songs they wrote prior to their debut in 2000.

Peryodiko is singer-songwriter Vin Dancel’s first proper post-Twisted Halo outfit. Dancel almost called this band “Manong,” but it didn’t slide quite well. In any case, Peryodiko’s lineup is perhaps the most enviable of all, featuring members from Indio-I, Affinity, and Greyhoundz, among various other bands of equal caliber. Listening to Peryodiko’s music is, on any given day, better than reading disheartening news.

The Purplechickens recently bagged the 1st Prize at the Gawad CCP Video Animation category for the video of their almost-two-year-old single “Dream Systems.” Two band members have also put out poetry books, Babel by Mayo Uno Martin (from High Chair Press), and Vocalese by Aldus Santos (from Likhanan, Inc.). They are currently recording material for their sophomore CD entitled Girls, Etc.

Open Mic on Carlos Bulosan’s “America is in the Heart:” a Timely Tribute from Likhanan

2007-02-27T20:35:00.000+14:00

That 2006 is the 60th anniversary of the publication of Carlos Bulosan’s “America is in the Heart” makes a public reading of his book very timely.

But what gives Bulosan’s semi-autobiographic, semi-fiction novel more currency is its theme: the story of the migrant Filipino in a foreign land. Bulosan’s book was published in 1946 and based on his own experiences as a migrant worker in US farms in the 1930s-‘40s. It is a telling tale of how the Filipino worker’s odyssey abroad has started long before the era of globalization—and that poverty, the main trigger of this phenomenon, has been around since colonial times.

According to non-government institutional studies, there are now about eight million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Scattered in about 180 countries around the world, these Filipinos face war or the threat of war, abuse (physical, sexual and psychological), social-political and economic discrimination, and loneliness caused by separation from the family, often resulting in mental distress especially for women. There are now about seven females out of ten OFWs.

On November 16, 2006 personalities known in the circles of civil society, activist political organizations, as well as lovers of Bulosan’s work and literature in general took time to read favorite parts of Bulosan’s “America is in the Heart.”

The public reading is the first in a series of planned readings and other activities aimed at celebrating Bulosan’s work. These activities lead to the centennial celebration of his birth anniversary in 2011. Included in the planned activities are readings and workshops in schools.

There were those who chose to read on the narrator’s (deemed to be Bulosan) childhood poverty:

“Then I saw my mother's familiar back. She was following the plow, her skirt tucked between her legs. Suddenly I knew what Leon had felt that day he came home, running suddenly to take the plow from my father. I started running across the fields and leaping over ditches, shouting and calling frantically: "Mother! Mother! Mother!"My mother stopped the carabao and looked toward me. The sun was falling directly upon her face, and she raised her hand to protect her eyes from the strong morning light. When she recognized me, she tied the rope to the handle of the plow, as my father used to do, and waited for me."Have you come home, son?" she said. And that was all she could say. Her mouth began to tremble with joy and sorrow always one and the same. Suddenly, she grabbed me affectionately and wept, murmuring: "We are poor people, son. We are poor people, son."

Another favorite was excerpts about the journey to the United States as a young adult.

“I found the dark hole of the steerage and lay on my bunk for days without food, seasick and lonely. I was restless at night and many disturbing thoughts came to my mind. Why had I left home? What would I do in America? I looked into the faces of my companions for a comforting answer, but they were as young and bewildered as I, and my only consolation was their proximity and the familiarity of their dialects. It was not until we had left Japan that I began to feel better.

One day in mid-ocean, I climbed through the narrow passageway to the deck where other steerage passengers were sunning themselves. Most of them were Ilocanos, who were fishermen in the northern coastal regions of Luzon. They were talking easily and eating rice with salted fish with their bare hands, and some of them were walking, barefoot and unconcerned, in their homemade cotton shorts. The first-class passengers were annoyed, and an official of the boat came down and drove us back into the dark haven below. The small opening at the top of the iron ladder was shut tight, and we did not see the sun again until we had passed Hawaii.”

The most read were parts about how the main character survived life in the US.

“…The man said something, but they had already turned and the wind carried it away. I was to hear that girl’s voice in many ways afterward in the United States. It became no longer her voice, but an angry chorus shouting:

“Why don’t they ship those monkeys back where they came from?”

We arrived in Seattle on a June day. My first sight of the approaching land was an exhilarating experience. Everything seemed native and promising to me. It was like coming home after a long voyage, although as yet I had no home in this city. Everything seemed familiar and kind—the white faces of the buildings melting in the soft afternoon sun, the gray contours of the surrounding valleys that seemed to vanish in the last periphery of light. With a sudden surge of joy, I knew that I must find a home in this new land.

I had only twenty cents left, not even enough to take me to Chinatown where, I had been informed, a Filipino hotel and two restaurants were located. Fortunately two oldtimers put me in a car with four others, and took us to a hotel on King Street, the heart of Filipino life in Seattle. Marcelo, who was also in the car, had a cousin named Elias who came to our room with another oldtimer. Elias and his unknown friend persuaded my companions to play a strange kind of card game. In a little while Elias got up and touched his friend suggestively; then they disappeared and we never saw them again.”

Publisher Karina Bolasco, president of Anvil Publishing that just renewed in 2006 the right to reprint Bulosan’s “America…,” read a very timely message on America:

"It is but fair to say that America is not a land of one race or one class of men. We are all Americans that have toiled and suffered and known oppression and defeat, from the first Indian that offered peace in Manhattan to the last Filipino pea pickers.

America is not bound by geographical latitudes. America is not merely a land or an institution. America is in the hearts of men that died for freedom: it is also in the eyes of men that are building a new world. America is a prophecy of a new society of men: of a system that knows no sorrow or strife or suffering. America is a warning to those who would try to falsify the ideals of freemen."

America is also the nameless foreigner, the homeless refugee, the hungry boy begging for a job and the black body dangling on a tree .America is the illiterate immigrant who is ashamed that the world of books and intellectual opportunities is closed to him.

We are all that nameless foreigner, that homeless refugee, that hungry boy, that illiterate immigrant and that lynched black body. All of us, from the first Adams to the last Filipino, native born or alien, educated or illiterate— We are America!"

"Vocalese (Poems)" Launch a Huge Success!

2007-01-12T22:22:00.000+14:00

The launch of Aldus Santos' first book, "Vocalese (Poems)," was a huge success! Two members of Likhanan, Becky Lozada and Grace Mirandilla, were there at the event to support the project and give a few words on behalf of Likhanan.

Aldus, author of "Vocalese (Poems)"

Paul Catiang, the booth man

Friend and bandmate Marco Harder hosted the launch

Aldus gives a speech while holding a bottle of beer

There was an overwhelming show of support from friends and fans

Gerard and Kats of Romage Graphic, printer of Vocalese

Marco with Khavn dela Cruz, world-renowned indie filmmaker

Siblings Mike and Mick of indie band Outerhope perform songs from their debut album Strangely Paired

College friend Easy Fagela reads a poem from "Vocalese"

Friend and colleague in the band scene, Vin Dancel, sings new compositions for his band Peryodiko.

Vin and Aldus perform a song by the now-defunct indie band Twisted Halo

Aldus sings with his band, The Purplechickens

Rock icon Cynthia Alexander wows the crowd with her superb performance

Likhanan's Becky Lozada asks for Aldus' autograph

Grace and Aldus, tired but happy after the launch

"Vocalese (Poems)" Launch on Dec 12 at Conspiracy Bar

2006-12-04T02:03:00.000+14:00

Aldus Santos will launch his first poetry book entitled, “Vocalese (Poems),” on December 12, 2006 at Conspiracy Bar & Garden Cafe located along Visayas Avenue in Quezon City.

Enjoy a night of poetry reading and special performances by friends like Outerhope, Vin Dancel of the now defunct Twisted Halo, and Ms. Cynthia Alexander.

Be one of the first few to get a copy of “Vocalese (Poems),” which will be sold at the venue for a discounted price.

Event is from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm only.

To get to Conspiracy, take Visayas Avenue from the Quezon Memorial Circle. Landmark is the Department of Agrarian Reform Bldg. Upon entering Visayas Avenue, you’ll pass by a McDonald’s to your left and, straight ahead, a Jollibee to your right. A Shell gas station will follow. Conspiracy Bar is right across. Make a U-turn on the corner of 7-Eleven.

Vocalese (Poems) is the first book to be published by Likhanan.

Carlos Bulosan's "America is in the Heart"

2006-11-12T06:41:00.001+14:00

“I know deep down in my heart that I am an exile in America.

I feel like a criminal running away from a crime I didn't commit.
And this crime is that I am a Filipino in America.”

- Carlos Bulosan in America is in the Heart

2006 marks the 60th year of the publication of
Carlos Bulosan’s
AMERICA IS IN THE HEART.

The semi- autobiographical masterpiece unflinchingly chronicled
the oppressive poverty that drove him from his homeland,
the brutality of the immigrant experience of the 1930s-40s and
the struggle for full humanity of the marginalized protagonist.

In celebration of this literary legacy, Likhanan invites you to a PUBLIC READING & OPEN MIC of passages from the book and other Bulosan writings on November 16, 2006 (Thursday), 7-9:00 p.m., Bistro 70s, # 46 Anonas St., Proj. 2, Quezon City.

Please invite your friends. FREE ADMISSION.
You can sign up to do a reading at the Bistro 70s on the same day or email likhanan @gmail.com before the event.

Likhanan publishes "Vocalese (Poems) by Aldus Santos

2006-11-05T06:36:00.000+14:00

True to its vision of building a community of Filipino creatives, Likhanan is proud to publish Vocalese (Poems), the first book of poems by Aldus Santos, an independent poet and musician whose work with independent rock act The Purplechickens has been deemed as “some of the best lyrics ever to grace a rock song” (Pulp).

In his first collection of verses, Santos veers away from the succinct paradoxes of his lyrics without losing his penchant for phonetic lyricism, irony and situation. Vocalese is replete with fictitious retellings of the lives of some of the most misunderstood icons of science and art—Albert Einstein, Tycho Brahe, Jonathan Swift and Neil Young, among others. In poetic strophes brimming with humor and scandal, Santos attempts to marry popular subject matter with legitimate poetic inquiry. The end-result is antonymous to the soullessness of yellow journalism or public trial; it is deconstruction…mad, mute, mellow.

"Vocalese (Poems)" cover art by Adrian Arcega

The first print-run of Vocalese will start on November 20, 2006. Its launch is set on December 12, 2006 at Conspiracy Bar+Garden on Visayas Avenue in Quezon City. For inquiries, please leave a "comment" for this post.

“The book’s scope is wide, almost catch-all, dipping into science, history, and popular culture. It’s a club full of interesting characters that range from Tycho Brahe and Charles Darwin, to Victor Hugo and Neil Young, to Don Quixote and Pepe Smith. But, strictly speaking, they’re all to be found only on the guest-list and are not the main performers. The headliner, so to speak, is Santos’ intelligent, steady prodding.”

—from the Foreword by Mayo Uno Martin, author of Babel

Aldus Santos, author of "Vocalese (Poems)"
Photo by Grace Mirandilla

Likhanan Founding Members

2006-10-12T06:38:00.000+14:00

Likhanan's founding members have carved out their own niche in different fields but share a common vision--to help build an empowered Filipino society through social, academic and cultural education.

Likhanan's founding members are:

Eleanor Gonzalez

Nora is Executive Director of the Philippine-China Development Resource Center, a non-government organization that aims to foster mutual understanding and development cooperation between the Philippines and China. She has been serving in the NGO community for the past 10 to 15 years.

Nora's artistic inclination is in poetry and films. The first film she directed, “Ang Babe SA Bintana” won first place (Feature Category) at the 1984 Fourth Manila Short Film Festival, Film Center , University of the Philippines and second place (Short Film Category) at the1985 Experimental Cinema of the Philippines competition. The film was made under the Ateneo-Mowelfund Program for Artists in Cinema and Television (AMPACT), a year-long scholarship at the Ateneo de Manila University. She was a lecturer in film production at UP College of Mass Communication in the early 1990s.

Clarissa Militante

Clark is former editor and publisher of Student Agenda, a social studies supplementary material for high school students. She worked as a journalist, writer and editor for various institutions including Philippine News & Features (PNF) and GMA Special Reports Online. She is co-founder of the Dreaded Poets Society.

Rebecca Lozada

Becky is executive producer of Pluma 1896, a musical album on Filipino political poetry and songs, and the Balangiga 1901 CD compilation and concert. She's been writing and editing for various projects such as Student Agenda for the past 10 years. Becky is also co-founder of the Dreaded Poets Society.

Liezl Formilleza-Dunuan

Liezl is deputy head of the Foundation for Information Technology and Education (FIT-ED) http://www.fit-ed.org/, a non-profit organization that aims to promote the innovative use of information and communications technology (ICT) in education. She's been working for NGOs for more than 10 years now. Liezl was also a writer for Student Agenda and is co-founder of the Dreaded Poets Society.

Mary Grace Mirandilla

Grace is a young research consultant for telecommunications and ICT for development. Her first study was a grant with IDRC-Canada on community telecenters in rural areas in the Philippines. She's been writing for various projects and publications such as Student Agenda and Newsbreak for several years now. She is a big fan of Filipino poets and storytellers, and is co-founder of the Dreaded Poets Society.

Grace has attended writing workshops with the Philippines Educational Theater Association (PETA) and the Writers Bloc http://www.thewritersbloc.tk/, as well as theater acting workshops at the Metropolitan Theater.