Call for Application: 8th Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio Writers Workshop

Submissions are now open for the 8th Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio Writers Workshop for emerging writers. This 2024, the theme is centered around “Retelling Folklore for Children/ Muling Pagsasalaysay at Pagtula ng Panitikang-Bayan para sa mga Bata.” We are looking for new methods of retelling the classic Filipino folktale catered to today’s Filipino children, and for these retellings to be rooted in our nation’s stories, history, and mythology.

Here are the guidelines for submission:

1. We are accepting entries for children’s fiction and children’s poetry. For fiction, submissions may be made up of 2 stories, 5-10 pages each. For poetry, a suite of 5-8 poems may be submitted. In accordance with the theme, themes and elements of Philippine myths and folklore must be evident and represented in the text.

The format guidelines are as follows: Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman, font size 12, 1.5 spacing.

2. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age.

3. The language may be in English, Filipino, or any of the regional languages. Texts written in the regions must be accompanied by a translation in English or Filipino.

4. Applicants must also submit a short biographical note (not more than 150 words) and an author photo. The author photo must be submitted in a separate file. 

5. The works must not have been submitted to any other publication or workshop.

6. Applications are to be sent via email to albww8@gmail.com with the subject:

ALBWW8_(SURNAME)_(GENRE)

7. The deadline for submissions is May 24, 2024.

8. If the accepted fellow will come from the regions, airfare and travel expenses to and from the workshop venue will not be provided. Board, lodging, and expenses during the workshop, however, will be provided.

After the workshop proper, revised pieces could be considered for publication in upcoming Likhaan: UP ICW anthologies.

For this round, the workshop director is Dr. Eugene Evasco.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Eugene Y. Evasco is a full professor of creative writing and children’s literature at the College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines Diliman. He was a Research Fellow at the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany. His The Cat Library (Ang Aklatang Pusa) was included in The White Ravens in 2019 as one of the world’s notable children’s books. He won the 2000 Poet of the Year and 2020 Essayist of the Year from the Commission on the Filipino Language. He was inducted in the Hall of Fame of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature in 2009 and awarded the 2021 Dangal ng Panitikan (Pride of Literature) by the Commission on the Filipino Language.