NATIONAL ARTIST, INT’L CULTURAL STUDIES SCHOLAR AT PUP LECTURE

NA Bienvenido Lumbera
Copyright ng larawan: Beverly Siy

National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera and International Cultural Studies scholar Epifanio San Juan, Jr. will deliver on February 22, 2014 from 1:00-5:00 p.m. at PUP Mabini Campus in Sta. Mesa their lectures to mark the fifty years of Mga Agos sa Disyerto, an anthology of Filipino prize-winning short stories which until 2010 had published its fourth edition. Among its authors Edgardo M. Reyes, Rogelio R. Sicat and Dominador B. Mirasol only two are still living , Efren R. Abueg and Rogelio L. Ordoňez.


Efren Abueg
(Copyright ng larawan: Ronald Verzo)


Rogelio Ordonez
(copyright ng larawan: Ronald Verzo)

A landmark in the history of Philippine fiction, writes Dr. Lumbera, Mga Agos sa Disyerto linked up “with the tradition of social consciousness of Rizal novels and departed in method and temper from the writings of earlier generations.” When the book first came out (1964), he said that its writers “demonstrate skill in the craft of modern fiction” and their stories are superior to those written in English in terms of “structure, tone and texture”. The authors of Mga Agos … dominate the literary scene in Filipino in the last forty years. The anthology likewise inspired other anthologies, noted among them Sigwa (1971) and many other younger writers in Filipino and in English.

Sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research, Institute for Cultural Studies and Center for Creative Writing of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), the lectures will be opened by PUP President Emmanuel C.de Guzman, Ph.D and concluded by writer-Prof. Merdeka Morales.

This event is free and open to the public.