The Filipino as literary artist
By Alexander Villafania
PASIG CITY, METRO MANILA – In this modern age when people would rather read online than pick up a piece of literature, one might wonder if the published Filipino literati is going the way of the newspaper. Then again, I am but one of the many Filipinos who, for years, have failed to read scriptures from Filipino writers.
Conscripted to a life of grinding through days, my consumption of creative literature has taken a backseat. It is replaced by staggered doses of reading through social networks, YouTube video disasters, and a few downloaded comics. Sadly, few of these give any mental challenge, only reasons to gripe about the ravages of daily living.
Doubly ironic is the fact that I graduated with a degree in English literature, having speed-read through 800 years of Anglo-American lore (yes, I can still spit “ye Olde English” between my teeth while taking a nap).
Few realize that the tunnel vision of boredom can be broken if only a dose of creative writing is taken in. And even with our deep affinity to American culture, there is still a fair amount of good, if not amazing material made by our very own countrymen.
The Filipino literary community, suffice to say, maintains a healthy brood of creative writers. The website Panitikan.com.ph has perhaps the most extensive network of Filpino writers around, enlisting the names of the country’s National Artists for Literature. It also has a list of writers from the regions. » Read more...
PASIG CITY, METRO MANILA – In this modern age when people would rather read online than pick up a piece of literature, one might wonder if the published Filipino literati is going the way of the newspaper. Then again, I am but one of the many Filipinos who, for years, have failed to read scriptures from Filipino writers.
Conscripted to a life of grinding through days, my consumption of creative literature has taken a backseat. It is replaced by staggered doses of reading through social networks, YouTube video disasters, and a few downloaded comics. Sadly, few of these give any mental challenge, only reasons to gripe about the ravages of daily living.
Doubly ironic is the fact that I graduated with a degree in English literature, having speed-read through 800 years of Anglo-American lore (yes, I can still spit “ye Olde English” between my teeth while taking a nap).
Few realize that the tunnel vision of boredom can be broken if only a dose of creative writing is taken in. And even with our deep affinity to American culture, there is still a fair amount of good, if not amazing material made by our very own countrymen.
The Filipino literary community, suffice to say, maintains a healthy brood of creative writers. The website Panitikan.com.ph has perhaps the most extensive network of Filpino writers around, enlisting the names of the country’s National Artists for Literature. It also has a list of writers from the regions. » Read more...
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