THE USC Cebuano Studies Center, in cooperation with Hale Manna, hosted the 27th Cornelio Faigao Memorial Annual Writers Workshop 2011 in Moalboal town, southwest Cebu on Nov. 4-6.
The workshop panelists were Erlinda Kintanar Alburo, Merlie M. Alunan, Genevieve Asenjo and John Iremil Teodoro.
Dr. Hope Sabanpan-Yu served as workshop director with Raphael Dean Polinar as workshop secretariat.
From Cebu, the fellows were Roniel Cabale, Ponciano Abatayo, and Gally Sayson (short story in Cebuano), Romeo Nicolas Bonsocan (play in Cebuano), Jessrel Gilbuena (poetry in Cebuano), Desiree Balota, Therese Marie Villarante, and Nicole Elise Yu (poetry in English) and Charles Dominic Sanchez (short story in English).
Lawdenmarc Decamora from Pampanga and Mark Anthony Daposala from Cagayan de Oro were fellows for poetry (English).
The Cornelio Faigao workshop provides a highly creative environment for aspiring writers in Cebuano and in English, where they have the chance to dialogue with established writers from around the Philippines.
The workshop was founded in 1984 by Dr. Resil Mojares, USC professor emeritus and founding director of the Cebuano Studies Center.
Since then, some of the most notable names in Cebuano literature have passed through the workshop’s doors, including Gremer Chan Reyes, Ester Tapia, Corazon Almerino, Michael Obenieta, Januar Yap, Josua Cabrera and Ma. Victoria Beltran, among others.