2021 Maningning Miclat Poetry Award winners proclaimed

This is a press release from the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation, Inc.

Spoken word artist and writer from Butuan City, Alfonso Manalastas, and a member of LIRA (Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika at Anyo) from Marinduque, Genesis Roy Historillo, won in this year’s Maningning Miclat Poetry Award.

The winners were proclaimed last September 12. The zoom awarding streamed live on the Facebook page Maningning Miclat held back-to-back with the posthumous launching of the memorial edition of the last books completed by writer, educator, and poet Mario Ignacio Miclat before he passed away.

Manalastas bagged the grand prize in the English poetry award for his collection entitled Country Underwater, while Historillo won for his poetry suite, Ang Hugis ng Pandemya.

The two winners received a P28,000 cash prize each and a trophy made by the eminent sculptor Julie Lluch, plus the commemorative set of books by Dr. Miclat: poetry, Kailan Diwata at 70+ na Tula; essays, Hundred Flowers, Hundred Philosophies; and novel, 21 West 4^th Street, Maningning Miclat’s Voice from the Underworld: A Book of Verses, Alma Cruz Miclat’s Soul Searchers and Dreamers, Volumes I & II , Maharadya Miclat-Janssen’s  #Rajisms, and Fairground: A Literary Feast, edited by Gémino H. Abad and Alma Cruz Miclat.

Other winners of the prestigious prize for poets 28 years old and younger are Eunice Andrada from the “unceded Gadigal Land” in Australia (2nd prize) for her collection Echolalia and other poems, and physician Ralph Lorenz Fonte (3rd prize) for his collection Gods of the Plague. Fonte was the 2019 Maningning Grand Prize winner in Filipino poetry.

For the Filipino category, John Brixter Tino from Quezon province won 2nd prize for his collection Sa Loob ng Saloob, whille Rowell Ulang from Binangonan, Rizal won 3rd prize for his poetry suite Arkeologo. They will all receive certificates of merit and the Miclat books.

The judges of the Maningning Poetry Award, Marjorie Evasco, Dinah Roma, and Marne Kilates, read the citations for the Top 3 winners in English poetry, while judges Rebecca T. Añonuevo, Ruth Elynia Mabanglo, and Michael Coroza read the citations for the Top 3 winners in Filipino poetry. A poem by Manalastas and Historillo were read by Roma and Coroza respectively.

The event, “Sining at Salita,” organized by the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation, Inc. (MMAFI), featured performance poet Vim Nadera who read National Artist Virgilio S. Almario’s introduction to Dr. Miclat’s book of poetry. Writer Elizabeth Lolarga and Likhaan Institute of Creative Writing director Joey Baquiran meanwhile discussed Dr. Miclat’s novel and essays, respectively.

Hosted by awarded playwright Glenn Sevilla Mas, the program began with an invocation by MMAFI trustee Julie Lluch and a prayer song, Amazing Grace, by actor and singer Banaue Miclat-Janssen. It was followed by opening remarks by MMAFI trustee Dr. Orestes P. Monzon. Flutist Jay Gomez, graduate of the Philippine High School for the Arts and the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Music, rendered “Huling Daing ni Florante,” composed by Dr. Carlos Pizarro.

The special event which was a tribute to the father-daughter tandem of Mario and Maningning Miclat, ended with the closing remarks of MMAFI president Alma Cruz Miclat. 

The next Maningning Miclat Poetry Awards will be held in 2023. Alternating annually with painting, the Award aims to encourage creativity and give recognition and awards to outstanding and talented young poets and artists. 

Dr. Miclat’s books were published by the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation, Inc. with the support of the Filipinas Institute of Translation, the UP Diliman Chancellor’s Office, and Likhaan Institute of Creative Writing. 

To order the limited memorial edition of only 300 sets of hardbound Mario I. Miclat’s books, email maningningfoundation@gmail.com or call/text 0999 504 2898. – Rappler.com