UMPIL runs online writers forum on Facebook this August 2020

The Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL), the Writer’s Union of the Philippines, will run a four-part “UMPILan” writers’ forum series through its Facebook Page this month of August. The writers’ forum, a regular feature of the organization’s annual National Writers Congress postponed last April due to COVID-19 pandemic, will reflect on theme “Writing (in) the New Normal”/”Pagsulat sa/ng Bagong Normal.”

The UMPILan August 5 episode will feature fictionist, newspaper columnist, and TV host Jessica Zafra; the August 3 episode has Jesuit priest, poet, and activist Albert Alejo, while the August 15 episode will have former University of the Philippines chancellor Michael Tan; the August 22, the final episode will feature physician, medical anthropologist, and newspaper columnist Gideon Lasco. 

The series will attempt to respond to the following questions, as informed by the speakers’ disciplines and writerly interests: How do we face the new normal? How does one write it? How does one write, imagine this new event, which seems to be a moment when all of history and human life have been put to a halt? How does one go on living, and steadfastly clinging on to faith in goodness, justice, and hope? What does one wish for the self and others? What becomes of literature and writing in the midst of suffering and social inequality? Where do we turn to for healing? In the end, how must we imagine a new post-pandemic world?

The episodes will be streamed live in UMPIL’s Facebook at https://bit.ly/39z4p6C. Please follow the page.

UMPILan and the rest of the August online activities of the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas is supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and co-presented by the Ateneo de Manila University Press and the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges-Student Network. – Rappler.com