Filipino poet featured in South African literary festival

MANILA, Philippines – Award-winning poet Filipino Jim Pascual Agustin was recently featured at a poetry festival in McGregor, Western Cape in South Africa. 

The South Africa-based Agustin read selected works from his collection, How to Make a Salagubang Helicopter & other poems (San Anselmo Publications, Inc) at Poetry in McGregor on 7th edition.

Around 200 poets participated in the festival, one of the most popular on the African continent

Agustin’s performance at the poetry festival, entitled “The Voices of Tyrants and Heroes,” included “Danica Mae,” which won the Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation and Multi-Lingual Texts.  Agustin wrote the poem after learning about the death of Danica Mae Garcia, a 5-year-old girl – collateral damage in the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Filipino celebrities JC Santos and Angel Aquino have recorded their own versions of the poem,

Agustin was born in Manila and moved to South Africa in 1994. His poetry has been recognized at the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organization (DALRO) Awards; and multiple times at the Sol Plaatje European Union Awards. – Rappler.com