X - Poetry with Marjorie Evasco
Tuesday, November 24, 2015The lady behind award winning poetry books namely Dreamweavers: Selected Poems (1976-1986) and Ochre Tones: English and Cebuano Poems (1999)...
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
The lady behind award winning poetry books namely Dreamweavers: Selected Poems (1976-1986) and Ochre Tones: English and Cebuano Poems (1999) that both won the National Book Award for Poetry from the manila critics' circle, Marjorie Evasco.
Marjorie Evasco, an award winning Filipino poet born and raised in Maribojoc, Bohol on September 21, 1953. In 1973, she finished her Bachelor Degree at Divine Word College of Tagbiliran; In 1982, her Masteral Degree in Creative Writing at Siliman University and her Doctor of Philiosophy in Literature (D. Ph. Litt.) at the De La Salle University - Manila, where she is a full proffessor at the faculty of the Department of Literature. She writes poems in English and in Cebuano-Visayan dialect. She is also an advocate of women's rights, and is one of the earliest Filipina Feminist Poet.
In 1987, her first book entitled Dreamweavers took place after 10 years of hard work.this book was called the book of origins. It was a touch up of the 'eye' motif found in the traditional Asian handwoven fabrics — conveys the idea of keys, locks, openings and closures; and the Philippine History.
Meanwhile, her second book took longer span of time to be completed — 12 hard working years. She called this book the book of changes imbedded upon the 4 primary elements — earth, water, fire and air.
Her other literary works are as follows:
- A Legacy of Light: 100 Years of Sun Life in the Philippines
- Six Women Poets: Inter/Views (co-authored with Edna Manlapaz)
- Kung Ibig Mo: Love Poetry by Women (co-edited with Benilda Santos)
- A Life Shaped by Music: Andrea Veneracion and the Philippine Madrigal Singers
- ANI: The Life and Art of Hermogena Borja Lungay, a Boholano Painter
Evasco is a founding member of two organizations linked with the cause of women writers namely
WICCA, Writers Involved in Creating Cultural Alternatives; and WILA, Women in Literacy Arts.
In 1998, she served as an editor of a special issue of ANI that featured writings and art works by Filipino women and is also an associate of the PLAC, Philippine Literary Arts Council.
Evasco has received several Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards, National Book Awards from the Manila Critics' Circle, and Philippine Free Press prizes for her poems and essays. Her poems have appeared in many important anthologies and she has been made known extensively in Asia, Europe and North America. She has also received various international fellowships namely, a writing fellowship at the International Retreat for Writers in Hawthornden Castle, Scotland in 1991; a Rockefeller grant and residency in Italy in 1992; 10th Vancouver International Writers' Festival in 1997; International Writers'Program fellowship at the University of lowa in 2002; University of Malaya Cultural Centre grant in Kula Lumpur, Malaysia in 2003; the Wordfeast 1st Singapore International Literary Festival in 2004 and the Man Hong Kong Literary Festival in 2006, and the XVIII International Poetry Festival in Medellin, Colombia in 2008.
Indeed, she is a Filipino pride. She has made known how creative, artistic, imaginative and witty the Filipinos are. Who couldn't be more proud of our very own? An inspiration that will last a lifetime.
xoxo, Louise.
(Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Evasco)
