For the last event of issue 8, we're proud to present A POETRY READING featuring poets who've contributed to our journal, spanning from our inaugural issue which launched in 2020 up to our seventh issue which came out in November last year.
Featuring previous TLDTD contributors Agatha Buensalida, Troy Cabida, Austere Rex Gamao, Luisa A. Igloria, Pauline Lacanilao, Hannah Leceña, Mishka Ligot, Carmie Flor Ortego, Voltaire Oyzon, John Dave Pacheco, Edgar Calabia Samar, Brixter Tino, and Cindy Velasquez.
Editors: Nikay Paredes and Paolo Tiausas
Technical Producer: Glen Charles Lopez
Intro and outro Budots produced by Libya Montes.
Song credits / samples used:
1. The Mabuhay Singers - Dandansoy
2. Milyo Naryo - Dandansoy.
A Lecture by Merlie M. Alunan / Introduced by Adrian Pregonir, Q&A with Michael Villas
As part of issue 8, we're honored to present A LECTURE on narrative poetry and poetics of home by MERLIE M. ALUNAN. Introduced by Adrian Medina Pregonir. Q&A moderated by Michael Carlo Villas.
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Adrian Medina Pregonir is an activist and writer in Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a and Filipino from Banga, South Cotabato. His work has been recognized by the Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera, the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards, Gawad Rene O. Villanueva, and Bantugan sa Panulatan Kinaray-a. He was awarded in 2024 as Makata ng Taon in the Talaang Ginto by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino. His works have appeared in literary journals such as Kabisdak, Likhaan: The Journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature, Liwayway, and others.
Michael Carlo C. Villas teaches language and literature at the Department of Arts, Languages, and Literature, Visayas State University. His works—including poems, translations, and literary criticism, on a breadth of topics including literary history, ecocriticism and Waray literary scholarship—have appeared in various books, journals and anthologies. In 2023, he co-edited the landmark anthology Garab, an anthology of short stories in Waray.
The books, poems, and works of esteemed professor, translator and poet Merlie M. Alunan have been recognized by the the Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature; the Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas, through the Gawad Alagad ni Balagtas lifetime achievement award, and the National Book Awards. She is also a recipient of the Suntorn Phu Award by the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Ananda Coomaraswamy Fellowship of the Sahtiya Akademi in the Republic of India. She also received the Ani ng Dangal for Literary Arts, a recognition awarded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
Editors: Nikay Paredes and Paolo Tiausas
Technical Producer: Glen Charles Lopez
Intro and outro Budots produced by Libya Montes.
Song credits / samples used:
1. The Mabuhay Singers - Dandansoy
2. Milyo Naryo - Dandansoy.
A Conversation with Jan Dennis Destajo, Janice Lobo Sapigao, and Lawrence Lacambra Ypil
As part of issue 8, we're happy to present A CONVERSATION on “how we write [from] where we write” with poets Jan Dennis Destajo, Janice Lobo Sapigao and Lawrence Lacambra Ypil. The discussion is moderated by TLDTD co-founding editor Nikay Paredes. This conversation premiered on March 17, 2024.
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Jan Dennis Destajo is an architect and poet from Daet, Camarines Norte. He is the recipient of the Maningning Miclat Grand Prize for Poetry, The Bess Hokin Prize from Poetry, and the Gawad Ustetika Prize for English Poetry. His latest chapbook collection is Theory of Defensible Spaces, published by Kalapati Retrograde. He works and resides in Quezon City.
The poet Janice Lobo Sapigao was born and raised in San José, California. She received an MFA from California Institute of the Arts and a BA in ethnic studies from the University of California, San Diego. She is the author of two books, like a solid to a shadow, published by Timeless, Infinite Light and republished by Nightboat Books, and microchips for millions, published by Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc. From 2020-21, she served as poet laureate of Santa Clara County, California.
Lawrence Lacambra Ypil is a poet and nonfiction writer from Cebu. He has received MFAs in poetry from Washington University in St. Louis and in nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa. He is the author of The Highest Hiding Place, published by Ateneo de Manila University Press, and The Experiment of the Tropics, published by Gaudy Boy, LLC. He is also the co-author of two collaborative projects, You know I was sentimental during the thought of the house, and Ventanilla: Duet. He teaches creative writing at Yale-NUS College in Singapore.
Editors: Nikay Paredes and Paolo Tiausas
Technical Producer: Glen Charles Lopez
Intro and outro Budots produced by Libya Montes.
Song credits / samples used:
1. The Mabuhay Singers - Dandansoy
2. Milyo Naryo - Dandansoy.