The literary awards season

I believe it was seven years ago when Philippines Graphic magazine institutionalized the Nick Joaquin Literary Awards or NJLA, which honors the winners of the yearly fiction-in-English contest where all short stories published in the magazine within a year compete for handsome prizes.  

Previously called the Philippines Graphic Literary Awards, it was renamed in honor of former Graphic editor in chief Nick Joaquin, National Artist for Literature, under whose aegis the awards were revived in 1990.

If memory serves right, the first NJLA was held in what was then Filipinas Heritage Library in 2011. Subsequent years featured different venues, with the Ramon Magsaysay Center Hall repeatedly serving as a favorite one, and a Novotel Hotel ballroom taking over last year.

Last Tuesday, the awards ceremonies were conducted at El Rancho Bar in Resorts World. Food and drinks and merry camaraderie prevailed, as usual — with the awarding and serial group photo ops proceeding briskly, followed by the announcements of various raffle prizes from the sponsors.

Emceeing the program was Graphic EIC Joel Pablo Salud, with publisher Anton Cabangon rendering the welcome remarks.

First prize winner for the 2018 NJLA was VJ Campilan for her story, “The Visitation.” A business writer, VJ won the Palanca Grand Prize for the Novel in 2015 for All My Lonely Islands, which was published last year by Anvil Publishing Inc. One of the Palanca judges whose brief blurb was used for the book, our old friend and literary idol Benjamin Bautista, simply remarked: “A very fine jade.” For her latest distincion, VJ took home a framed medal and certificate and a cash prize of P50,000.

The second prize winner for her story “High Priestess” was our dear friend Jenny Ortuoste, who’s come back home after a year’s sojourn in the United States. Jenny writes columns on the literary arts and horse racing for The Manila Standard, and has authored Fictionary, a collection of her award-winning short stories, released by UST Publishing House in 2016. It’s her third straight NJLA win, this time earning her a cash prize of P30,000.    

Third prize winner for her story “The Other Side” was Sydney Paige Guerrero, who is still completing creative writing studies in UP Diliman. She gained P20,000 for her first literary contest win.

Honorable mentions were awarded Jake Ramos for “The Bullet,” Miguel Escaño for “Little Star” and Alex Alcasid for “Blue-Black.” The first two were co-fellows at the Silliman University National Writers Workshop last year, while Alex is a daughter of Jenny Ortuoste.

Susan Lara chaired the board of judges, with Jimmy Abad and Sarge Lacuesta as members.

Ramil Digal Gulle was declared Poet of the Year, a special prize deliberated on by the publisher, the EIC, and literary editor Alma Anonas-Carpio. Gulle has authored the following poetry collctions: Textual Relations: Poems (2008 from UP Press), Tracks Without Giants, and Poisonostagia: Poems.

This year’s sponsors included El Calle of Resorts World Manila, San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), SM, Holiday Inn Express, AXN Asia, Fundador, Cowboy Grill, La Jeunesse, Petron and Kitsho Restaurant & Sake Bar.

Several weeks ago, the Manila International Book Fair presaged what has traditionally become a spate of events that honor writers towards the year’s end.

A day after NJLA, on Sept. 26, the FEU Auditorium hosted Ginugunita Kita: A Performance Art of Maningning Miclat’s Poems and the Music of Jesse Lucas, featuring Banaue Miclat-Jannsen and Renato Lucas, together with Al Gatmaitan, Angela Castro and Nasser Lubay. Preceding the performance directed by Roedere Camañao was the 2018 Maningning Miclat Art Awards.

Many have wondered over the past several weeks about the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, which is usually held on Sept. 1. It will take place this Friday, Oct. 5, still at the customary venue that is the Rigodon Ballroom of Manila Peninsula Hotel. This year marks its 68th edition.

At around November, the National Book Development Board (NBDB) and the Manila Critics Circle will be handing out the National Book Awards.

Early next year, the Nick Joaquin Literary Awards for Asia-Pacific Writers will be given out for the first time. Competing for these awards are the short stories submitted for publication in the Tony & Nick literary section of the Business Mirror, from fiction writers all over the ASEAN region, plus Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The Tony & Nick pages that are also edited by Alma Anonas-Carpio continue to honor and celebrate the friendship between Graphic publisher Tony Cabangon-Chua and Nick Joaquin, which led to a pact to award literary writers on a yearly basis. Now that commitment has been strengthened by the heirs of the late lamented Ambassador Cabangon-Chua, who have even doubled up on the venues for literary publication, while also extending the scope of participation with the NJLA Asia-Pacific.