ramblingsoul: NCCA Writers Prize

Monday, December 19, 2005

NCCA Writers Prize

Mga friends, bayaw, at hipag, ang saya. I read in the Philippine Star issue today (Monday) that I got the NCCA Writers Prize For Poetry! It's a grant of P250,000 (taxable pa) to write my first poetry book, "What Little I Know of Luminosity". This is slated for publication by the end of next year (hopefully).

Other awardees are Egay Samar for Fiction, Vim Yapan for Short Story, Danton Remoto for Translation, and Rebekah Marahombsar Alawi for Essay.

The money will be given in tranches (i.e., installments) quarterly within 2006. Formal awarding is on Feb. 24, 2006 at the NCCA's Bulwagang Leandro Locsin, in conjunction with the National Arts Month Celebration.

Congrats to the other awardees. I know you all are as excited about this as I am. :)

About Joel

Joel M. Toledo holds a Masters degree in English Studies (Poetry) from the University of the Philippines Diliman, where he likewise finished two undergraduate degrees (Journalism and Creative Writing). He has authored three books of poetry – Chiaroscuro (UST Press, 2008), The Long Lost Startle (UP Press, 2009), and Ruins and Reconstructions (Anvil Publishing, 2011). Chiaroscuro was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Awards. Toledo was the recipient of the 2006 NCCA Literary Prize, and has won several literary awards for his poetry in English, including two Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards, The Philippines Free Press Literary Award, The Meritage Press Poetry Prize in San Francisco, USA, and the Bridport Prize for Poetry in Dorset, United Kingdom. He was a recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation Creative Arts Residency at the Bellagio Center in Italy in March 2011 and was the Philippine representative for the 2011 International Writers Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa, USA. Toledo is the current Literary Editor of the Philippines Free Press. He teaches Literature at Miriam College.