Drop by the UPWC’s sign-up booth at the College of Arts and Letters (CAL) basement from June 5-8 to get more information on our application process, events and upcoming workshops.  See you!

I traced my fingers over
the folds of your feet
while I rubbed them with oiled hands,
as you asked,
to “make them soft as
a baby’s skin.”
The soles were hard like dog’s pads and
I imagined you walking over
hot coals
like the ones on tv shows–
but they had their secrets, and though
you never learned their tricks
your feet weren’t black.

I felt your muscles loosen
but I cannot make them soft again.

***

Noong fourth year high school lamang nalaman ni Bernadette Canay na may isang “t” lang sa halip na dalawa ang legal niyang pangalan. Malaking bagay ito para sa kanya, kaya kahit mali ginagamit niya pa rin ito sa pagpapangalan ng mga nabiling libro. Nais niyang makaharap ang nag-type ng pangalan niya sa Birth Certificate balang araw.

The train took you away from

me.

***

Pola Del Monte is the epitome of kikay and “small but terrible” personified. She is the current treasurer and Finance Committee head of the Writers Club.

1. Who can submit: All current students, alumni and professors of the University of the Philippines System. Although we do accept works from UP campuses outside the NCR, we do not currently have the facilities to edit works in the regional languages. So yes, until we get bigger funding and a wider pool of editors, we can only welcome works written in English and Filipino (er, Tagalog, really). But we trust that that will change someday. Soon.

2. What you can submit: Prose, Poetry, Photography and Artwork. That means, yes, creative nonfiction and short stories are acceptable—we’re welcoming of genre benders, works that question our sense of form in Art, our sense of being, and how we make sense of the world with the only facility we can really attempt to do so with—words. For editorial purposes however, we may need to stick to the said labels, but trust that we will read your works and respect whatever label you want to attribute to it, or the absence of it. Oh, and we only take in UNPUBLISHED works.

A SPECIAL NOTE on Artworks and Photo submissions: Please submit in digital format (PNG or JPEG), with a minimum of 300 dpi.

3. How long could/should your submissions be: It doesn’t matter. You can send in something as short as a line as long as it makes sense. It’s also cool if it doesn’t, but you know what we’re interested in—works that make us think.  And no, we can’t publish your novel. But we want to help you get your work out, and we’ll do the best we can.

4. How to submit works: Hello, e-mail! Everything is done electronically—send your works to lookingforwally@gmail.com (UP Writers Club is also in on the campaign to save the environment.) We receive enough spam mail so please stick to the ff. rules:

• Since we talked about labels earlier, for now, we’ll use the following to facilitate the distribution of works to their respective editors. For ENGLISH submissions: FICTION, CREATIVE NONFICTION (CNF), POETRY, PHOTOGRAPHY, ART. For submissions in FILIPINO: PROSA, MALIKHAING SANAYSAY, TULA, LARAWAN, ILUSTRASYON.

• Download the official entry form here (.pdf) or here (.doc). This will be the only source of information we’ll have on you—no markings of your name should be on the document containing your work. Save the file as TITLE_APPLICATION. For example: The Pink Kulambo_Application.

• Save your work with the following format: TITLE_GENRE. For example: The Pink Kulambo_Poetry. If your work has no title, put in UNTITLED, like Untitled_Fiction.

• Attach only one form and one work in each e-mail. Yes, you read that right. ONLY one form and one work in each e-mail—that means two Word documents should be attached per e-mail. We know it’s a lot of work but you also need to help us out. (It should also be at the writer’s discretion not to submit works that just aren’t ripe yet. HOW TO MAKE IT RIPE? Join the UP Writers Club!)

• The subject of your e-mail should contain the genre of your work. (Or rather, temporary label.) Simply put in POETRY, CNF, FICTION, PHOTOGRAPHY, ARTWORK. Or, for entries in Filipino: PROSA, MALIKHAING SANAYSAY, TULA, LARAWAN, ILUSTRASYON.

5. How long will the wait be: The editors of the Literary Apprentice have full-time involvement in the academe—that is, we are students, most of us currently writing our theses; and although sometimes we seek advice from guest editors (professors, usually), we have lots of things on our plates. The editorial process will take at least three months, the publication, a lot longer, so we need you to be a little patient with us, and maybe even occasionally offer us fruit and refreshments when we cross paths at one of the UP’s corridors. We will get back to you as soon as we can, and yes, we will send you notice even if we can’t take in your work for the current issue.

6. What’s in it for you: A chance to get involved in something really worth doing, that will matter for generations to come—well, that’s the showbiz answer. But really, what’s there for you to lose save for a few months of waiting for some snobbish editor to e-mail you back? You give us your best work, you give us the best of what UP students have to offer, and we’ll help you get your stuff out.

Plus, it’s really cool to see your name etched on something that looks like it could’ve been bought from National Bookstore.

Fear ye not! A limited number of copies of the Literary Apprentice 2009 are still on sale for only P150. Text Anne at 09175480922 to reserve your copy NOW!

Drop by the UPWC’s sign-up booth at the College of Arts and Letters (CAL) basement from June 29-July 9 to get more information on our application process, events and upcoming workshops. Copies of the 2009 Literary Apprentice will also be on sale.

If you can’t make it, e-mail us at lookingforwally@gmail.com with “APPLICATION” on the e-mail subject and we’ll send you details.

We look forward to seeing and hearing from you!

July 16 Chic Literature by Andrea Pasion, Author of Have Baby, Will Date

July 23 Graphic Novel by Carlo Vergara, Author of Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni ZsaZsa Zaturnah

July 30 Horror Writing by Yvette Tan, fictionist and Palanca Award winning writer

All lectures will be held at Rm. 508 of the College of Arts and Letters, from 2:30 to 4:00 pm.