THE FLAME, the official student publication of the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets), will kick off the celebration of its 60th anniversary with the launch of the 2023 edition of its literary folio Dapitan.
Carrying the theme Panopticon, Dapitan 2023 explores the concept of constant surveillance and its timely implications in an era that is supposedly characterized by greater freedoms, technological flexibility and access to alternative views.
The launch will also mark the revival of The Flame‘s print edition, which was halted during the pandemic, and will pay homage to the literary icons whose bylines once appeared on the pages of the annual anthology.
The event will be held on Nov. 12, 2024, 1 p.m. at the Tan Yan Kee Student Center Audio Visual Room.
“While we are striving to bring independent journalism to the Artlers community, the university and the nation, we are also upholding the rich literary tradition of The Flame, as embodied by Dapitan,” The Flame editor-in-chief Zoe Airabelle Aguinaldo said.
“Through this literary folio, we seek to return to the roots of The Flame, which started as a print publication. It is our way of appreciating our past while embracing the changes that will help us prepare for the future of reporting and storytelling,” she added.
The production of printed copies of Dapitan and The Flame magazine halted during the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2020 to 2022, Dapitan issues Ina, Captured and Hintayan were published through online publishing platform Issuu.
French philosopher Michel Foucault popularized the idea of a panopticon in his book Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. The panopticon is a metaphor representing the exercise of modern power and control over individuals in a system of constant observation.
Maria Althea Javier, literary editor of The Flame, said the theme also revolves around the various ways of watching and its effects on the nation and covers both the act of observing and the state of being observed.
“We wanted a relevant theme that our readers could relate to. Because of present realities brought about by invasive technology, intrusive habits and to some extent, controlling institutions, some people feel that they are constantly being watched,” Javier said.
“Our literary folio focuses on that uncomfortable feeling. It is something unsettling, something that evokes strong emotions, and in this case, something that spurs creativity.”
The guest editor for Dapitan: Panopticon is Edgar Calabia Samar, PhD, an award-winning author and associate professor in the Department of Filipino at Ateneo de Manila University. Samar, whose works include the Janus Silang series and Trilohiya ng mga Bilang, has won prestigious literary prizes, including the Palanca Memorial Awards, National Book Award, NCAA Writer’s Prize, National Children’s Book Award, Gantimpalang Collantes and the PBBY-Salanga Writer’s Prize.
Jan Raen Carlo Ledesma of the UST Department of Literature will serve as the keynote speaker for the launch. Ledesma is a research fellow at the UST Research Center for Culture, Arts, and Humanities. He also served as the managing editor of UNITAS Journal.
“Through this literary folio, which tackles the themes of imprisonment and surveillance, we aim to encourage Thomasian Artlets to liberate themselves from rigid conventions and to showcase their creativity. We hope Dapitan will become one of their stepping stones to literary greatness,” veteran journalist Alexis Romero, who served as The Flame‘s publication adviser during Dapitan’s production phase, said.
Among the esteemed writers who have contributed to Dapitan are Palanca award-winning authors and poets Rebecca Añonuevo, Joel Toledo, Edgar Calabia Samar, Eros Atalia, Merlinda Bobis, Asst. Prof. Benedict “Ned” Parfan, Angelo Suárez, Assoc. Prof. Nerisa del Carmen Guevarra, Prof. Jose Victor Torres and Lourd Ernest de Veyra. The late Artlets dean Ophelia Dimalanta, who served as publication adviser of The Flame, was also among those who contributed to the literary folio.
Prominent media and literary personalities who are alumni of The Flame include journalist Sandra Aguinaldo, authors Angelo Suárez and J. Pocholo Goitia, who all served as editors-in-chief of The Flame, and Parfan, who served as an associate editor of The Flame. Torres served as The Flame’s publication adviser in 2008. Other notable alumni of The Flame are Glenda Gloria, co-founder and executive editor of Rappler, and Aaron Favila, a photographer for Associated Press. Palanca award-winning author and journalist Joselito Zulueta is also an alumnus of The Flame and is currently the publication adviser of The Varsitarian.
Dapitan is named after the street facing the St. Raymund de Peñafort building, the home of the Faculty of Arts and Letters. F
