AN ALUMNA of the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters was among the winners in the 71st Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the country’s longest-running literary competition.
UST journalism graduate Iza Maria Reyes of batch 2014 placed third under the Maikling Kuwentong Pambata (short story for children) category for her piece titled, “Babasagin, babasagin!”
In a livestream during the 62nd University of the Philippines National Writers workshop in April, Reyes said she wrote the title piece as part of a children’s story collection to advocate gentle parenting and end “the accustomed verbal abuse against children.”
Reyes has authored several Filipino short story books, including Ang Aking Agent Nanay and Ang Tahanang Hindi Tumatahan.
“Si Toyo at si Suka” by Jaylord Losabia bagged the first prize in the same category, followed by Mikka Ann Cabangon’s “Si Liya at ang Dapithapon sa Ilaya.”
Submissions for the Filipino short story for children category, which could tackle any subject, were required to be within the grade-school reading level of children from ages 7 to 12. Of the 1,405 entries submitted for this year’s edition, a total of 54 awardees were selected across 20 categories.
Established in 1950, the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards is deemed as the gold standard in writing excellence that seeks to promote education and develop Philippine literature and culture.F
