“Here’s wishing the best for Dumaguete, its literary scene, and all its creative people!”
“EVERYONE is welcome!”
This was the heartwarming invitation of the organizers of the first Dumaguete Literary Festival, a long-cherished dream that came true for many writers and readers in the city when it was staged last week.
The festival, held April 26-28, featured literary panels, readings, performances, and screenings with all events free and open to the general public.
A special event was held April 30: “May Day Eve: A Night with Nick Joaquin,” a homage to the National Artist for Literature with a reading of perhaps his most famous short story, along with “incantations, stories, poetry, dance, and film.”
Touted as a “literary feast for the literary Dumaguetnon,” the litfest brought together people from all over the region and beyond, in a “celebration of all things reading and writing and art-making in Negros Island and Siquijor, and Philippine literature and culture in general.”
The event was directed by Ian Rosales Casocot with festival co-director Gayle Acar, the entrepreneur behind Libreria Books, which spearheaded the event with the Buglas Writers Guild. Government agencies and private companies partnered with them to stage the event, which was meant to mark National Literature Month and the 75th anniversary of the Charter of Dumaguete.
On the significance of holding the event in Dumaguete, Casocot said: “The city has always been considered by many writers as Philippine literature’s ‘hometown.’ It hosts, after all, the oldest—and continuing—creative writing workshop in Asia, which has molded many generations of Filipino writers.
“It was home to the late National Artist for Literature Edith Lopez Tiempo and the late National Artist for Cinema Eddie Romero. As a setting, it has inspired many literary works, from novels to poetry, from essays to plays. And it continues to be home to many notable authors and artists.”
At the Duma Litfest, the keynote speech on “The Future of Literature” was given by acclaimed novelist Dean Francis Alfar.
He traced the evolution of stories and storytelling, from the need of people in prehistoric times to share knowledge about food, danger, and what was needed to survive, to today’s world of fake news, “dueling narratives,” and propaganda, as well as digital forms of storytelling.
So what is the future of our literature?
According to Alfar: “It’s you and what you imagine and create and publish and throw out there,” in whatever form it may take – poetry, fiction, CNF, scripts.
“It’s you rooting for yourself and working to make real what you only dreamed of. It’s you alone because writing is solitary – but it’s also you with others because literature is communal.
“It’s you creating in the now.”
Award-winning writer Sarge Lacuesta, who spoke at one of the panels, praised the city as literary space: “’Imperial Manila’—a derogatory term that our capital city often deserves—would do well not to look to the usual overseas harbors and enclaves for vibes and cues.
There are islands and shores that are much closer to our heart and should figure larger in our collective imagination.
“Case in point: Dumaguete, the smallest city in Negros Oriental, whose literary and artistic sense of self has made it a powerful center for cultural inspiration.”
Among the many writers who guested on Duma Litfest panels was Jay Ignacio, National Book Award-winning writer of graphic novel Alandal, among other works.
He described the event as fun and freewheeling, but very well organized.
“We were encouraged to come in tsinelas and shorts,” he told me, “as the event was meant to be celebrated Dumaguete-style. Ren Ren Galeno (my co-panelist for the following day) and I…were picked up from the airport via traysikel and taken to our hotel. The venue was just 20 meters away on the same street.
“The dress code and the atmosphere may have been very casual, but the event was well-organized. The amount of planning and preparation by the core team of five was very apparent. Topics chosen for panel discussions for each day were interesting, and well-attended.
“I love how wonderfully local this festival is in terms of flavor. Sure, there were many guest panelists from Manila, but that’s what we were: guests. It was an honor to be there and see how well-nurtured the Dumaguete arts and literature scene is.”
The next Duma Litfest will be held on April 4-6, 2025, and hopefully this initiative will push Dumaguete closer to becoming a UNESCO City of Literature, a distinction the city is working toward. At the moment the only Southeast Asian city that’s a City of Literature is Jakarta.
Here’s wishing the best for Dumaguete, its literary scene, and all its creative people! And here’s to more regional litfests, as the bedrock for the sustainability and growth of literary efforts in the country. It’s the grassroots events like these that deserve to be truly celebrated and promoted.
* * * FB and (X): @DrJennyO / Email: writerjennyo@gmail.com