RIGHT now, as founder and CEO of The Peter Solis Nery Foundation for Hiligaynon Literature and the Arts, Inc., sponsor of the Peter’s Prize, I envision three Peter’s Prize medalists for 2021.
And two had already been named: Romie John Delariarte, Special Peter’s Prize for Theatre Arts; and Jonell Segador Gregorio, first prize winner of the competitive Peter’s Prize for COVID Literature (Chapbook).
The third one we are looking for will be the winner of the already announced competitive category, the 2021 Peter’s Prize for Film.
*
But it is still too early in 2021.
And the Palanca Awards has been cancelled again this year.
Also, the prizes for COVID Lit were won by English and Tagalog entries.
And some people are saying, is The PSNF losing sight of its vision and mission of promoting Hiligaynon literature?
So, maybe, there will still be more competitive categories before the year ends.
*
First awarded in 2013, the Peter’s Prize was originally designed for Excellence in Writing Literature in Hiligaynon.
The first competitive categories were in Love Poetry and Flash Fiction.
In 2014, we decided to give the first Special Peter’s Prize for Literary Criticism because no other award-giving body in the country has been honoring the important role of literary studies and criticism in the growth and history of our literature.
*
In 2015, we also started awarding the Special Peter’s Prize for Literary Translation because, again, nobody honors the literary translators.
(The competitive NCCA Translator Prize was first conducted in 2017, so the Peter’s Prize predates the government agency’s efforts by two years!)
*
Aware of the seeming neglect of “…and the Arts” portion in the name of the Foundation, the Peter’s Prize extended to Visual Arts in 2017; and Special Prizes were also given for Theatre Arts, and Cultural Dissemination.
In 2019, we started the Peter’s Prize for Film.
*
And until this year, all the Peter’s Prize for Excellence in Writing were conducted in Hiligaynon.
The call for Peter’s Prize for COVID Literature ignored the language restriction.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit us all.
All peoples of all colors, cultures, and languages.
And only because we were considering the judges’ situation that we limited the entry submissions to English, Filipino, and Hiligaynon.
Don’t you wish The PSNF was so rich to be able to afford prizes for each language?
*
Romie John Delariarte, Founder and Creative Director of Iloilo Prima Galaw, which is celebrating its 12thanniversary this year, is awarded the Special Peter’s Prize for Theatre Arts in recognition of his over a decade-long work on the Ilonggo stage.
Managing a theatre group outside of the academe, Romie John has kept the theater scene alive in Iloilo with his adaptations of Disney musicals, among other productions.
In recent years though, his Prima Galaw company has started staging Filipino plays — most notably, Peter Solis Nery’s first prize Palanca Award-winning “Tic-tac-toe,” a comedy hit that the group has been performing all over the country including the CCP, and Bacolod City, and with several restaging year after year in Iloilo City.
*
Aklan State University’s college faculty Jonell Segador Gregorio, thirty-something, won the first prize in the 2021 Peter’s Prize for Excellence in Writing (COVID Literature) for his entry “Tumult: Literature Borne of a Pandemic,” which bested 20 other entries.
The “Tumult…” collection boasts of stories (fiction and creative non-fiction) and poems in English and Filipino, but mostly in English.
The work is notable for its non-melodramatic, non-hysterical, and clear message that the pandemic is not just a health issue, but a bigger social concern, especially for the people in the provinces.
*
Second prize winner is Kian H. Sanchez, 19, and a BS Education student in Bataan, for his work “Lubi-lubi: Labindalawang Buwan ng mga Delubyo at Pandemya.”
“Lubi-lubi…” was cited for its mastery of the Filipino language (Kian shares the hometown of Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar, Orion, Bataan) and its sustained documentation, in poetry no less, of the 12 months of calamities (natural and manmade) that made 2020 a most dreadful year for Filipinos.
*
Twenty-something Maria Kristelle C. Jimenez from Pampanga, a writer and editor with almost a decade experience in the indie publishing scene, won third prize for “Anatomiya ng Pandemya.”
“Anatomiya…” is a strong collection of absurdist fiction that beautifully details the city life in a language that is vibrant, current, and fearless.
*
For the 2021 Peter’s Prize for Film, like its 2019 edition, it is still open-themed, three-minute, and silent.
Email submission only — starting June 24, with a deadline of June 30, 2021.
Only .mp4 files emailed to 500tinaga@gmail.comby the contest dates will be screened, and qualified.
The cash prizes stand at P5,000 for the first prize; P3,000 for the second prize; and P2,000 for the third prize.
The first prize winner will also receive the Peter’s Prize medallion, and the commission as The PSNF Ambassador for Film.
All qualifying films will become part of the 2021 edition of The Peter Solis Nery Foundation International Film Festival (The PSNFIFF 2021).
The contest is open to Filipino and non-Filipino filmmakers, established and neophytes./PN
