WHEN this contest was announced on social media in early July, I received a lot of flak from netizens for sponsoring this contest.
Mostly, from people who do not know me personally.
They think that the contest is a little too vain.
You know what? I agree with them that the contest can be a little too vain.
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But you know what? This is also my contest.
I sponsor this contest, and I have a vision for the prize.
In the end, it doesn’t matter what the theme or the topic of the contest is.
In the end, it is the production of good literature that I’m interested in.
That the contest can serve two purposes, one of them vain, that’s just awesome fun for me.
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In short, I am not bothered by the criticism.
The contest will continue as envisioned, and as outlined below.
I stand my ground even if some people do not see the wisdom of it now.
Look back on the audacity of this contest 10 years later!
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Anyway…
The Peter Solis Nery Foundation, Inc. officially opens the competition for 2022 Peter’s Prize for Excellence in Writing — Personal Essay.
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Deadline: AUGUST 15, midnight, Philippine standard time.
Pero we will only start accepting submissions on August 10. (Entries submitted before that date will be disqualified for not following the rules! Obvious ba?) So, you have more than a month (just barely two weeks now) to craft your essays.
‘Wag magmadali: linisin, ayusin, pagandahin, gawing perfect ang inyong mga sanaysay.
If you are reading this now, and are interested, start researching. Mas maganda ang essay na producto rin ng pananaliksik.
(Pakigoogle na lang ng “personal essay” kung hindi ninyo kilala ito. Na-google ko na rin, at agree ako sa definition nila. Haha!)
Pananaliksik, planning, outlining, paggamit ng dictionaries and thesauruses, pakikipagtunggali sa grammar and spell checks.
The Peter’s Prize is not known to extend its deadlines.
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We will accept EMAIL submissions only to: 500tinaga@gmail.com
Sa subject heading ng email, just write your NAME, followed by a HYPHEN (-), followed by PETER’S PRIZE ESSAY. For example: Maria Ng Paladrin – Peter’s Prize Essay
We will waive all requirements for notarized forms, and iba pang chechebureche.
We will deal with the legal stuff only if and when you win!
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Entries should be written in English OR Filipino OR Hiligaynon. OR, if you feel experimental (or just mental), you may try writing it in a mixture of these languages.
Our judges are competent multilinguals so do not worry about how we judge.
Your only worry should be how to write beautiful, moving, literary and/or literate essays.
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Write an essay of 3,500 (minimum) to 4,000 (maximum) words. Word count matters because this is a contest. Between two works of almost the same greatness, we will favor the work that follows the rules of our contest.
Create a TITLE for your work. But the words in the title are not included in the word count.
If you are lazy, you can adopt the theme/topic as your title. But it won’t help your case. We do not reward laziness.
Write in ur BYLINE and CONTACT INFO (email address, phone number, mailing address) AFTER the title.
So, to recap: Title, Byline & Contact info, text of full essay.
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Three prizes will be awarded: first prize (P5,000), second (P3,000), and third (P2,000). We always try to avoid awarding tied winners. But who knows? A precedent has been set with this year’s Poetry Prize.
The first prize winner will receive the specially crafted Peter’s Prize medallion, and the commission to be The Peter Solis Nery Foundation Ambassador for Literature.
All the winners will receive a Certificate of Award.
(Sorry, we do not award certificates of participation. We are trying to be a prestigious literary prize. We do not believe in giving awards to everybody. Hindi ito DepEd!)
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The contest is open to all writers of ALL AGES: wannabes, first timers, contest virgins, amateurs, mid-career, veterans. Previous Peter’s Prize winners and close associates are ELIGIBLE to enter; in fact, I very much encourage them. (See why in the succeeding paragraphs.)
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The topic/theme of the contest is: “WHAT I LEARNED FROM PETER SOLIS NERY”.
Iba-iba ang pagkakilala ninyo sa akin: writer, filmmaker, teacher, nurse, globetrotter, friend, online provocateur, lover(?), Ilonggo, living legend, sex guru, pokpok, literature advocate, Champion of the Hiligaynon language, boldstar.
Para sa ibang tao, suplado ako. Para naman sa iba, ako na ang pinakamabait, super sweet and caring.
Some of you only know me through my social media and online persona. Some of you know me through my Palanca-winning works. Some of you know me through my boldness in my films, and my vulnerability in some of my books (especially the memoirs).
Some of you have touched my hands, my feet. Some of you have listened to my lectures. Some of you have waved at me from a distance. Some of you have flirted with me online during, and even before, the pandemic.
Whether you love me or not, we all can agree that my vanity is legendary. Thus, the theme of the essay contest. (To be continued)/PN
