in makati for the romeo forbes short story competition

canvas (1/of gallery, 2nd level shops, serendra, global city, tagig) invited me to judge this year's romeo forbes short story for children competition. judging meant going to makati all the way from u.p. diliman.

after the preliminaries, canvas executive director gigo alampay invited this year's judges (me, tin-aw art gallery owner and u.p. alumna dawn atienza and tony / lawrence olivier prizewinning singer/actress lea salonga) to have some afternoon tea at chateau 1771 in greenbelt 5.

the judges enjoyed reading the finalists anonymously. i wondered whether i had past and present students in the finals. surprisingly, we didn't have to labor over our shortlisted finalists and the eventual winner.

by unanimous decision, the winner turned out to be:

doll eyes by eline santos

the following writers made the short list:

the search for magic by raissa rivera

father damian's amazing carabao by becky bravo

ang dyip ni mang tomas ni genaro r. gojo cruz

alay sa huling babae sa bayan ng suna ni michael frianeza

the first jeepney by agay llanera

after deciding on the eventual winner, the judges begged gigo to reveal the names of the winner and the shortlisted finalists. i was thrilled to discover that i know two of the finalists. raissa rivera won her first or second palanca for futuristic fiction with me as one of the judges. frequent palanca winner becky bravo was my student in comm 1 (freshman english) and comm 2 (types of academic discourse) in u.p. diliman many years ago. i am certain these two writers will not stop writing. they are really good.

in the end, my sense of mission was affirmed. young people need a lot of encouragement. contests do not necessarily ensure longevity. but many writers can sustain their careers within a positive and nurturing environment.

(l-r) tony / lawrence olivier prizewinning singer/actress lea salonga, jose wendell capili, tin-aw art gallery owner and u.p. diliman alumna dawn atienza (gigo alampay)