The 2005 Palanca Awards: An Overdue Report
Proud Playwright at the Palancas: Here I am with Full-Length Play judge Dr. Arthur Casanova and Palanca Foundation's Nemie Bermejo. (Muchas gracias, Señora BB para la foto!)
Upon accepting her Best Actress Oscar for Terms of Endearment back in 1984, Shirley MacLaine admitted, at one point in her speech, that for years, she had “wondered what this (winning an Oscar) would feel like,” then promptly thanked the Academy for “terminating the suspense.”
Her admission struck a chord in me as a brand-new Palanca prizewinner. Like her, I’ve often wondered for years what winning a Palanca would feel like. How would I react to the news? Would I jump with joy? Would I go: woohoo! I couldn’t help it; I have friends who had won before. Some of them won more than once. But all that wondering ended when last August 8, I received an LBC package from the Palanca Foundation. Then and there I knew I won; I had no reason to believe otherwise. The Foundation finally terminated the suspense.
What did I feel at that moment? I felt really lucky. Very grateful. So relieved. And FUCKING THRILLED, MAN! But the full impact of the news only hit me when I opened the package, took out the white envelope, opened it, and unfurled the letter inside. Then these words stood out right away: Congratulations!… First Snow of November… First prize. My very first win. My reaction? Would you believe, just a wide, stupid grin pasted on my face, lasting for much of the day. No jumping around. No delighted scream. I think now: am I that reserved?
My Dad was the first to know: I showed him the letter. Then I called up two very good friends of mine: fictionist Janet Villa, a co-fellow from the Dumaguete and UP workshops; and Mon Sarmiento, one of my former professors and a two-time Palanca winner. I could tell from the heightened pitch in their voices that they were just as elated as I was about the news. Then my Mom, who was visiting her elder brother at Medical City at the time, called me up on my cellphone; my Dad apparently phoned her the news. That night, I called up two of my friends from The Writers Bloc: Vic Torres, who I probably feel the closest to in the group; and Rody Vera, who heads the Bloc and who also won this year. They were were so happy for me.
Even now, I’ll still surprised how fast the news of my win spread. Sure, I know that once the winners have finally been chosen one can virtually count on a news leak (often provided by a judge or the winner him/herself). But in my case, it’s almost mind-boggling, considering that I personally informed only four people outside my immediate family. And it’s not my nature to just blurt it out to just anybody, or announce it in a public forum, virtual or otherwise. For the next few days, I received a steady stream of congratulatory e-mails and text messages. And it continued until the Awards Night last Thursday. Ah, the wonders of technology.
As a first-time first-prize Palanca winner, I arrived early at the Manila Peninsula with my proud parents last Thursday for my interview with the Sunday Inquirer Magazine. The affable Ruey de Vera spotted me almost at once at the Rigodon Ballroom entrance, and promptly whisked me to Alya Honasan, my assigned interviewer. She recognized me almost immediately, for I once contributed an article on The Writers Bloc to the SIM four years ago. Normally I’m a very serious guy, but somehow I became quite animated during the interview, grinning, laughing as I answered her questions. Maybe our theater links (she’s an occasional stage actress) had a hand in it, I don’t know. I hope her writeup on me comes out well.
After the interview, Alya passed me on to Raffy, the SIM photographer. Our photoshoot was, well, interesting. I don’t know exactly what he had in mind when he took my pictures, but he had me pose—rather uncomfortably, I must add—under a lighted table lamp as he shot me from a low angle, which he maintained for the rest of the shoot. Why? I don’t know. I really hope the shots turn out fine; I’m not what you call a photogenic guy.
Much as I was very happy to come to the Awards Night as a winner (I had attended the event as a journalist for the last two years), I was even more so when a good number of my friends came as winners, too. Old and not-so-old friends, like Rody (3rd
Prize, Dulang Ganap ang Haba), Chris Martinez (3rd Prize, One-Act Play), Allan Lopez (3rd Prize, Full-Length Play), Elmer Gatchalian (2nd Prize, Dulang Pantelebisyon), Joel Toledo (1st Prize, Poetry; I feel honored to have been one of the first to read his winning collection last May), Naya Valdellon (2nd Prize, Poetry), and Doc Luis Gatmaitan (Palanca Hall of Fame; I just can’t say enough about this man’s kindness). And new ones as well, like Dean (see picture; he's on the left) and Nikki Alfar (Grand Prize, Novel and 3rd Prize, Short Story for Children, respectively; such a warm, funny couple; my Dad was amused at the amount of food they had piled on their plates, LOL!), Joseph Arevalo (2nd Prize, Dulang May Isang Yugto), Ferdie Jarin (2nd Prize, Sanaysay) and Grace Dacanay-Chong (1st Prize, Short Story for Children; as I had guessed, she turned out to be a not-so-distant relative). Their company made my win sweeter.
Her admission struck a chord in me as a brand-new Palanca prizewinner. Like her, I’ve often wondered for years what winning a Palanca would feel like. How would I react to the news? Would I jump with joy? Would I go: woohoo! I couldn’t help it; I have friends who had won before. Some of them won more than once. But all that wondering ended when last August 8, I received an LBC package from the Palanca Foundation. Then and there I knew I won; I had no reason to believe otherwise. The Foundation finally terminated the suspense.
What did I feel at that moment? I felt really lucky. Very grateful. So relieved. And FUCKING THRILLED, MAN! But the full impact of the news only hit me when I opened the package, took out the white envelope, opened it, and unfurled the letter inside. Then these words stood out right away: Congratulations!… First Snow of November… First prize. My very first win. My reaction? Would you believe, just a wide, stupid grin pasted on my face, lasting for much of the day. No jumping around. No delighted scream. I think now: am I that reserved?
My Dad was the first to know: I showed him the letter. Then I called up two very good friends of mine: fictionist Janet Villa, a co-fellow from the Dumaguete and UP workshops; and Mon Sarmiento, one of my former professors and a two-time Palanca winner. I could tell from the heightened pitch in their voices that they were just as elated as I was about the news. Then my Mom, who was visiting her elder brother at Medical City at the time, called me up on my cellphone; my Dad apparently phoned her the news. That night, I called up two of my friends from The Writers Bloc: Vic Torres, who I probably feel the closest to in the group; and Rody Vera, who heads the Bloc and who also won this year. They were were so happy for me.
Even now, I’ll still surprised how fast the news of my win spread. Sure, I know that once the winners have finally been chosen one can virtually count on a news leak (often provided by a judge or the winner him/herself). But in my case, it’s almost mind-boggling, considering that I personally informed only four people outside my immediate family. And it’s not my nature to just blurt it out to just anybody, or announce it in a public forum, virtual or otherwise. For the next few days, I received a steady stream of congratulatory e-mails and text messages. And it continued until the Awards Night last Thursday. Ah, the wonders of technology.
As a first-time first-prize Palanca winner, I arrived early at the Manila Peninsula with my proud parents last Thursday for my interview with the Sunday Inquirer Magazine. The affable Ruey de Vera spotted me almost at once at the Rigodon Ballroom entrance, and promptly whisked me to Alya Honasan, my assigned interviewer. She recognized me almost immediately, for I once contributed an article on The Writers Bloc to the SIM four years ago. Normally I’m a very serious guy, but somehow I became quite animated during the interview, grinning, laughing as I answered her questions. Maybe our theater links (she’s an occasional stage actress) had a hand in it, I don’t know. I hope her writeup on me comes out well.
After the interview, Alya passed me on to Raffy, the SIM photographer. Our photoshoot was, well, interesting. I don’t know exactly what he had in mind when he took my pictures, but he had me pose—rather uncomfortably, I must add—under a lighted table lamp as he shot me from a low angle, which he maintained for the rest of the shoot. Why? I don’t know. I really hope the shots turn out fine; I’m not what you call a photogenic guy.
Much as I was very happy to come to the Awards Night as a winner (I had attended the event as a journalist for the last two years), I was even more so when a good number of my friends came as winners, too. Old and not-so-old friends, like Rody (3rd
Prize, Dulang Ganap ang Haba), Chris Martinez (3rd Prize, One-Act Play), Allan Lopez (3rd Prize, Full-Length Play), Elmer Gatchalian (2nd Prize, Dulang Pantelebisyon), Joel Toledo (1st Prize, Poetry; I feel honored to have been one of the first to read his winning collection last May), Naya Valdellon (2nd Prize, Poetry), and Doc Luis Gatmaitan (Palanca Hall of Fame; I just can’t say enough about this man’s kindness). And new ones as well, like Dean (see picture; he's on the left) and Nikki Alfar (Grand Prize, Novel and 3rd Prize, Short Story for Children, respectively; such a warm, funny couple; my Dad was amused at the amount of food they had piled on their plates, LOL!), Joseph Arevalo (2nd Prize, Dulang May Isang Yugto), Ferdie Jarin (2nd Prize, Sanaysay) and Grace Dacanay-Chong (1st Prize, Short Story for Children; as I had guessed, she turned out to be a not-so-distant relative). Their company made my win sweeter.I’m sure everyone who attended the ceremony would agree with me that the staging of Chris’s Welcome to Intelstar was the highlight of the night. A hilarious virtual monologue on the call-center phenomenon in the country, it featured the brilliant Michael V. as a call-center trainor named Chelsea who conducts an orientation seminar for successful applicants, complete with Powerpoint presentation. Chris’s main strength as a playwright has always been his ability to craft hilarious dialogue, and that strength was at full power in the play. Everyone was laughing so hard and so fast. Even now, I sometimes wonder how my play managed to beat it.
Since my category, the One-Act Play, was second to the last in the lineup, I had to wait quite a while for my turn to climb the stage and claim my prize. It dismayed me a little that not one of the judges in my category w
as present onstage. Not Tony Perez, who chaired the board of judges. Neither maverick stage director José Estrella, whose productions I greatly admire, nor Ramona Monette S. Flores. I was like: oh-kaaaay. It’s a shame, though: I really wanted to thank them for recognizing my play’s worth, for deeming it worthy enough for the top prize. But anyhow, once I stepped down from the stage and joined the other winners and judges, a number of them greeted and congratulated me. There’s Doc Luis (see picture; on the right) and Vim Nadera (who, at times, still sees me as that earnest totoy he first met years ago when he was still brave enough to attend Bloc meetings), as well as Edward Perez (2nd Prize, Dulang Ganap ang Haba) and Carla Pacis. How nice of them.Then, after a while, it was all over. Just like that.
As I write this, I’ve already started to feel the Palanca high gradually wearing off. And I’m okay with it. Don’t misunderstand: I relished the thrill of my win, but after a month—from the day I received that LBC package to the Awards Night—I felt it wore me out a little. Still, I feel very fortunate and thankful for it. For me, earning a Palanca is a matter of luck: you submit the right entry to the right mix of judges at the right time. And the value of the Palanca Awards lies in its being a barometer on the condition of (high) literature in the country today, in its being a venue for young and emerging and regional creative writers to prove their talent, to strut their stuff. And I’m so glad I managed to do that this year.
posted by Alvin at 9:00 AM
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