PROJECT GRACE - U.P.
2nd NATIONAL LGBTQ+
WRITERS WORKSHOP
Workshop Panelists
Rolando B. Tolentino
Rolando B. Tolentino is faculty of University of the Philippines Film Institute and former dean of the UP College of Mass Communication. He is Director of the UP Institute of Creative Writing where he also serves as fellow. He has taught at the Osaka University, National University of Singapore, and University of California, Berkeley. His research interests include Philippine literature, popular culture, cinema and media, interfacing national and transnational issues. He writes and has published books on fiction and creative non-fiction. He is a member of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Filipino Film Critics Group), Altermidya (People’s Alternative Media Network), and Congress of Teachers and Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND-UP). Dr. Roland Tolentino is this year’s workshop director.
Honorio Bartolome de Dios
Si Honorio Bartolome de Dios ang may-akda ng Sa Labas ng Parlor, koleksiyon ng maiikling kuwentong bakla na inilimbag ng University of the Philippines Press taong 1998. Kasama sa serye ng mga antolohiyang Ladlad ang kanyang mga kuwentong Geyluv, Lalaki at Giyera at nagwagi sa Palanca Awards for Literature ang ilan sa kanyang mga akda. Marami sa mga kuwento ni Nori ay halaw sa karanasan ng mga tao at pamayanang nakakasalamuha niya bilang isang development worker sa loob ng mahigit tatlong dekada. Kasalukuyang nagtuturo si Nori bilang fakulti ng Department of Community Development ng College of Social Work and Community Development - Unibersidad ng Pilipinas-Diliman.
Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz
Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz is Associate Professor of literature and creative writing at the University of the Philippines Mindanao. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, and a Master of Arts in Language and Literature, major in English, both with high distinction, from De La Salle University-Manila. Her first book, Women Loving. Stories and a Play, published in 2010 by De La Salle University and Anvil Publications, is the first single-author Philippine anthology of lesbian-themed works. In 2015, her stories were published as an eBook entitled “Women on Fire.” She has received Carlos Palanca Memorial Literary Awards for her writing. She is currently a PhD Candidate of RMIT University, Australia.
Jaime An Lim
Jaime An Lim was born in Cagayan de Oro City. He finished his AB in English (cum laude) from Mindanao State University in Marawi City, his MA in Creative Writing from Silliman University in Dumaguete City, and his PhD in Comparative Literature from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, USA. He has published a book of Literary criticism, Literature and Politics: The Colonial Experience in Nine Philippine Novels (1993); two books of short stories, Hedonicus (1998) and The Axolotl Colony (2016); and two poetry collections, Trios (1998) and Auguries (2017). He has won various awards from the Palanca, Panorama, Philippines Free Press, Focus, and Home Life. In 2000, he received the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for poetry and fiction in English from the Unyon ng Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL). He was the Director-in-Residence of the Silliman University National Writers Workshop in 2017 and 2018.
John Iremil Teodoro
John Iremil Teodoro is from San Jose de Buenavista, Antique. He is an Associate Professor and the Graduate Program Coordinator at the Literature Department in the College of Liberal Arts of De La Salle University. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of San Agustin in Iloilo City, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and a Doctor of Philosophy in Literature from DLSU. He is a multi-awarded writer in Kinaray-a, Filipino, Hiligaynon, and English. He has received Palanca awards for his fiction, essay, and drama. He is the author of more than 12 books and his collection of short essays Pagmumuni-muni at Pagtatalak ng Sirenang Nagpapanggap na Prinsesa won the National Book Award from the Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board. Teodoro is also a scholar of Hiligaynon Literature and an Associate for Regional Literatures of DLSU’s Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center. He contributes reviews, travel pieces, and cultural reportage to AGUNG, The Daily Tribune, and Liwayway magazine. He is the director of the annual San Agustin Writers Workshop. Presently, he is the Secretary General of Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL or the Writers Union of the Philippines).
Luna Sicat Cleto
Si Luna Sicat Cleto ang awtor ng Makinilyang Altar (UP Press) at Mga Prodigal (Anvil). Makata, kuwentista at mananaysay, ang mga akda niya’y naisama na sa maraming mga antolohiya. Nagtuturo siya ng Malikhaing Pagsulat at Panitikan sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman. Nitong taong ito, natanggap niya ang GAWAD Balagtas na iginawad ng Unyon ng Mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas para sa Fiksiyon. Siya rin ay recipient ng UP Artist awards.
The Panelists: SOGIE Forum on LGBTQ Wellbeing
Anastacio M. Marasigan, Jr.
Anastacio M. Marasigan, Jr. is the Executive Director of TLF Sexuality Health and Rights Educators Collective, Inc., a civil society organization of gay, bisexual men, transgender women working and advocating for the political, sexual and health rights of Filipino LGBTQs. Tacing, as he is fondly called by his friends and colleagues, began his involvement in HIV and AIDS as a Batch 6 participant of the Human Interaction Values Workshop for men who have sex with other men (MSM) of The Library Foundation. He became a volunteer peer educator, trainer and advocate (Peer ETA) of the same organization. Later on he worked as researcher, and became training officer under the Global Fund Project Round 3 of The Library Foundation. Eventually, he was elected board member and later, appointed as Executive Director in charge of implementing projects funded by Global Fund, Fund for Global Human Rights, United Nations Development Program, AmfAR to name a few. His involvement in TLF SHARE gave him clearer understanding and appreciation of the commitment of community based LGBT organizations in different parts of the country to the creation of an enabling and empowering environment for people of diverse SOGIE. Aside from being a development worker, Tacing is a faculty member of the International Studies Department of De La Salle University-Manila. His research interests are international development cooperation, human rights, sexual and health rights. He finished his graduate degree in International and European Relations from the Amsterdam School of International Relations of the University of Amsterdam. He also attended the American Studies Summer Institute Program in Western Michigan University under the Fulbright Scholarship Program. Currently, Tacing is very much involved in advocating for the passage of the SOGIE Equality Bill, and other related advocacies.
Evan Tan
Evan Tan is a startup entrepreneur and an LGBT+ advocate. He is the country marketing manager for the Philippines of the world’s largest gay social networking app, Blued. Aside from that, he is the chief marketing officer and a co-founder of the Philippines’ pioneering and multi-awarded online tax filing and payment platform, Taxumo. He is also the vice chair for business and industry of the Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce, an organization that champions the LGBT+ countribution in Philippine business. He was formerly the Regional Communications Director for Southeast Asia of Freelancer.com, the world’s largest outsourcing & crowdsourcing marketplace. During his tenure, the company won its first-ever Asia-Pacific Stevie Award. As the media company’s Advertising & Promotions Director, he helped TEAM Magazine sustain its mission to create pioneering content on and for the local and regional gay community. He was part of different teams which have launched pioneering initiatives, namely sustainability champion MyShelter Foundation (now renowned globally for their A Liter of Light project – an economically- and ecologically-sustainable campaign which provides lighting to underprivileged households) and Yoga for Life (a one-of-a-kind HIV support group that uses yoga to help raise HIV awareness.) He previously served as the Administrative Head of The Red Whistle, an organization which aims to spark conversations on HIV and AIDS, along with the issues surrounding it such as gender, sexuality, and sexual health. He has spoken in various conferences, seminars, & workshops, such as Pecha Kucha Manila, the Digital Malaysia Crowdsourcing Conference, and Impact Hub’s FuckUp Night Manila, to name a few. Likewise, he has also been featured in media across the region, such as Bloomberg Malaysia, Channel NewsAsia, GMA TV, 2nd Opinion, Rappler, and The Manila Times, among others. He is a secular humanist, a vegan, a fitness enthusiast, and a passionate traveler.
Giney Villar
Giney Villar read the statement of the first feminist-lesbian group that participated in the 1992 International Women’s Day March. This group eventually became The Lesbian Collective (TLC), the first out feminist-lesbian group founded in the same year. In 1994, she co-authored with Aida Santos, the first out lesbian book, Woman to Woman: Essays, Poetry and Fiction. In 1995, she became Coordinator of the Women Supporting Women Committee, a pioneering lesbian rights desk within WeDPro, a women’s NGO. Later on the desk became Womyn Supporting Womyn Centre, the first lesbian rights NGO where she served as Coordinator. In 1996, she served as Co-Convenor of the First National Lesbian Rights Conference organized by WSWC-WEDPRO together with Lesbond (Baguio) and The Group (Davao). She was also a pioneering member of Lagablab and Task Force Pride in the 90s. Served as Advisor to lesbian orgs ProLes and Galang in the 2000s. In 1997 she was elected Co-Chair of the Women’s Committee of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), in Koln Germany and served till 1999. In 1998, she served as co-convenor of the 4th Asian Lesbian Network Conference (1998) held at UP. From the late 90s to the early 2000s, she served as International Advisory Board member, of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice (formerly known as Astraea Lesbian Rights Foundation), NY. Contributed to various publications, such as the Encyclopedia of Lesbian Histories and Cultures, 1999. In 2011, she was the first Filipina to be Certified as Executive Chef by the American Culinary Federation in the country. Served as Executive Chef of Adarna Food and Culture (twice recognized as one of the top 500 restaurants in Asia by the Miele Guide) and Feliza Café y Taverna. Won second prize at the 2017 Doreen G. Fernandez Food Writing Awards for her piece, “The Taste of Resurrection: Pamarawan Bagoong.” Likes documentaries, history, private dinner parties and irreverent conversations.
Naomi Fontanos
Naomi Fontanos graduated from the University of the Philippines Diliman with a degree in secondary Social Studies education and is currently pursuing graduate studies in the field of language education. She is a long-time advocate of the Filipino transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex, and queer (TLGBIQ) community and an advocate of feminism. In 2015, she became the first transgender Filipina to be a fellow of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the United States State Department on Preventing and Responding to Bias-Motivated Violence Against the LGBT Community. She is a co-founder and current Executive Director of Gender and Development Advocates (GANDA) Filipinas, a TLGBIQ human rights organization primarily focused on the issues, needs, and concerns of the trans community in the Philippines and beyond. In 2018, she was named a fellow of the Internet Freedom Festival (IFF) held at Valencia, Spain in March 2018.
Perci Vilar Cendaña
Perci Vilar Cendaña was the youngest elected president of the pioneering LGBT group University of the Philippines Babaylan. He holds the historical distinction of being the first openly gay Chairperson of the UP Diliman University Student Council. He is also the founding President of the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines. He is recognized as one of the first gay leaders of a progressive political party in the world being a former National Chairperson of Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party. In 2011, he was appointed to the National Youth Commission. He served as the first convenor of the inter-agency group on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and former Chair of the NYC Committee on Social Inclusion and Equity. He is currently the president of Babaylanes Inc., an NGO working on building capacities of young LGBTs. He is also the president of the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) Awards Foundation.