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Meet the UMak Awardees of NCLA’s Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera

UMak Heron alumnus, Ronaldo S. Vivo Jr., and UMak faculty member, Mr. Mark Philip C. Paderan soared high in the National Commission for Culture and the Arts 2022 Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera for their creative literary works.

 

Continuing to bring pride and honor to UMak is UMak alumnus and current graduate student in the Master’s in Public Administration program from the College of Continuing, Advanced, and Professional Studies, Mr. Ronaldo S. Vivo Jr. Already a familiar name in the realm of contemporary Philippine literature, he published his first novel in 2019 through PSICOM-Literati entitled, “Ang Kapangyarihang Higit sa ating Lahat”.

It also became a finalist of the 20th and 21st Madrigal-Gonzales First Book Award while his sophomore novel entitled “Ang Bangin sa Ilalim ng Ating mga Paa” became a finalist in National Book Development Board’s 2022 Filipino Reader’s Choice. Venturing into the genre of short stories, his work “Tuwing Naglalaho ang Ating Mga Anino” was awarded as 3rd Prize in the Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera 2022 by the National Committee on Literary Arts of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

Bringing stories from the margins into the center stage of Philippine Literature is UMak Associate Professor Mark Philip C. Paderan. A Masbateño who has dedicated his life and learning journey to languages, literature, and education, his work “Taghoy” was voted 3rd Prize for the Rawitdawit Category (Bikol) in the Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera 2022 of the National Committee on Literary Arts of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. While pursuing his Doctor of Philosophy in Literature at the De La Salle University-Manila, he is also sharing his insights and craft with UMak students as part of the Department of Social Sciences, Philosophy, and Humanities in the College of Arts and Letters.

The Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera 2022 NCLA National Literary Contest is an annual contest dedicated to promoting and developing Philippine literary works from different regions, languages, and in different genres. It is named after one of the most prolific writers in contemporary Philippine Literature, the National Artist for Literature, Sir Bienvenido Lumbera.