LIRA Fellows’ Night: Mission Accomplished
I still have a hangover from last Tuesday’s ‘celebration’. It was a celebration, all right — a fête to a dozen or so young poets who survived six months of one badass poetry clinic. (I mean that in a good way.) The night bore witness to free-flowing poetry, applause, Kodak moments, and of course, booze.
To say that I heaved a sigh of relief after the event would be an understatement; sigh is too small a word. Its Tagalog counterpart, buntong-hininga is more apt — a microcosm of rising expectations, of a build-up toward the climax, of keeping your breath in, then suddenly, a release.
Enough words. Enjoy these pictures of the LIRA Fellows’ Night 2007, courtesy of Fellows JC Sola and Karla Cachola, and the person most-referenced to in my blogs (hehe), Ia. It goes without saying: click to enlarge.
From left to right: Ia, batch president Pau Hernando, Christine Magpile practicing on the piano, and yours truly testing the mic. (And posing for a photo op as well.)
Conspiracy Bar’s hallowed stage, ready for another night of verses.
JC, Pau, and I preparing for the program. The small, in-your-face stage helped ease some of the jitters.
Artwork on Conspi’s wall and shelves. Look closely and you can see some strong social messages.
Enjoying the free buffet dinner. From left to right: Christa de la Cruz, Pau, me, Ia, and Guia de Leon.
My first poetry reading. Yes, first in my whole 22 years on earth. I was the fifth Fellow to read. Poem: Talà (”Star”), the same one from our radio guesting. A short piece. Don’t mind the preppy stage decor; we were crazy.
Reading my second poem, Ang Ika-Ilang Milyong Lumusong sa Ilog (still coming up with a semantic/idiomatic/un-literal/etc. translation to this one; tentatively “The Nth Crosser of the River”). The previous poem’s succinct title was representative of the work’s length; this one’s, too. Thank goodness nobody yanked me off the stage with an umbrella handle.
This pic was included because it made me realize that, hey, I indeed have Chinese blood, and hey, my eyes are really Sinitic. You win, Ia.
JC, Pau, Pilipoy/Kimpoy, and Sir Rio Alma. JC and Pau are two of my closest friends in the batch. LIRA member Repa Gallos is in the background.
I honestly forgot what the fanfare above was all about. Sir Rio looks dead serious in the pic, but trust me, he was jolly the whole night. The one in the black shirt is Sir Fidel Rillo.
BLAM! LIRA president Beverly Siy gets a surprise. Belated happy birthday, Miss Bebang!
Sir Rio giving his message to the LIRA Fellows. Another ’serious’ pic not indicative of Sir’s mood, haha.
As you can see, Conspi is a cozy place…although its reputation is by no means small.
The great Balagtasista, Teo T. Antonio. Sir, thanks for the very gracious feedback on our metaphors and figures of speech, hehe.
Yours truly is now officially a graduate of the LIRA Poetry Workshop 2007. Too bad my right eye again screwed up an otherwise great photo. (Members of the Kimpo family are supposed to more pronouncedly exhibit these ‘unbalanced eye’ shots. Beats me.)
The Fellows (in yellow) pose with some of the biggies of Filipino lit.
Hurrah for LIRA! The organization’s Christmas party followed in Conspi’s garden. Luckily, nobody got a photo of me playing in one of Miss Bebang’s “dignified games”. No evidence!
This folio is the product of our blood, sweat, tears, and…semen? Just kidding. Kudos to Karla and JC for coming up with the wicked cover. For some scans of what’s inside, head over to my earlier blog post.
There you have it. In dramatic fashion: the LIRA chapter of my life ends on a high note. Will there be a sequel? I’m going to have to wait until January — Sir Rio and the rest of the org will still deliberate on who makes it as full-fledged LIRA members.
In the same manner that I ended my first LIRA-centric post — back when I was still on the outside looking in — so I will end this post with the words:
Wish me luck!
9 comments so far. Subscribe to comments feed.
Sniff. And I’m not just saying that because I have a cold!
Malapit na January, don’t worry. I’m sure it’s even more excuse to stay “hung” in the hangover.
(Guia, maraming salamat sa light thingy na binigay mo, hehehe.)
By ia on 12.17.07 6:11 am
Hoorah! We made it, kaibigan! hehehe
By JC Sola on 12.17.07 6:15 am
ia, yeah, and undoubtedly my working habits will take another hit! will forward your message to guia ;)
oy, jc, napa-comment ka hehe. mabuhay ang batch sidhay! para sa lipunan!
By Corsarius on 12.17.07 7:25 am
[...] Nasa kabilang blog po ang aking munting “wrap-up” para sa aming Fellows Night 2007, na ginanap isang linggo na ang nakakaraan. [...]
By Karimlan » Blog Archive » Mga Retrato ng LIRA Fellows Night 2007 on 12.17.07 7:57 am
Ia dear, my pleasure!=)
Corsarius, thanks for posting our cool pix! We made it! Hehe!=)
GTG, got another wedding tom eh. Hope on ur wedding ni Ia, you’ll never forget me! =)
Lovelots,
MEGuia
PS
Ang dedication nga pala ni JC sa Sidhay ay AKO DAW ANG WEDDING PLANNER niya… nila ni Karla??? Hmmm… Ish, ish! Hehehe! =)
Ciao!!! =)
By Guia de Leon on 12.21.07 10:20 pm
helo corsarius! salamat dito.naipopromote mo ang lira! mabuhay ka!
By bebang on 12.23.07 11:53 am
guia, you’re very welcome. buhay pa rin tayo! ahaha. and, wedding? what wedding? passersby might think that’s serious! ;)
isusumbong kita kay jc, hehe!
miss bebang, maraming salamat po sa pagdaan! hindi ko sukat akalain na mapapadaan ka rito hehe. mabuhay ang lira — at belated haberdey ulit! :)
maligayang pasko sa inyong dalawa!
By Corsarius on 12.24.07 12:14 pm
bong! congrats sa resiklo!
By por on 01.15.08 5:55 pm
baliw ka talaga por. salamat sa pagbisita!
By Corsarius on 01.16.08 12:59 am
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