Saeculum Arts Festival to end on Rizal Day
After launching new nine books of poetry, short fictions and theological essays, and handing two arts and culture awards, the Premyo Valledor for Best Bikol Novel and the the Premyo Gualberto Manlagñit for Young Bikol Visual Artists, the Saeculum Arts Festival, is set to formally close this coming December 30, 2022.
The closing ceremonies will feature the second Jose Rizal Memorial Lecture to be delivered by Dr. Stephanie Marie Coo of Ateneo de Manila University.
Dr. Coo is the author of the multi-awarded book, Clothing the Colony: Nineteenth-century Philippine Sartorial Culture, 1820-1896 (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2019), which received Leiden University’s (Netherlands) IIAS-ICAS biennial International Book Prize 2021 for Best Book in Humanities, the 39th National Book Award 2022 and the John C. Kaw Prize for Best Book on History. Currently, she is a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow (EU Horizon2020-Athenea3i) at the Universidad de Granada (Spain), NOVA School of Law-Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal), and Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Germany). She obtained her PhD in History (summa cum laude) from Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (France), Master of Arts in History from the Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines). She holds an Associate Professorship at the Department of History of the Ateneo de Manila University, where she has been teaching since 2002 and where she served as Chair of the Internationalization Committee and Coordinator for Internationalization.
In the EU, her projects are supported by the European Union, Universidad de Granada, Philippine Consulate-General in Frankfurt and the Philippine Embassy in Lisbon. In the Philippines, her projects are supported by the Office of Senator Loren Legarda and the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs - Foreign Service Institute. Her book, Clothing the Colony will also be available for sale.
The lecture honoring the country’s foremost hero, Jose Rizal was first started in 2019 with Dr. Christopher Bernido and Dr. Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido as guests of honor.
In the same ceremony, Bikolnon poets, Enrique Villasis, Soleil David and Dr. Sonny Sendon who all won the Palanca this year for their respective poetry will also read from their winning collections. Saeculum is organized by Ateneo de Naga University Press, Ateneo de Naga University Research Council, Savage Mind Bookshop, Tugawe Cove Café, Isarog Highlands, in cooperation with the National Book Development Board.