British Council and Likhaan host performance poetry workshop

by Arvin Abejo Mangohig

Poetry, both a spoken and written art, is actually a performance medium. Readings and others multimedia performances bring poetry closer to a generation reared on MTV, youtube, and blog.
The British Council, in cooperation with the Likhaan: University of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing, will be holding performance poetry workshops as part of its Animating Literature project. London-based Francesca Beard will gather a select number of young Filipino writers to train in UP Diliman and UP Baguio , in coordination with its deans – National Artist Virgilio Almario and Elizabeth Calinawagan respectively. They in turn will spread the expertise Beard will share to others, especially elementary and high school teachers, who would like to venture into performance as art.

ICW Director Vim Nadera, himself a noted performance poet, is delighted at hosting Francesca Beard once again. She caused quite a stir during her last visit two years ago,and this second one, Nadera hopes, will be more fruitful and more artistically fulfilling. The British Council wasted no time in contacting the ICW -- for the latter’s Literatour -- a program offered to literature teachers and students alike. Beard will be training performance poets at the Inquirer Room of the UP Diliman’s College of Arts and Letters New Building (September 26-28) and UP Baguio’s College of Arts and Communications (September 30-October 2) for the seminars.

For details, please contact Eva Cadiz at 9221830.