on writing the novel

From the good folk of Read or Die:

-Read Or Die and the UP Institute of Creative Writing in cooperation with Powerbooks present the first series of Write Or Die: Writers Write lecture-workshops. The workshops will be held every weekend from November 2007 to February 2008 in different Powerbooks branches and will be moderated by some of the best writers in the country. The purpose of the workshops is to promote the UP Gawad Centennial Likhaan 2008, a special literary prize sponsored by the University of the Philippines as it celebrates its centennial year in 2008.

We would especially like to encourage people who are not professional or academe-based writers to attend the workshops and submit their works for consideration to the Gawad Likhaan. Teachers are welcome to bring their students to the talks. No reservations are needed.

The workshops will have four areas: Fiction (November 2007-December 2007), Non-Fiction (January 2008), and Poetry (February 2008).

The schedule for the Fiction workshops is as follows:

Dean Alfar November 10, 2007Powerbooks Megamall2PM - 4PM
Jun Cruz ReyesNovember 17, 2007Powerbooks Trinoma2PM - 4PM
Amelia Lapena BonifacioNovember 24, 2007Powerbooks Trinoma2PM - 4PM
Charlson OngDecember 1, 2007Powerbooks Trinoma2PM - 4PM

Admission is FREE and open to the public.

For author profiles please visit this page.-

According to the organizers, I will be "talking about the art of writing a prize-winning novel in thirty days." Oooo-kay.

Aside: I was chatting with Jun Reyes at the Ateneo Workshop panel last week and in the course of discussing Philippine folklore and just how spec fic is an organic (and expected) form of telling stories, ended up talking about videoke, cell phones and how technology provides new venes for storytelling. I ended up offering him gift certificates to Red Box, natch.