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MARJORIE EVASCO

Marjorie Evasco is an award- winning Filipino poet, born in Maribojoc, Bohol on September 21, 1953. She writes in two languages: English and Cebuano-Visayan and is a supporter of women's rights, especially of women writers. Marjorie Evasco is one of the earliest Filipina feminist poets. She is a recipient of the S.E.A.

BIOGRAPHY

Born into a family of teachers who were "always talking English", she was brought up and educated as a Roman Catholic and her formative years in school were spent under the tutelage of German and Belgian nuns. Evasco and her family then moved to Manila. She finished her B.A. in 1973 from Divine Word College of Tagbilaran, Masteral Degree in Creative Writing in 1982 at Silliman University and her Doctor of Philosophy in Literature (Ph.D. Litt.) at De La Salle University-Manila. She became a member of the faculty at De La Salle University, while completing her doctoral degree in 1998.For many years, she was Director of DLSU's Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center. She is currently a University Fellow at the same university.

WORKS

Evasco's prize-winning poetry books are: Dreamweavers: Selected Poems 1976-1986 (1987) and Ochre Tones: Poems in English and Cebuano (1999). Ochre Tones was launched last May 1997 at National Artist Edith L. Tiempo's residence on Montemar (Sibulan, Negros Oriental). Evasco calls this volume a " book of changes," following Dreamweavers which for her was a " book of origins."

She is currently working on a third poetry collection and hopes to finish it soon.

Evasco's other books include A Legacy of Light: 100 Years of Sun Life in the Philippines, Six Women Poets: Inter/Views (co-authored, with Edna Manlapaz), Kung Ibig Mo: Love Poetry by Women (co-edited with Benilda Santos, A Life Shaped by Music: Andrea O. Veneracion and the Philippine Madrigal Singers and ANI: The Life and Art of Hermogena Borja Lungay, Boholano Painter

Evasco was a founding member of two organizations espousing the cause of women writers: Writers Involved in Creating Cultural Alternatives (WICCA) and Women in Literary Arts (WILA). She has written many essays on women's poetry, several of them finding their place in various anthologies.

She served as editor of a special issue of Ani in 1998 that featured writings and art work by Filipino women.

She is an associate fellow of the Philippine Literary Arts Council (PLAC).

In September 2002, she was invited for a three-month residency at the International Writing Program in the University of Iowa.