#rioalma

happy 80th birthday, national artist for literature, former UP CAL dean & UP professor emeritus virgilio s. almario

Currently reading Virgilio Almario/Rio Alma's first compilation of poetry (1963-1981). The title translates to "My First Millennium". ************ Have already finished reading Bienvenido Lumbera's "Balaybay: Mga Tulang Lunot at Manibalang" (in PDF form, sorry!) – and boy oh boy, am I thirsty for more. Lumbera was part of an early group of Filipino poets who championed the imagist aesthetic, then he later on joined the left to rally against the Marcos dictatorship. He has also written librettos for musicals that celebrate local culture and continues to fight for sovereignty and post-colonial independence. ************ Both compilations are sadly out of print. Hopefully I'll finish these two books before the year ends considering that I got them way back in 2002, but barely read any of the poems. ************ Am still plodding through Derek Walcott's first collection of poems (1948-1984), also a thick book, together with García's "Collected Stories". It's a bit of a coincidence that both Walcott and Almario are both formalists: meaning they value how poems are structured; they keep tradition in mind – from the bible to Shakespeare and beyond in Walcott's case and from pre-colonial Philippine lit to modern craft in Almario's – while pushing the boundaries of rhetoric to reinterpret the signs of the times. ************ Reading such heavy works can be really draining, but here's to the worthwhile fruits of discipline! ************ #poetry #poems #tula #literature #RioAlma #VirgilioAlmario #Philippines #NationalArtist #NationalArtistForLiterature #AlagadNgSining #igreads #igbooks #instabooks #instareads #bookstagram #bookstagtamph #booklove #booknerd #bookporn #bookgram #bibliophile

My face when I found out si #RioAlma aka #VirgilioAlmario pa rin at na naman (!!!) ang representative ng sektor ng manunulat sa pagbuo ng arts and culture agenda para kay #PresidentDuterte. Thank you #BernardoBernardo in #ManilaByNight for providing the perfect expression of dismaya at disgusto.