TO PROMOTE the Philippines’ literary culture and history, this year’s celebration of National Literature Month will explore Filipino perspectives through poetry.
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), together with the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) and the National Book Development Board (NBDB), mark the 2025 National Literature Month in April with poetry reading sessions, workshops, talks, and contests.
This year’s celebration carries the theme, “Sikad Panitikan: Kultura at Panitikan ng Kaunlaran” (Culture and Literature of Development), in the face of initiatives to improve literacy and literary appreciation among Filipinos.
“The Bicolano word sikad means ‘to cycle in motion’ or ‘to continue,’ in relation to literature. So, when used in the phrase sikad panitikan, we view it from the perspective of intersectionality, where we consider all aspects of culture and literature,” Niles Jordan Breis, head of the committee on literature, said in a press conference on April 15 in Manila and streamed live on Facebook.
The event saw the first of many poetry readings scheduled throughout the month. It was led by Dr. Arthur Casanova, who read his politically charged poem titled “Tutulaan ko ang Araw” (“I Will Recite Poetry to the Sun”), followed by RR Kagalingan with his work “Time Traveling Lasing” (“Time Traveling Drunk”). Literature committee head Mr. Breis also read his unpublished poem “Ang Pisika ng Ilang Maikling Tulay” (“The Physics of a Few Short Bridges”).
FORUMS, COMPETITIONSTo kick off the month-long celebration, KWF hosted a wreath-laying ceremony at the Balagtas Garden in Orion, Bataan, on April 2 (the birthday of Florante at Laura author Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar). Two other wreaths were simultaneously laid at similar monuments in Pandacan, Manila, and in Balagtas, Bulacan.
The KWF has been holding online forums via Zoom, livestreamed on Facebook every Monday of the month. The latest of these studied the intersection of literature and Filipino Sign Language.
Literary talks are also being held at various universities nationwide. Coming up on April 24 and 25 is a literary fair, complete with lectures, at Ateneo De Manila University. The writers union Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas (UMPIL) will have a congress at the Gimenez Gallery in University of the Philippines Diliman on April 26.
NCCA’s ongoing workshops and activities have featured the works of National Artists in Literature. The most recent one focused on Cirilo Bautista and F. Sionil Jose, held at the University of the Philippines campus in Baguio City. The second leg focuses on the works of Alejandro Roces and Rolando Tinio, to be held at Xavier University in Cagayan De Oro on April 27. A literary tour of works by Nick Joaquin will be held around Manila in May.
Literary competitions are being held throughout the month.
A Panitikolab in General Santos City will be held on April 23, with workshops and discussions on developing skills in literature.
Timpalak Florentino Hornedo, a competition for writing and singing the Ivatan oral tradition of laji, will take place on May 15 and 16 in Basco, Batanes. Meanwhile, the Visayas-based Timpalak Komposo, which centers on writing and singing the Hiligaynon narrative ballad komposo, will have a workshop in May as well.
On April 26, the Balagtas National Literary Awards will be held, giving out the Paz Marquez Benitez Award for outstanding literature teachers and the Pedro Bucaneg Award for outstanding literary groups.
The celebration of National Literature Month every April was established through Proclamation No. 968 of 2015. For more information on the various events, visit the NCCA’s Facebook page. — Brontë H. Lacsamana