“TRAVERSING THE MANY forms of literature,” the San Beda English Literature Society (SBELS) commenced day two of its English-Literature (Eng-Lit) Week 2024 consisting of a creative writing workshop at the Multimedia Room of St. Bede’s Hall, and a theater acting workshop at the Collaboration Room of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Library yesterday, November 14
The event was pioneered by two guest speakers taking in the esteemed likes of Dr. Ernesto Carandang, a full-time professor at De La Salle University (DLSU), who gave a lecture about creative writing. Meanwhile, Dr. Jeremy Respeto, an Associate Professor at Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), introduced the Eng-Lit students into the world of theater acting.
In an interview with The Bedan, Jan Gilan “Cocoy” Canzana, SBELS President and the acting-chairperson of the literature portion of the event, disclosed how there were certain stereotypes suggesting that Eng-Lit students were “always buried in their reading materials.” As such, said activities were anchored at “getting SBELS’ students out of the book,” in hopes that they can “enact” what is written inside the book and “go out of the written side of things.”
Moreover, he extended his “gratitude” to the SBELS members as the event has presumably been “more eminent” than their previous events in Eng-Lit week due to the participation of more members from the department.
“Gathering the members of SBELS has been very hard for us,” said Canzana as he reflected on how the process for participation has become “transactional” through giving out academic incentives for the students to join. “But at least kahit gano’n ‘yung mentality, they can take home something that can be useful for the future,” he added.
Today, November 15, SBELS will simultaneously conduct three contests namely, “The Challenge of the Poet Laureate” at the Collaboration Room, “Quest for the Orator” at the Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) room, and “The Essay” at the Focus Rooms of the Senior High School Library.
Furthermore, authors Dr. Wilfredo Liangco and Kannika Claudine D. Peña will be engaging participants on their respective books and writing at the CAS Library.