From FILCOLS Partner LIRA: Nationwide Literature Education Series Visits Makiling

The Filipino poetry group Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA), in partnership with the Philippine High School for the Arts’ Basic Education Department and Creative Writing Program will hold the 21st edition of the “Sining ng Tugma at Sukat” (STS; Art of Rhyme and Meter) on August 27, 2012 at the PHSA Campus, Mt. Makiling, Los Baños, Laguna. Started in 2008, the STS is a nationwide education outreach program that has toured 20 towns and has served a thousand people, mostly public school teachers and students. It aims to help advance literature, language, nationalism, and the beneficiaries’ communication skills through the teaching of native literary works and forms. The “STS” program began in 2008 and has partnered with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, numerous academic institutions, and various local government units. Founded in 1985, LIRA is a nationally recognized volunteer-run education NGO, the oldest organization of poets in Filipino, and one of the country’s premier literary groups. In pursuance of its mission of advancing literature, language, and nationalism, the organization holds a yearly five-month-long poetry clinic held for the most part in UP Diliman. The STS is an effort to bring part of this clinic outside of Metro Manila. In 2011, LIRA was declared as one of the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) in Malacañang Palace by President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, making LIRA the first literary group in the TAYO Awards’ nine-year history. Heading the STS Makiling team as its lecturer is the award-winning poet Dr. Michael M. Coroza of the Ateneo de Manila University. The program is directed by Phillip Kimpo Jr., LIRA president, with the help of Beverly W. Siy, immediate former president and creator of the STS. Ms. Rae Rival is the local coordinator for STS Makiling. Parties interested in helping or participating in the program can contact the STS team at pykimpo@gmail.com. LIRA is a partner of FILCOLS since 2010.