AN EBANGHELYO KAN LITERATURANG BIKOL

Marahay-rahay na matatapos an 2007 para sa literaturang Bikol. Yaon an pagluwas ki mga bagong libro nin mga Bikolnon na piniling magsurat sa ibang tataramon o piniling magsurat kan tataramon na magsurat sinda sa siring na tataramon (arin man digdi) alagad dai manenegaran na yaon parati an sensibilidad na nakagamot sa lugar kun saen tinalbong an saindang inulnan. Punan an pagbalangibog!




Mannahatta Mahal: Bikol poet expat's latest opus from UP Press

The University of the Philippines Press is proud to release award-winning poet Luis Cabalquinto's latest book of poetry.

Entitled Mannahatta Mahal: Collected Expatriate Poems, the collection boasts of 77 poems describing New York life as livid, lucid, lively, sometimes lonely, and, more importantly, larger than life—as seen through the poetic lenses of a Filipino living and working in the Big Apple.

A poem entitled "September Eleven" decidedly marks the start of the poet's latest inner and outer journeys, and eventually goes within and beyond that important event in any New Yorker's life. Here, we see Cabalquinto zoom in on the details of the streets, the people, the stores, the arts, the surroundings, even the birds and bugs that most take for granted on a busy day or active night. But as he points to these things, he pulls out to reveal meditations, ruminations and spirited thoughts about these observations. While there seems to be a default disconnection associated with life in New York, Cabalquinto is quick to point out its opposite, as he tells us of small pleasures one gets from the seemingly simple or mundane that fuels the fires of the soul, such as experiencing an outdoor classical music concert or quick restaurant meetings with dear old friends one has not seen for the longest time.

As another award-winning poet, UP College of Arts and Letters professor emeritus Gemino Abad, says of the collection, "With Cabalquinto, we enter the very heartland of poetry, its revels and revelations—there, a steady hand on the pulse of language, poise and vibrancy of expression, a clear-eyed venture into the heart's secret wagers, a maturity of insight touched at times with humor and tenderness."

Born in Magarao, Camarines Sur on January 31, 1935, Cabalquinto earned his BA in Communication at UP Diliman. He pursued further communication studies in Cornell University at Ithaca, New York under a Fulbright-Hays grant in 1968. It was in Cornell where he immersed himself fully in the world of poetry and fiction writing under the tutelage of notable literary writers. Cabalquinto was encouraged to focus on poetry when small press journals in the US began publishing his work. He also received multiple writing fellowships and awards such as the New York University Academy of American Poets poetry prize and the New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship award in poetry.

Since then, Cabalquinto's works have appeared in local and international publications such as Caracoa, Philippines Free Press, Philippine Graphic, Manoa, Asiaweek, and American Poetry Review, to name a few. He has been published in the U.S., Australia, Hong Kong, France and even in the Czech Republic.

Mannahatta Mahal adds to Cabalquinto's already impressive list of books which include The Dog-eater and Other Poems (1989), The Ibalon Collection (1990), Dreamwanderer (1991), Bridgeable Shores (2001) and Moon Over Magarao (2003).

In 2006, Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL) awarded Cabalquinto the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for poetry. According to UMPIL, the award is given to "living Filipino writers who have contributed outstanding works in any language currently used in the Philippines and who have dedicated their lives and talents to the development, propagation and promotion of any Philippine literature."

Indeed, with Mannahatta Mahal, the UP Press continues to support outstanding works by writers like Cabalquinto in its mandate of championing talented Filipino artists.

Manahatta Mahal is available in the Philippines at the University of the Philippines Press Book Stores in Diliman, Baguio, Cebu, and Davao; Fully Booked; Solidaridad; Popular Bookstore; select Powerbooks and National Bookstore branches; and other distributors in Metro Manila and the provinces. In the USA, University of the Philippines Press books are distributed by the University of Hawaii Press and Philippine Expressions Bookshop.

Uni pa an masunod ngonyan na Disyembre hali sa mga kapwa-parasurat. Saro ki Vic Nierva dangan ki Frank Penones. Igwa naman nagluwas sa UP Press giraray na libro ni Marne Kilates.



Pagsakay sa Tren
(hali sa koleksyon na Antisipasyon (Goldprint Publishing House)
Vic Nierva

Daing girong an istasyon.
Alagad an nagkakapirang mga daghan
igwang pag-alangan, tibaad,

huli sa mga babayaan
o mga aabtan. Asin mamansayan
an nagbabaklay pang bulan

sa ibabaw kan mga kabukidan,
mga niyugan, o madidiklom
pang mga badang na tibaad man

dai na liwat magudák o matanuman,
minsan sa likod kan panatang
mabalik liwat. Minakusog

an mga boot huli ta maluluya
pa an dagubdub kan paaboton na tren
asin man an hinghing pang pagsilbato.

Harayo pa, harayo pa.
Alagad igwang tikba, o pungaw
sa huring kugos o huring hadok

sa namomotan. Alagad,
pag sinasárâ na kan kakahuyan
an tingraw kan tren

na nagpapasilyab sa mga kabóg*
na nagrurulupadan, minaiktin
an mga bitis, dagos kapot

sa mga dara-dara, pati naman
sa daghan na orog pang
pano nin bagahe—agom, aki,

tugang, katood, giromdom
asin an sadiring harong.
Asin sa pag-abot kan tren,

pagdangadang sa anden,
minaiba an kolor kan kublit,
nagigin siring ini sa buláwan—

minaliwanag an lawog
siring sa nakapintang kaogmahan.
Tibaad nakahilíng sa padudumanan

na sa paghona harayoon na marhay.
Asin an pag-akô minaabot.
Susundan nin sinublian na kurugusan

o luhang ngunyan sana maturô.
Paaram. Sa liwat. Asin an makina
ma-ayon sa nakakabungog na silbato.


*edible bats

Uni man an ki Frank hali sa saiyang koleksyon Cancion nin Tawong Lipod (Agnus Press)



Pagsasakat Sa Bulod

Tunok asin talahib sa agihan
may boot nang magtalikod sa dalan.
naling bitis sa mga kadootan
sa tarom nin gapo nalulugadan.

Alagad sabi kan mga nangengenotan
bistado an sangribong kabukidan,
"Omang tinumbahan nin kaibahan
orog na mahiwas sa kaitaasan."


Mountain Climbing

Thorns and reeds before us
someone thinks of going back.
Our toes strange besides to grass
bleed from the sharpest rocks.

But said our guide in front
who have known a thousand mountains
"The field where our comrades died
is wider at the steepest height."


Mag-ipos-ipus na nin pambakal.