17 May 2007

MULTI-AWARDED FILIPINO WRITER-POET TO LEAD PHILIPPINE PARTICIPATION IN 2007 SYDNEY WRITERS' FESTIVAL

The Philippine Consulate General Sydney announces that a multi-awarded Filipino writer-poet will be spearheading Philippine participation in the prestigious 2007 Sydney Writers' Festival (SWF), where international literary personalities will showcase their works and participate in the festival to be held from 28 May through 3 June 2007 at various venues throughout Sydney .

Ricardo De Ungria, a founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council in 1981, is Head of the Committee on Literary Arts of the Philippine National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and a member of the Board of Judges of the Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, one of the Philippines ' foremost awards for literary excellence.

He has published poetry such as Pidgin Levitations: Poetic/Chroma Texts 1981-1989 (2004), Waking Ice (2000), Body English (1996), Decimal Places (1994) and Voideville (1991), among others, and co-edited a number of literary anthologies. He has also contributed a number of works in literary anthologies that appeared in Singapore , the United States and Spain .

Among the awards he received were the First Prize (Open Category) of the St. Louis Poetry Center Annual Contest in Missouri (1989) and Honorable Mentions in the Academy of American Poets Prize ( Washington University , Missouri ) and the State Street Poetry Contest ( Florida State University ) in 1988. He also received the National Book Award for Poetry in 1994, 1996 and 2000 and the National Book Award for Design in 2005 from the Manila Critics Circle.

He is currently the Chancellor of the University of the Philippines – Mindanao and chairs the Mindanao Science and Technology Park Consortium.

Mr. De Ungria will be appearing in the following events:

31 May 2007 (Thursday), 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
"Poetry from Around the World II"
Bangarra Theatre, Pier 4/5, Hickson Road , Walsh Bay
Free admission

2 June 2007 (Saturday), 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
"From the Editors: Migrant Communities and Emerging Australian Literature"
Liverpool Regional Gallery
Bookings required. To book, call 9824-1121 or e-mail: reception@casualpowerhouse.com

Filipinos who are also participating in the Festival include internationally published poet and academic Jose Wendell Capili and Filipino-Australian poet Noonee Doronila, who will both be participating at the 2 June event.

Now in its tenth year, the Festival is one of the most-anticipated international cultural events in Sydney . For more information on the Festival events, please refer to the SWF website at www.swf.org.au or call 9252-7729.