ABOUT US

Welcome to BACKSPACE, SPi Writers Guild's Online Literary Journal.

(Design and poetry by JP Canivel)

The Editorial Board

Dylan Yap Gozum
Editorial Director
Web Log Administrator

Dylan is currently working in SPi's Healthcare Documentation as an English Editor. He reviewed restaurants and health products for the now-defunct THE REVIEWER Magazine of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and wrote film reviews for Yehey! Movies. He is currently working on a script for a film and a science textbook for Grade III students.

Pilar Manzano
Features & Reviews Editor
Pia, as we all call her, is WG's ever conscise, proper and well-loved Vice President (the rose among the thorns, so to speak). She is curently assigned in HR Support as Administrative Assistant to the HR Director.

Jose Perseus Canivel
Writers Guild Workshop Manager
JP is a poet in both interest and temperament. He is a Fellow of the 2005 Dumaguete National Writers Workshop. He is currently juggling work, preparation for the Guild's workshop series, is a participant in the ongoing LIRA workshop in UP Diliman, and is hoping to finally get his certificate as a storyteller for the Alitaptap Storytellers Club. He is the Corporate Initiatives Coordinator of CIS.

Alexander de Juan
Poetry Editor
Alex is a member of the UP Visayas Experimental Theater and is a Fellow of the 1995 UP National Writing Workshop. He is a poet, and writes in Aklanon, Tagalog and English. He is the Senior English Editor at SPi's Healthcare Documentation.

OBRA Representative
Art & Photography Editor

OUR WRITERS

Rodera Perez

Julie Malana

Jeanette Agati

Perps Poblador

Mahrose Abaño

WRITERS GUILD CIRCLE OF POETS
Emil Bombita

Richmond Roman

Alexander de Juan

JP Canivel

FRIENDS OF THE WRITERS GUILD

Toastmasters Club of SPi

Luz Desquitado

Espie Vitug

SPi's Office of Corporate Social Responsibility

The EC Council

The Employee Relations Office

BACKSPACE is published every month by

The Writers Guild
c/o PITC Building, PASCOR Drive
Sto Niño Village, 1700 Parañaque City
Tel. Nos. (632)855.8600
E-mail: spiwritersguild@yahoo.com

JOIN US!!! JOIN US!!! JOIN US!!!

We definitely welcome contributions. We'd rather have more contributors than members so do send in your literary works now. The following are welcome for publication but subject to review and editing (grammar and spelling only):

Poetry (at least 3 entries; please include a one-paragraph description of yourself)

Essay (1 entry only; 500 words minimum)

Short Story (1 entry only)

Features (1 entry only / two weeks).

LET'S HAVE FUN THIS 2006!

ACTIVITIES FOR 2006 (June – December)

May
Online
BACKSPACE: Online Literary Journal
Updated every two (2) weeks for your reading pleasure

June 5-16
5/F North Wing
Inter-SBU Playoffs
WORD FACTORY Competition

July
3rd Week
Venue: TBA
FIESTA! FIESTA! A Festival of Clubs

BACKSPACE: Launching of the Writers Guild blog site
Fun Debate (Fiesta Edition) with the Toastmasters Club of SPi

August
Venue / Date: TBA
A SERIES OF FORTUNATE EVENTS (Writers Workshop Series, Part 1)
Creative Non-Fiction

September
2nd Week
Venue: TBA
A SERIES OF FORTUNATE EVENTS (Writers Workshop Series, Part 2)
Book-based Storytelling

October 7

A SERIES OF FORTUNATE EVENTS (Writers Workshop Series, Part 3)

Short Story

Ocober 28

Venue: 5/F North Wing
TRICK OR TREAT!
Story-telling Session with Children (actual)

November

A SERIES OF FORTUNATE EVENTS (Writers Workshop Series, Part 4)

Tula na may tugma at sukat

December
A SERIES OF FORTUNATE EVENTS (Writers Workshop Series, Part 5)

Film Appreciation

THE 1ST SPi WORLD CINEMA FESTIVAL 30 films, 20 countries, 2 weeks, 1 festival.

OTHERS
Sponsorship slots for certifiication with the Alitaptap Storytellers Club are now available.

WORLD CINEMA FESTIVAL LINEUP

(click poster to enlarge)

No fees. All free admission! Watch the films, then learn how to make a film review or critique.

Films to be featured are those which were originally released as books and were later adapted for film.

THE FUN DEBATE (FIESTA EDITION) 2006

All's well that ends well. Thank you and congratulations to all participants!

OUR "WHAT COULD HAVE BEENS"

We are all afraid of failure, but it is only when experiencing an actual failure do we start to learn where - and how - we went wrong. This is a list of ambitious projects - all very novel and worthy of every effort poured into their preparations - but were never staged because of several reasons. First, they were way ahead of their time. Second, poor marketing strategies. Third, non-receptive target audience. We hope this list stops growing, but may the learning go on.

Our attempt at improvisation theater fell flat on its face a few days before the Fiesta! Fiesta! Festival of Clubs was about to open. The marketing collaterals were there, the rules were drawn up a month before. Where did we go wrong?

Our very first major contribution to the Festival of Clubs failed to attract an audience because "they weren't ready for theater yet." This, of course, is unacceptable because of all SPi branches in the Philippines, only that of Manila - the headquarters at that - has no theater group! Where did we go wrong?

Time will tell.

CONGRATULATIONS! (WORD FACTORY PLAY-OFFS)

All's well that ends well!

The Writers Guild successfully pulled off the first activity by its new officers last June 2006 albeit not without the usual snags like contestants pulling out at the last minute (for meetings, etc.), or not appearing at all and not informing the Guild ahead of time (i.e. Legal). At any rate, we had a great time watching the contestants battle it out with their contemporaries. We can't wait for it to happen again next year!

1st Place SUPPORT

RJ Nepomuceno

Renette Jacob

Joelle Reyes

2nd Place HEALTHCARE DOCUMENTATION

Joeven Gonzales (Team Captain)

Lisa Austria

Kathyleen Nogrado

3rd Place HEALTHCARE DOCUMENTATION

Jeanette Agati (Team Captain)

Joyce Guevarra

Mary Rose Abaño

The games were presided over by the Activity Manager, Pia Manzano (Writers Guild Vice President), and assisted by JP Canivel and Alexander de Juan, WG's Community Relations Officer and Secretary, respectively.

VP Pia all smiles while cross-checking questioned words at the net terminal

The winners chart

Busy WG bees JP and Pia

"I knew you wouldn't have thought of that word!"

"Todo na 'to!!!" (HDI EC Chair Joeven Gonzales toughs it out while WG's Alex presides)

"Dear God, one word more then I'm done!"

Ivy, ha? Who's that guy behind you?

The Writers Guild wishes to express its hearfelt thanks to all EC Chairpersons, Ivy Buenaventura and Dhang Rondael of Employe Relations, and to all those who participated in the Word Factory Inter-Playoffs. We hope to se you all again next year! Cheers!

HEAR YE! HEAR YE!

All-Filipino Haiku Contest

The Embassy of Japan and the Graduate School of the University of Santo Tomas invite Filipino citizens living in Japan or abroad to join the HAIKU CONTEST in commemoration of the Philippines-Japan Friendship Year 2006. The theme is: "Pinoy Haiku: Verses for Mother Nature". Details and forms are available at the Embassy of Japan, or better yet, check them out here.

______________________________

Applications for the next LIRA Workshop are now being accepted. Applicants are invited to submit five (5) poems in Filipino along with a short bio-data and one 2x2 ID picture to LIRA Workshop c/o Dir. Vim Nadera, UP Institute of Creative Writing, 2/F Bulwagang Rizal, UP Diliman, 1101 Quezon City.


National Artist for Literature Dean Virgilio Almario

Requirements can also be sent to lira_makata@yahoo.com or to liraworkshop@gmail.com. The workshop will be held every Saturday and Sunday this June and July at the College of Arts and Letter in University of the Philippines, Diliman. National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario will direct the workshop.

Updates courtesy of JP Canivel, SPi Publishing