Books by UP Diliman (UPD) authors were part of the 31 titles the UP Press recently launched at Semeyaan: Paglulunsad ng mga Bagong Aklat ng UP Press 2023.
Seven were authored or co-authored by faculty members from the UPD Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas / DFPP.
The books are Maliit na Bagay Lang ang Nakapupuwing by Rommel B. Rodriguez, PhD, a professor at the DFPP; Mula Ilog at Iba Pang Kuwento by Romulo P. Baquiran Jr., PhD, a professor at the DFPP and director of Likhaan: UP Institute of Creative Writing; Bata, Hiwaga, Bansa: Pamana ni Rene O. Villanueva sa Panitikang Pambata by Eugene Y. Evasco, PhD, a professor at the DFPP and Cheeno Marlo M. Sayuno, PhD, an associate professor at the UP Los Baños College of Arts and Sciences; Materyales sa Komplisidad by Amado Anthony G. Mendoza III, an assistant professor at the DFPP; and Nanay and the Moon: Poetry for Children by Elyrah L. Salanga-Torralba, PhD, an associate professor at the DFPP.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez co-authored Anti-Katha: Agos sa Experimental na Kuwento sa Pilipinas with UP Vice President for Public Affairs Rolando B. Tolentino, and former DFPP Chair Vladimeir B. Gonzales co-authored Ang Paglalakbay ni Prinsipe Bahaghari with Aina Ysabel B. Ramolete, an alumna from the UPD Department of Art Studies.
Tolentino, who is a professor at the UP Film Institute, had three of his books launched. The two other books are Bio(lente): Mga Bagong Katha sa Danas ng Dahas at Banwa, co-authored by German Villanueva Gervacio and Januar Yap, and Ang Mahaba’t Kagyat na Buhay ng Indie Sinema, co-authored by Aristotle J. Atienza.
Gervacio is a faculty member of the Mindanao State University Iligan Institute of Technology, Yap is an assistant professor at the UP Cebu College of Communication Art and Design, and Atienza is a faculty member of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU).
Tunogtugan: Twenty Essays on Musical and Sonic Traditions by National Artist for Music Ramon Pagayon Santos and The Burden of the Oral and Other Reviews: Philippine Film and Theater, 2011-2019 (PWS) by J. Neil Garcia, PhD, were launched under the arts category.
Pagayon Santos is also a university professor emeritus at the UPD College of Music while Garcia is a professor at the UPD Department of English and Comparative Literature.
Wild City: A Photographic Guide to Amphibians, Mammals, and Reptiles of Metro Manila by Jelaine Gan, Trinket Constantino, and Abby Favis was launched under the science category.
Gan is an instructor at the UPD Institute of Biology, while Constantino and Favis are faculty members at ADMU.
Lastly, 3 Baybayin Studies (Revised Edition) by Ramon Guillermo, PhD, Myfel Joseph D. Paluga, Maricor Soriano, PhD, and Vernon R. Totanes; Observing the Filipino Family: A Filipino Sociologist at Work by Belen Tan-Gatue Medina, PhD; and Height Matters: The Making, Meanings, and Materialities of Human Stature in the Philippines by Gideon Lasco, MD, PhD were launched under the social science category.
Guillermo is the director of the UPD Center for International Studies, Paluga is an associate professor at the UP Mindanao College of Humanities and Social Science, Soriano is a professor at the UPD National Institute of Physics, and Totanes is an alumnus from the UPD School of Library and Information Studies. Medina is the former UPD Department of Sociology chair. Lasco is a senior lecturer at the UPD Department of Anthropology.
In his speech, UP President Angelo A. Jimenez said he will support UP Press in all its endeavors so it can be of global standard and a magnet for book lovers.
According to the UP Press, “semeyaan” refers to the agricultural tradition of the Erumanen ne Menuvu of Cotabato.
“Isa itong panlahatang ritwal na binubuo ng iba pang ritwal upang magpasalamat sa masaganang ani at humiling ng panibagong mabuting panahon ng pagtatanim. Pasasalamat at pagdiriwang ito ng bagong simula,” stated the UP Press.
Semeyaan was held on Feb. 28 at the UPD Atencio-Libunao Hall.
*This is an updated version of the article published on Mar. 12.