SCBWI at UP in the Visayas

A SCBWI Day at UP in the Visayas

A one day seminar &
worskhop for published &
aspiring children’s book
writers & illustrators

Saturday 2007 August 25
At the UPV Art Gallery
UP in the Visayas, Iloilo City

Conducted by
Beaulah Pedregosa Taguiwalo

“What a charming and friendly setting for a children’s book workshop,” someone said of the Art Gallery at the University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV), Iloilo City. We couldn’t agree more. The lovely old building was formerly the Iloilo City Hall, donated to the UPV in the 1930s. This fortunate handover took place during the term of then Iloilo City Mayor Garganera who, it turned out, is the grandfather of Joseph, one of the participants! Here then is our report, in words and pictures, of our children’s book event that was held there last Saturday, 2007 August 25.

Here we are in the lobby of this historic building, and later inside the UPV Art Gallery. (All photos by Mark Taguiwalo)

First, Prof. Vinnie Tan gave the Opening Remarks. After that, hands-on sessions throughout the day alternated with Beaulah’s Powerpoint presentations.

We browsed through the children’s books that Nikki and Beaulah brought.

Then we had a Roundtable Booktalk.

As instructed, people picked a book because they wanted to talk about it, or because they had lots of questions to ask about it.

People were so eager to talk, we went overtime!

Afterwards, we did what we said we’d do – craft stories just for fun.

We tried “writing” and “rewriting” our stories using various methods, some of them quite unheard of for a number of participants. “Not only was it fun, it was empowering,” said some.

“I never thought I could ‘write’ like this,” said another. “The Crafting Stories Just for Fun was really fun! It was my first experience and found it engaging and stimulating,” said yet another.

Beaulah then talked about what it takes to get published. She discussed writing, submissions, contracts, editing, illustration and book design, pre-press production, printing, and distribution. The final topic was P.O.D. and Self-Publishing.

“It’s as if my unreachable star is now within my reach,” said Noemi Grace Palmares at the end.

Here’s more of what the others said :

“It rekindled my passion for writing. I learned a lot.” (Lyncen M. Fernandez)

“The design of the programme was suitable, comprehensive, compact. The conduct of the workshop was informative, insightful, thorough, fluid, relaxed, fun.” (Joseph C.G. Albaña)

“The presentations were very concrete. The facilitators were approachable. It’s good that the session was limited to only a few so there was focus in every interaction.”

“. . . gave me the inspiration to come up with my own published book . . . [It’s as if] my unreachable star has now become within my reach . . . I just MIGHT find my name on the cover of a hardbound book!” (Noemi Grace V. Palmares)

“The facilitator was articulate . . . a prolific advocate of children’s literature – well versed and enthusiastic. The writing clinics allowed us to at least get started – writing pleasurable stuff for children, so we can eventually get somewhere.” What would I like to see more of in future SCBWI events? “More workhops and clinics [that] can help us follow through whatever we have started here and now.” ” (Niño Saavedra Manaog)

Once again, we would like to express our thanks and appreciation to our UPV partners for helping us organize and host this event – the UPV Chancellor’s Committee for Culture and Arts (CCCA) chaired by Prof. Vinnie Tan, and the UPV Office of Continuing Education and Pahinungod (OCEP) under Director Celia F. Parcon. Last but not the least, we’d like to thank our friend for leading us to the right people and places in Iloilo City – cultural worker, arts administrator, and teacher Joseph William C. G. Albaña.

See you at the next SCBWI event in the Visayas!

Back to SCBWI Philasia