About Pinoypoets

Pinoypoets is a community of poets, writers and literary enthusiasts, where members may share their works, thoughts and insights to learn and improve their craft. Formed by less than 50 members in June 204, Pinoypoets grew to 150 members with three consultants to date.

While writing remains a solitary act, our group is a forum for learning and interaction. It is a place where poetic ideas can be exchanged freely while treating one another with respect. Our group does not support any particular political leanings, ideology or advocacy. Its primary objective is to facilitate a creative forum and enrich its members' knowledge and craft on poetry.

The group's consultants include:

• Michael Coroza. Poet, Essayist, Translator, Editor, Educator. Has published two books of poems, namely, Dili't Dilim (Thought and Darkness) in 1997 and Mga Lagot na Liwanag (Severed Lights) in 2002, which was a finalist in the 2003 National Book Award for Poetry of the Manila Critics Circle and was given the Best Publication Award for 2003 of the Loyola Schools of the Ateneo De Manila University.
• Edgar Samar. Poet, Fictionist and Educator. Obtained his AB Psychology and MA Literature-Filipino from Ateneo de Manila University where he now teaches literature. Won Palanca (2002 & 2004) and Gawad Surian sa Tula (2004) awards for his poems; and PBBY (2002 & 2004) and Palanca (2003) awards for his fiction.
• Santiago B. Villafania. Pangasinan poet based in Manila. Edits the Makata, an eJournal of Philippine and International contemporary poetry. Awarded Writer of the Year (2004) by the Ulupan na Pansiansia'y Salitan Pangasinan for his first book, "Pinabli tan arum ni'wan Anlong" (Beloved and other Poems) published in 2003.

To date, our group has organized several poetry-related activities, including the following:

Completed Activities

1st Pinoypoets Workshop. Held last November 14-15, 2004 at the Pinto Art Gallery, Antipolo, Philippines. Panelists: Romulo Baquiran, Jr., Joel Toledo, Kris Lanot Lacaba and Paolo Manalo.

1st Pinoypoets Poetry Reading Session. Held last February 11, 2005 at Juliano's, Meralco Ave., Pasig City, Philippines. Theme: Erotika and Love Poetry. With guest poet Sid Gomez Hildawa.

Crit Session with Noel del Prado. Held last March 5, 2005 at Likha-Diwa, UP Diliman, Philippines.

Regular Online Activities

Posting of Works. Members are encouraged to share their poems to the group. All poems posted are automatically considered open for constructive criticism from fellow members.

Season's Favorite Poems. This is a bi-monthly activity wherein each member is encouraged to shortlist from the posted poems their favorites in English, Filipino and in the vernacular. Members submit their shortlists twice every month, one from the batch of poems covering the first day to the 15th of the month, and the other from the 16th to the last day. From the submitted shortlists, the moderators will tabulate and will come up with the Season's Favorite Poems.

Featured Pinoypoet of the Month. To enable everyone, especially those from outside Metro Manila, to be acquainted with fellow members, Pinoypoets (through the group's Council) will select a member as featured poet for the season. The selected poet will choose the poem that he/she thinks best among her works submitted to the group. This will be posted together with his/her brief profile in the group's homepage.

Writing Exercises. From time to time, a writing exercise is presented to the group wherein members are encouraged to write poems based on a given criteria, with a deadline of one to two weeks.

Forum. http://pinoypoets.proboards44.com This is still a work in progress. This is intended to give way for more orderly and facilitated discussions on poetics, criticisms and announcements.

Website. http://www.pinoypoets.com Also a work in progress. The website will be allocated mainly for backup archiving of the poems posted by the members.

Regular Offline Activities

General Assemblies. At least twice a month, members based in Metro Manila and nearby cities or towns meet to plan the group's activities, discuss other Pinoypoets-related issues, and socialize with fellow members.

Crit Sessions. Similar to a mini-workshop, a crit session is a whole-day activity where poems are critiqued extensively by, as much as possible, an established poet. Recently, Pinoypoets held its Crit Session at Likha-Diwa, UP Diliman, with Noel Romero del Prado.

Socialization with Established Poets. Aside from Crit Sessions, recognized poets are also invited to the General Assemblies of the group. Among those whom the group got acquainted with to date are Ramil Gulle, Angelo Suarez, Sid Gomez Hildawa and Noel Romero del Prado.

Chapbook. "Obverse" (Obras in Verses) as the first collection of poetry by Pinoypoets launched on April 2, 2005.

Upcoming Activities

2nd Pinoypoets Workshop. To be held on April 23-24, 2005.

Email: pinoypoetsgroup@yahoo.com
Friendster Account: pinoypoetsgroup@yahoo.com
Yahoogroup: http://groups.yahoo.com/pinoypoets
Website: http://www.pinoypoets.com
Forums Board: http://pinoypoets.proboards44.com
Blogspot: http://pinoypoetsblog.blogspot.com

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)