The Workshop Director of the Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio Writers Workshop (ALBWW) leads the overall vision, planning, and execution of the workshop. They oversee the selection of fellows and panelists, design the program flow, and facilitate the sessions with the goal of fostering meaningful literary exchange. As the primary convener, the director ensures that the workshop upholds the values of literary excellence, inclusivity, and mentorship inspired by the legacy of Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio. They also represent the workshop in institutional engagements and contribute to building a vibrant and supportive writing community.
Panelists for the 8th Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio Writers Workshop will serve as mentors, moderators, and active participants in the creative process. Each panelist is assigned to moderate two workshop sessions and is expected to prepare comments on all submitted works. They will also be available for one-on-one consultations with fellows throughout the workshop.
In addition, panelists will give a short craft lecture on a topic of their choice—either related to the workshop’s theme or to the work of the fellow they are moderating. They may also be invited to take part in the extension public lecture, roundtable discussions, or other special events.
Panelists are expected to be present for the entire duration of the workshop and take part in all activities, including the orientation, cultural tour, expectation check, assessment, and graduation. Just as importantly, they help ensure the workshop remains a respectful, inclusive, and safe space for everyone involved.
Workshop Director
Si Rolando B. Tolentino ay fakulti ng UP Film Institute, dating dekano ng University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication, at fellow at dating direktor ng Likhaan: UP Institute of Creative Writing. Siya ay nakapagturo na rin sa Osaka University, National University of Singapore at University of California, Berkeley. Nagsusulat siya ng katha at sanaysay, editor ng mga antolohiya ng panitikan at kritikal na sanaysay.
Panelist
Si Vlad Gonzales ay Propesor sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, kung saan siya nagtuturo ng malikhaing pagsulat, panitikan at kulturang popular. Nakapaglimbag siya ng dalawang libro sa Milflores Publishing House—Isang Napakalaking Kaastigan at A-side/B-side: ang mga Piso sa Jukebox ng Buhay Mo. Inilimbag naman ng University of the Philippines Press ang kanyang mga librong Lab: mga Adaptasyon at iba pang Laro para sa mga Klaseng Panlaboratoryo (2018), Mga Tala ng Isang Superfan: Fan Poetry at Fan Fiction (2019), at Sa Kanto ng Makabud at Mangga, May Eskuwela (2020), at Ang Paglalakbay ni Prinsipe Bahaghari (kasamang isinulat ni Aina Ysabel Ramolete, 2023). Ang interes, malikhaing produksyon, at mga pag-aaral niya’y nakatutok sa pagsasalin, fan studies, videogames, at dula. Makikita ang kanyang mga sulatin at larawan sa kanyang Website na vladgonzales.net.
Panelist
Ramon Guillermo is the director of the Center for International Studies (CIS) at the University of the Philippines Diliman. His current research projects are on the transmission, dissemination, reception, and translation of radical texts and ideas in Southeast Asia using techniques and approaches from translation studies and digital humanities. HIs novel, “Ang Makina ni Mang Turing” (UP Press 2013) won the BDAP Gintong Aklat Award (2014). He was the Faculty Regent of the University of the Philippines from 2019 to 2020. He is also one of the initiators of the Network in Defense of Historical Truth and Academic Freedom.
Panelist
Si Laurence Marvin S. Castillo ay kawaksing propesor ng panitikan at araling kultura sa UP Los Baños. Nagtapos siya ng PhD sa University of Melbourne. May-akda siya ng Digmaan ng mga Alaala: Rebolusyon at Pagkakamali sa mga Talang-Gunita (UP Press, 2021), nominado bilang Best Book in Literary and Cultural Studies sa National Book Award, at Figuring Resistance: The Revolution in Film and Literature in the Philippines (Palgrave, 2025). Tumayo rin siyang katuwang na editor ng Hindi Nangyari Dahil Wala sa Social Media (Ateneo de Manila Press, 2021), na nagwagi bilang Best Book on Media Studies sa National Book Awards, at ML@50: Kasaysayan at Alaala ng Pagbabalikwas (IBON, 2022). Nagtamo rin siya ng mga pagkilala mula sa Palanca at UP Press para sa kanyang mga malikhaing akda at pananaliksik. Kasapi siya ng Tanggol Kasaysayan at Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, at direktor ng UPLB Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts.
Panelist
Rex Sandro M. Nepomuceno is assistant professor of performance and rhetoric at the Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts, University of the Philippines Diliman. His research and creative work mobilize within the intersections of performance studies, rhetoric, creative writing, critical island studies, aesthetics, and experimental practices. He writes poetry, plays, and performance texts. He currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Likhaan: UP Institute of Creative Writing.
Panelist
Si Luna Sicat Cleto ay mandudula, makata, at kuwentista. Siya rin ang awtor ng mga nobelang Makinilyang Altar at Mga Prodigal at ng antolohiya ng tulang Bago Mo Ako Ipalaot. Nagwagi siya ng Filipino Readers Choice para sa Translated Work noong 2022, para sa akdang Typewriter Altar, salin mula sa Filipino ni Marne Kilates. Nailathala rin sa ilalim ng Philippine Writers Series ng Likhaan: UP Institute of Creative Writing ang Huni at Pakpak: Mga Dula at Sanaysay (UP Press, 2022). Nagwagi ito sa kategoryang Best Book on Drama and Film sa 41st National Book Awards. Kabilang sa mga gawad pagkilala para sa kanyang mga panulat ang Madrigal Gonzalez Best First Book Awards; ang Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature para sa kanyang katha, tula, at sanaysay; at ang Gawad Balagtas para sa Katha sa Filipino noong 2019. Ang akda niyang Bago Mo Ako Ipalaot ay isinalin sa Aleman ni Annette Hug, at inilathala bilang Offenes Meer noong 2024. Ginawaran siya ng Dangal ng Panitikan ngayong 2025.
Panelist
For over five decades, Bonifacio P. Ilagan has been working on and off in the alternative and traditional mass media, including television and film, apart from the theater where it all started when he joined the UP Mobile Theater in 1969 under Prof. Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero. He has been recognized in all these media platforms, as attested to by his body of works and awards from the Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Catholic Mass Media Awards, Film Academy of the Philippines, Philippine Movie Press Club Star Awards, Gawad Tanglaw, Golden Screen Awards, and the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences.
In 1999, he was among the 100 awardees of the CCP Centennial Honors for the Arts. In 2010, he was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award (Gawad Balagtas) by the Writers Union of the Philippines.
Ilagan is the recipient of the 2019 Gawad Plaridel Award, given by the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication to outstanding media practitioners who have excelled in any of the media and performed with the highest level of professional integrity in the interest of public service.
In 1970 he chaired the Kabataang Makabayan in UP Diliman and also founded the theater group Panday-Sining. Two years into the martial law dictatorship, he was captured and tortured in 1974. He was released in 1976. He was rearrested and tortured again in 1994.
He is a co-convenor of the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (Carmma), spokesperson of Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto. president of Tag-ani Performing Arts Society, and chair emeritus of Surian ng Sining (SUSI).
Panelist
Si Rica ay isang guro at cultural worker na nakabase sa Calamba City. Isa siya sa mga tagapagtatag at ngayo’y Chairperson ng Arts Research and Training Institute in Southern Tagalog, Inc. o ARTIST, Inc. Nagtapos siya ng BA Sociology at MS Agricultural Education sa UPLB, at sa kasalukuya’y nakatakdang tumanggap ng PhD Education major in Cultural Education NCCA-PCEP.
Nagturo siya sa Colegio de San Juan de Letran Calamba noong 1996, at kalauna’y naging Culture and Arts Director nito hanggang 2020. Sa kasalukuyan, siya ay lektyurer sa Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas (DFPP) ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas. Siya rin ay guro ng NCCA-PCEP Graduate Diploma in Cultural Education, at nagtuturo sa University of Northern Philippines sa Vigan ng mga gradwadong kurso sa Master of Public Administration. Kamakailan, naging Resource Person siya ng Department of Education sa pagrererebyu ng Senior High School Arts and Design Curriculum.
Bilang isang alagad ng sining, lumilikha at nagtatanghal si Rica para sa mga produksyong panteatro at iba pang proyektong pang-adbokasiya. Naglingkod siya bilang NCCA Executive Council Member ng National Committee on Dramatic Arts mula 1998 hanggang 2004, at ng National Committee on Cultural Education (NCCEd) mula 2014 hanggang 2019. Bilang tagapagsanay ng NCCA sa National Cultural Mapping Project, gumagabay siya sa mga LGU sa pagbuo ng kanilang local cultural inventory na isang requirement para sa Seal of Good Local Governance.
Noong 2021, kabilang siya sa mga unang itinalagang Area Coordinators ng Book Nook, tungo sa pagtatag ng Book Nook Los Banos na pinangangasiwaan ng ARTIST, Inc.
Panelist
Baguio-born and bred, Luchie graduated from the University of the Philippines Baguio in 1981, with a degree in AB Humanities (Major in Comparative Literature). She has worked in various people-oriented institutions and organizations and writes for publications in the country and abroad.
She is a member and past president of the Baguio Writers Group and the current Vice-Chair for External Affairs of Dap-ayan ti Kultura iti Kordilyera, the alliance of progressive cultural workers and organizations and artists in the Cordillera region. She writes and edits publications and books for local and international indigenous non-profit organizations that advocate indigenous knowledge and practices, and advance Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
She writes poetry, creative non-fiction, and short stories for children (her “Ang Pangat, ang Ilog, at ang Lupang Ninuno” won a Palanca Award). She did the Filipino translation “Isang Daang Taon ng Pag-iisa” of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” She is also a book editor and her poetry and creative non-fiction works have been anthologized.
