Dramatist Nick Pichay to deliver UST’s Paz Latorena Memorial Lecture

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PRESS RELEASE: University of Santo Tomas' Paz Latorena Memorial Lecture is happening on May 3

The following is a press release from the University of Santo Tomas.

Renowned dramatist, poet, and lawyer Nick Pichay will be the keynote speaker for this year’s Paz Latorena Memorial Lecture on Saturday, May 3, at 2 pm. The event will take place at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex Auditorium at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Sampaloc, Manila.

Pichay, a celebrated dramatist behind Almanac for a Revolution which won the grand prize for the Philippine Centennial Commission’s Literary Prize three-act play in English, also translated notable works: Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, William Shakespeare’s King Lear, and Federico Garcia Lorca’s Yerma. He was the Southeast Asia Writer’s Prize awardee for 2023.

In 2017, Pichay received the Gawad Balagtas from the Writers Union of the Philippines. He was a Hall of Fame recipient of the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature in 2007. Pichay received a Fulbright-Humphrey fellowship as a lawyer at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University, New York, in 2016. He is the current director of the Legislative Research Service of the Philippine Senate. 

This year’s iteration will focus on the theme, “Panitikan at Pagiging Mamamayan,” exploring how literature shapes, reflects, and challenges notions of citizenship, identity, and civic responsibility, especially in these crucial times of electoral engagement. 

The memorial lecture pays tribute to Paz Latorena (1908-1953), a distinguished figure in Philippine literature in English. Latorena was a professor of English and literature at UST’s former Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, where she influenced a generation of literary figures, including National Artist F. Sionil José, Eugenia Duran Apostol, Genoveva Edroza Matute, Zenaida Amador, Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta, and Alice Colet-Villadolid.

Alongside the lecture, the event will feature the second Paz Latorena On-the-spot Essay-writing Contest for senior high school students.

Held annually, the lecture coincides with UST’s 414th founding anniversary and National Literature Month, offering a space for students, faculty, and professionals to discuss the present and future of Philippine literature.​ Previous lecturers include National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Ricky Lee, cultural critic Rolando Tolentino, and editor Inday Espina-Varona.

Organized by the UST Department of Literature and the Department of Creative Writing, in partnership with the UST Literary Society and UST MaKatha Writers Circle, the event welcomes participants from various backgrounds.

For further inquiries, contact Dr. Allen Dave Arboleda, chairperson of the UST Literature Department, via email at abarboleda@ust.edu.ph or call 8786-1611 (local 8922). – Rappler.com