WHO is Peter Solis Nery behind his staggering achievement?
I am a happy and contented person.
I am also a very funny person, and I keep a youthful attitude despite my age.
My New Year’s resolution, my motto for 2018, is: Laugh Your Way To 50.
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I’m turning gold next year.
I cannot ask for anything more in this life, except perhaps for a cute Filipino boyfriend. Haha!
Seriously, if he comes, that would be great.
If not, I’d be okay.
I’m not very religious, but I’m a spiritual person.
I spend time to pray and watch sunsets (check my Instagram @petersolisnery for all the sunsets of 2017).
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Describe your life in Dumangas and how did it help you to become a great writer?
Dumangas is a small town.
I was a big achiever even when I was little.
I was pretty famous in Dumangas when I was growing up.
I still am!
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Most people in Dumangas know and admire me.
I’m not very sure the millennials know me very well, but most of them have heard about me.
If not, they’re probably from the very remote barrios.
I immigrated to the US in 2006.
But I go home every year to receive an award or something.
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What is your unique Ilonggo trait which you believe hurled you into international acclaim?
I’m hardworking and flexible.
I combine perseverance and the Ilonggo adaptive power: normally quiet and reserved, but aggressive and purposeful when provoked.
I stay low-key most of the time, just doing my best in whatever project I do.
But in competitions, I have the urge to prove myself and to defeat my opponents.
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How do you describe yourself as a student, and what advice could you share to students on their own goal toward success?
I was a hardworking student, pretty well-rounded, and very smart.
I read more than what was required.
In fact, I think I did more than what was required of me most of the time.
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I was a perfectionist with school projects whether they were big or small.
I think students should always try to better themselves, and do more than what is required in school.
I don’t work for grades, I work for my own high standards.
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Any tips and advises to other aspiring “millennial” writers on how to be an award-winning writer?
The key to success in writing is confidence.
You have to believe in what you write.
You have to trust yourself that you can always do a good job.
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But in writing, you have to have confidence in your language, your vocabulary, your grammar.
So, you have to study and master the language that you use.
How can you say you are a writer in English if you keep on writing grammatically wrong sentences?
Bad grammar and wrong syntax are big crimes in writing.
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What are the perks of being a Palanca Hall of Fame awardee?
You mean, aside from the fame? Haha.
There’s nothing but the fame.
There is no big money in the Palanca contest.
But once you have a Palanca award, let alone the Hall of Fame, you get invited to lecture in writing workshops a lot.
And if you are any good as a teacher/lecturer, such lectures pay rather well.
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Some of your award-winning pieces are written in Hiligaynon. What motivates you to write in our dialect since most writers would rather opt for English for wider audiences?
I write pretty good in English.
I have won several Palancas in English for my plays and poetry.
But I write in Hiligaynon because I want to dignify the language and rescue it from bakya or baduy status.
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I figured that if I write truly outstanding works in Hiligaynon, they will respect my language.
If they admire my works in English and Filipino, I want them to be curious about the things I write in Hiligaynon.
I’m an advocate and a champion of the Hiligaynon language.
That’s motivation good enough for me.
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Tell us more about the Peter Solis Nery Foundation. What prompted you to establish it?
The Peter Solis Nery Foundation for Hiligaynon Literature and the Arts is my way of giving back to the community.
I established it after I was installed to the Palanca Awards Hall of Fame.
Its aim is to preserve, promote and propagate the Hiligaynon language and its literature through the conduct of writing workshops, literary contests like the Peter’s Prize, discovering and training new writers, and the publication of books in Hiligaynon.
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Moving on to lesser serious issues and to entertain your readers, if you were a title of a song or a movie, what would it be and why?
I’m not really into pop songs.
But I like the cheerful melody of Katy Perry’s “Firework” and Omi’s “Cheerleader.”
I also feel that, baby, I’m a firework because there’s a spark in me and I just gotta ignite the light and own the night.
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And I’m a pretty good cheerleader.
I mean, my Twitter headline says it all: I am a proud sponsor of the word “Inspire”.
So, I can really sing “Oh, I think you’ve found yourself a cheerleader. (That’s me!)
“I am always right there when you need me.”
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What do you like doing during your free time? Do you have any celebrity crush?
In my free time, I attend to my fans and followers in social media. Haha.
Seriously, I travel and take pictures a lot so my followers who can’t afford to make trips can see the world through my eyes.
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So follow me on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. (The name is Peter Solis Nery. That’s @petersolisnery, got it?)
I also want to inspire the dreamers by showcasing what I have done in the hope that they will aspire to achieve the same.
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In no particular order, my favorite celebrities are: Audrey Hepburn, Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt.
The first two, I’d like to be like if I were a woman.
The last three, I’d like to marry if they will take me. Haha.
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What is your favorite “hugot” line as of the moment?
I don’t think I’ve gotten to the fad of hugot lines.
But I’ve always been a lyric poet, so all my ngoyngoy poems are pretty hugot.
I would rather refer you to my poem “Ang Gugma nga daw Munggo”, which you can find on my website, www.petersolisnery.com.
I really think it is the real hugot before the hugot name (or the current hugot idea) was invented.
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What is the most valuable lesson in life that you could impart to students?
Don’t be shy.
If you don’t know, ask.
If you have a talent, show it.
There are many intelligent and talented, even good-looking people, who end up with nothing because they are very timid and coy.
There are many stupid, ugly, and moronic people who become showbiz personalities, politicians, and famous celebrities for the wrong reasons.
And this is because the real intelligent people, the real talented, and the truly beautiful, lose out by default. (petersolisnery@icloud.com/PN)
