“SHORT, sweet, and heartwarming” is how many described the 30-minute tribute given to the late Felino S. Garcia, Jr. by The Peter Solis Nery Foundation at the Iloilo Festive Walk Mall during the opening night of the Iloilo Mega Book Fair (IMBF) 2023 on Thursday, April 26.
Garcia, an award-winning poet, writer, translator, and scholar, died in August last year just months short of his 55th birthday.
Aside from Gawad Rolando Tinio (NCCA Translator’s Prize) and a Palanca Award for short story, among other honors, Garcia was a recipient of the Special Peter’s Prize for Literary Criticism in 2014, officially making him the foundation’s first ambassador for literary scholarship.
Writing friends and close associates Melecio Turao and Peter Solis Nery went onstage at the IMBF activity center to recall happier times and to celebrate the life and works of Garcia, helped along by the late writer’s favorite songs. The event was streamed live over Facebook.
In addition to touching stories and telling details, Turao read his own poems inspired by Garcia during the program, while Nery shared testimonies of Garcia’s commitment and generosity to the literature and the literary community of the Western Visayas region./PN
