MY LIFE AS ART

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BY PETER SOLIS NERY
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Writing with a vengeance

WHEN I won my 18th Palanca award this year, someone remarked that my name has become synonymous with the Palanca Awards. Well, that’s the idea I’m working on right now. I really think that I should win a few more Palancas until I can no longer be ignored as a literary writer in the Philippines, or at least in Western Visayas.

You see, it does not seem to matter to so-called literate Ilonggos that I was the first Filipino author to be invited to the Sharjah International Book Fair in the United Arab Emirates, the biggest Islamic book fair in the Muslim world, and the fourth largest book fair in the world, period. To me, that’s quite a humongous achievement like Miss Philippines winning the Miss Universe crown again after 42 years, or a most singular honor like being the first Filipino on the moon.

I mean, after 33 years since its creation, the Sharjah book fair finally decided to invite a Filipino author as a cultural guest, and who do they choose? The true-blue Ilonggo Peter Solis Nery from Dumangas, Iloilo, Philippines! What were the chances of that happening to me five years ago? Maybe zero? I really think it’s less than the chances of winning the lotto, or being struck by a lightning twice, but it happened. And it happened to me!

When I finally got to ask Sharjah why they chose me, I was told that I was selected because I had a very exciting career in literature. They researched me online (go Google me yourself!), and found me most likeable, interesting, and impressive. I think they saw my website, too, and read from Wikipedia how most awarded I am, and how I am a champion of an almost dead language.

They obviously saw my string of Palanca Awards first, then my short but impressive film career, my humanitarian and community-based initiative on cultural information and literature dissemination, and my multi-language, multi-genre achievement in literature, journalism, and the arts.
Of course, I wasn’t their first choice. But Jose Rizal, Carlos P. Romulo, and Ferdinand Marcos are all dead. Sharjah also considered a woman writer of note, but she was reportedly too old to travel. No need to name her. It’s rude to talk about women’s age. So, guess what, luck came to the lap of Peter Solis Nery, ranked 14th in the most famous Filipino writers list that named Rizal number one.

Needless to say, I’m very proud of my stint at the 34th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair in November last year. The international media covering the event adored me as “the breath of fresh air” in the otherwise conservative atmosphere of a Muslim, albeit international, book fair. And the Filipinos in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and other parts of the UAE were mighty proud of me. They came to support my events – buying my books, and posing with me for pictures.

But, of course, back home in the Philippines, this was not a celebrated event. This, obviously, is not a Manny Pacquiao brainless boxing match. This is a brain thing, a literary thing, a literate thing. A thing that makes the likes of Jose Rizal, not Lapu-lapu, our national hero.

So yeah, I’m happy and proud as a writer known worldwide as an outstanding Filipino writer, an most decorated Ilonggo author, a prolific Dumangasanon artist; but I am a little frustrated as to how I am treated and marginalized in Western Visayas. That is why my own Foundation for Literature and the Arts continue to sell my name and brand as a lecturer, workshopper, and do-gooder storyteller in the region, and the rest of the country, especially in Mindanao. That is why I continue to visit far-flung areas and most neglected schools to share my knowledge and skills as a writer.

If the big colleges and universities continue to ignore me and keep me out of intelligent literary discussion, especially where Hiligaynon literature is concerned, I swear to Mama Mary, I am going to make my own market. And I will continue to do that also by getting more renown and validation from the most respected Palanca Awards.

So yeah, I take the Palanca contest seriously. It’s a career for me. Because it actually did make my career in literature. I don’t think you know that I’m a member of the prestigious Dramatist Guild of America. Or that I’m a Creative Writing textbook writer for DIWA Learning Systems of the University Press of First Asia. I don’t think it matters to you. But I got your attention with my 18 Palanca awards, didn’t I?/PN

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