CALBAYOG CITY, Samar, (PNA) — The North West Samar State University is now accepting entries for this year’s edition of Chito S. Roño Literary Awards.
Harold L. Mercurio of the NWSSU’s Socio and Cultural Affairs Office said that his office will accept entries on poetry, short play and story for writers of two local dialects – Waray and Inabaknon.
He said that the contest, which is now on its 4th year, is open to all interested writers in Eastern Visayas and those writers born in the region but have migrated to another place or country.
For the siday (poetry) entry, the organizer said it must consist of five poems of any topic, theme, length and form.
For short story, an entry may vary in length depending on the writer’s choice whether it is a full blown fiction or a flash fiction with no restriction on the number of pages.
For play, an entry’s length must range from thirty-five minutes (35 minutes) to one and a half hour (90 minutes) once staged, with an open and free theme.
Meanwhile, entries written in Inabaknon must be provided with a translation either in Waray, Filipino or English while entries in short stories and plays must be accompanied by a one-page summary.
Mercurio added that all entries must be originally written in Waray or Inabaknon and not a translation from other languages and should not have been published nor has won in any contest.
Mercurio advised interested writers to submit their entries in four copies (one original and three photocopies), double spaced on an 8 1/2 x 11 inches letter size bond paper with one inch margin on both sides.
Pages should be numbered consecutively (e.g. 1 of 30, 2 of 30 and so on) at the bottom right corner of each page. Font type must be Arial and its font size must be 12 pts. Entries must bear the pseudonym of the writer.
The author’s name and the pseudonym (written on the entry) must be submitted in a separate sealed envelope along with the official application form and the contact information of the contestant.
A barangay captain or notary public must attest to the originality and authenticity of the entry and for archival purposes.
The writer is required to email a copy of the entry to chitoronoawards@yahoo.com or send a softcopy in DVD format together with other requirements to Chito S. Roño Literary Awards, Arts, Social and Cultural Affairs Office c/o Mr. Harold L. Mercurio, Northwest Samar State University, Rueda St., Brgy. Balud, Calbayog City.
Deadline for submission of entries is Oct 20, 2013.
For the poetry, the first, second and third placers will receive a certificate and cash prize of P5,000, P3,000 and P1,000 respectively.
The lone winner of the Short Story will receive P5,000 while the winner of the Play will receive P12,000 plus certificate.
Winners will be announced in selected radio stations, published in the local dailies and will be posted at the NCCA website and at Panitikan.com.
Awarding of winners will be done during the culmination of activities of the annual Lamiraw Creative Writing Workshop on November 6-8, 2013 at Naval State University, Naval, Biliran.