Call for Entries: Gawad Panitikang Pangkalusugan

 


Mu Sigma Phi, the first medical sorority in the Philippines and Asia, is calling for entries for the Gawad Panitikang Pangkalusugan, a multi-awarded nationwide storybook writing competition with health as its main theme. The competition “challenges participants to break away from a clinical, straightforward and sanitized presentation of health and to mold it in a form that is enjoyable and of interest for its young audience.”

The winning stories for the project are reproduced incolorful and engaging (and bilingual!) storybooks on health for underprivileged children and families. These books not only spread awareness about relevant health issues; they also advocate literacy and education and celebrate Filipino ingenuity and culture.

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Happy Hunger Games!

All weekend, people have been asking me how I found the Hunger Games movie so I decided a blog post was in order for the occasion.

I think I’ve been half-excited, half-scared ever since the movie was announced, the way I am whenever a favorite book hits the big screen. Everyone knows I’m not a big fan of film adaptations — I’d be perfectly happy leaving my favorite books as they are, in my imagination, where, in my experience, they’re a whole lot better.

Lately, though, I’ve been quite, erm, reckless (hehe!) in watching film adaptations — I think, now that Harry Potter is over, I’ve conditioned myself to thinking it can’t get any worse. I’ve caught quite a number of them in the past few months — and of books I love, too! — and I admit it hasn’t been half bad. The Adventures of Tintin was awesome (but underappreciated, I think!); The Girl with A Dragon Tattoo was a bit too Hollywood for my taste (too pretty!), and Noomi Rapace will always be my choice for Lisbeth Salander, but the Hollywood version did work well as a narrative. and Hugo — it was, hands down one of the best movies I have ever seen, and *gasp* I actually enjoyed it more than the book!

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Jekyll & Hyde

Last week, I watched Repertory Philippines’ off-season production of Jekyll & Hyde at Onstage, Greenbelt 1.

The musical, of course, is based on the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, in which the character Dr. Jekyll performs a scientific experiment on himself, leading to a drastic transformation in his personality.

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Liesl and Po


Lauren Oliver, New York Times bestselling author of books Before I Fall, Delirium, and Liesl and Po, is coming to the Philippines this March to launch her newest book, Pandemonium.

I’m scheduled for an interview, so I’m reading her books in preparation, starting with her children’s story, Liesl and Po.

 

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Real and Not Real: The Hunger Games University Tour

If you’re a Hunger Games fan like I am, you’re probably counting down the days until Hunger Games hits the big screen in two weeks’ time. It’s getting more difficult to tamp down on the excitement, too, as the buzz is spreading like wildfire across the media avenues and social networks.

Students in Assumption College, Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines Diliman, and De La Salle University Manila get to join in on the fun, with Real and Not Real: The Hunger Games Trilogy University Tour.

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