Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (Umpil), or Writers Union of the Philippines, will hold its 44th National Writers’ Congress and 31st Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas on April 28 at Gerry Roxas Foundation Training Resource Center, Roxas City, Capiz.

Theme of the congress is “Kadulom kag Kasanag: Panitikan ng Pag-asa” (Darkness and Light: Literature of Hope).

Davao-based writer-scholar Macario Tiu will deliver the keynote address. There will be two writers forums: “Ang Karimlan sa Panitikan” and  “Ang Liwanag sa Panitikan.”

Gawad Balagtas is a lifetime achievement award for literary excellence. Recipients are Abdon Balde Jr. (fiction in Filipino); Ariel Dim. Borlongan (poetry in Filipino); Alain Russ Dimzon (poetry in Hiligaynon); Reynaldo Ileto (criticism in English); Malou Jacob (drama in Filipino); Connie Jan Maraan (fiction in English); Cles Rambaud (fiction in Ilokano); and Myrna Peña-Reyes (poetry in English).

Receiving the Gawad Paz Marquez Benitez, a lifetime achievement award for literature education, is Susan Evangelista. The Gawad Pedro Bucaneg for outstanding literary organization will be given to Cebu’s Women in Literary Arts (Wila).

Events are open to the public. Admission is free. E-mail Umpil secretary-general John Iremil Teodoro at [email protected].