As part of the Buwan ng Panitikan celebrations, Museo ng Kaalamáng Katutubò will be holding an online lecture titled “Bukambibig: Love in the Time of Corona” which will tackle local poetry and culture from the past and the present.

It will be hosted by the University of the Philippines professor Victor Emmanuel Carmelo Nadera, Ph. D. who has several poetry collections under his name and was even awarded as Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Francisco Balagtas in 2015 and Poet of the Year in 1985.

Through “Bukambibig: Love in the Time of Corona”, Nadera will cover and discuss the different phases of Philippine oral literature—from pre-Hispanic to Hispanic to American colonial to Martial Law days, until today.

Various forms of oral literature will also be tackled and presented in the lecture, beginning from the tanaga which is claimed to be the oldest form of poetry in the Philippines. Elements of oral literature, such as number of lines and rhyme (sukat at tugmâ), will be taught in the online talk as well.

Nadera will also differentiate between oral literature and spoken word, which has gained popularity with the recent generation and is practiced by many performers. The lecture will also contain an interactive session where the audience will be asked to participate in on-the-spot poetry writing.

The lecture will be held on Apr. 17 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. through Museo ng Kaalamáng Katutubò’s official Facebook page, and you can RSVP and check further event details here.

Header photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

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