GAYLE ACAR is an artist and owner of Libraria Books, an independent bookshop in Dumaguete. After graduating from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, she pursued careers in the creative fields of music, fashion, and graphic design. She moved from Manila to Dumaguete in 2022 with her husband Ernest, and their children Aria and Elora. She is part of the panel on The Business of Literature for the Dumaguete Literary Festival, and is the festival co-director.

ANNABELLE ADRIANO lives and writes in Dumaguete. She only wants to be known as a “reader-in-residence.” She is part of the panel on Reader’s Talk Back for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

ALYANA MARIE AGUJA lives in Dumaguete but hails from General Santos City. She is a senior Creative Writing student at Silliman University, and is always striving to blend her love for cinema with her passion for writing. Her cinematic experiences has served as a profound influence on her literary voice, which predominantly explores speculative fiction themes of womanhood, suspense, and body horror. She has self-published a zine, Imperfect Love, at the XXL Print Fair 2023. She has also contributed to the fiction anthology, You Don’t Want To Know, which was featured during the UP Cebu Art Fair 2023. She will give a Pechakucha talk for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

DEAN FRANCIS ALFAR lives in Pasig City. He is an author, playwright, and advocate of speculative fiction. His books include Salamanca, The Kite of Stars and Other Stories, How to Traverse Terra Incognita, A Field Guide to the Roads of Manila and Other Stories, Stars in Jars, and How Rosang Taba Won a Race. He is the founder of the Philippine Speculative Fiction annuals, and the editor of multiple anthologies including Siglo: Freedom, Fantasy: Filipino Fiction for Young Adults, Maximum Volume: Best New Philippine Fiction, and Kathang Haka: The Big Book of Fake News, among others. His short stories have appeared internationally, in books such as The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, The Time Traveler’s Almanac, and The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror. His literary awards include the Palanca, the National Book Award, and the Philippines Free Press Literary Award. He is the Chair of the Manila Critics Circle. Nikki Alfar is his tango partner. He is the keynote speaker for the Dumaguete Literary Festival, and is part of the panel on Writing Speculative Fiction.

NIKKI ALFAR lives in Pasig City. She is a wife, mother, fictionist, dancer, martial arts student, knitter, and origami folder. She has also managed to cadge repeated recognition out of the Palanca Awards, the Nick Joaquin Literary Awards, and global Mariner literary authorities, along with back-to-back National Book Awards for her story collections WonderLust and Now, Then, and Elsewhen. She’s edited more speculative fiction anthologies than she can count, including the acclaimed, annual Philippine Speculative Fiction. By trade, she’s a marketing and corporate copywriter, so she writes fiction all the time. Nikki smokes like a chimney, and has one two children with writer Dean Francis Alfar—Ryo, 22, is also a published writer, and Rowan, 15, is an online novelist. She is part of the panel on Writing Speculative Fiction for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

MOSES JOSHUA ATEGA lives in Dumaguete. He works as a liaison officer for foreign students at Silliman University, and is everyone’s big brother, and can be counted on to be one’s tour buddy around Siquijor. He knows exactly where to bring people for real encounters of the powers behind Siquijor’s mystical reputation. He once wrote about the “The Last Witch Warrior of Siquijor” for Dumaguete Metropost. He was born and raised in Mindanao, but finds Siquijor to be the best island for secret escapades. He is moderator for the panel on Siquijor Rising—Literature from Isla del Fuego for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

LENDZ BARINQUE lives in Cebu City, but hails from Iligan city, Lanao del Norte. He is a filmmaker and writer. He has an undergraduate degree in AB English, major in creative writing, from Silliman University. His play, Ang Mga Babae sa Kusina/The Women in the Kitchen, was selected by ExtraVirgin Labfest in Cagayan de Oro in 2019. After finishing a diploma course in filmmaking from International Academy of Film and TV in Cebu in 2014, he went to produce local short films. Padulong sa Pinuy-anan, directed by Eden Villarba, was selected to be part of the Cinemalaya Film Festival in 2015. He also produced Remton Zuasola’s Lunchbox (2016), and co-produced Jean Claire Dy and Manuel Domes’s Pagrara Sang Patipuron. He was a production manager for Swap in 2015, and production coordinator and script supervisor for Those Long Haired Nights and Singing in Graveyards in 2016. Recently, he co-directed a segment of a Malaysian-Philippines feature-length project, Franklin, which was part of the 2022 Taipei Golden Horse Film Project Promotion WIP Selected Project. He is part of the panel on Writing from the Regions for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

INED BAUTISTA-YAO is the author of One Crazy Summer, What’s in your Heart, Only A Kiss, When Sparks Fly, All That Glitters, Someday With You, Swept off my Feet, Plain Vanilla, My Quarantine Diary, and My Lola’s Love Letters. Her short story “Before the Sun Rises,” is part of the Ateneo University Press anthology Friend Zones, and her short stories “Puppy Love” and “Saving Valentine’s Day” are part of the #RomanceClass Tropetastic Kindness Bundle anthologies. She is also the author of children’s books A Mask of My Own and Best Friends Forever in Jesus. She teaches at the Ateneo de Manila University, edits the Jesuit magazine, The Windhover, and is the former editor-in-chief of Candy and K-Zone magazines. She lives in the Philippines with her husband Marc, daughters Addie and Tammy, and dogs Cinnamon and Toffee. Her website is http://www.inesbautistayao.com, and her work is featured at http://www.romanceclassbooks.com. Her socials are @inesbyao and facebook.com/inesbautistayao. She is part of the parallel sessions for Songs, Stories, and Crafts for Kids for the Dumaguete Literary Festival, and is also part of the panel on The Other Side of Negros.

GEORGINA CAMUS has been working in the creative industry since she was in high school. She has a background in branding and graphic design, working with brands such as Jollibee, Chowking, Mang Inasal, Unilever, Nestle, and Ayala Malls. Today, she juggles creative projects as a freelancer, designing wedding invitations, fans, and artwork for various brands. Her bright and playful art reflects her sunny personality, gravitating her towards projects with children. She has run art workshops, been a camp counselor, and will begin working as an art teacher very soon. Illustrating children’s books was a childhood dream, and she fulfilled it with two books under Kado Publishing, Super Suffragette: The Story of Pura Villanueva-Kalaw and A Mask of My Own. To see her work, follow @bygeorginac on Instagram. She is part of the parallel sessions for Songs, Stories, and Crafts for Kids for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

SUSAN CANOY lives in Dumaguete, where she works as a full-time visual artist. She started painting in 1986. A single mother of two, she refused to be intimidated by life’s circumstances, and translated her fears and triumphs to her art. She has flourished in her chosen vocation, and has joined various art exhibits. She was a finalist for the Philip Morris Art Awards in 2005. She also teaches painting and art lessons every summer. In 2011, she opened the Art Works-Shop, and by 2013, she operated a stall devoted to her craft at the Robinson’s Place Dumaguete. She is part of the parallel sessions for Songs, Stories, and Crafts for Kids for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

F. JORDAN CARNICE lives in Dumaguete, but hails from Tagbilaran City, Bohol. He is a creative writing graduate of Silliman University and an IT graduate of STI College. He is a writer and visual artist born, is currently works as a researcher for the National Museum of the Philippines Dumaguete. He mounted his first solo art and poetry exhibit at Sidlakang Negros Gallery at the age of 20, and he has participated in various art exhibitions across the Philippines since then. In 2019, he was among the 19 creatives featured in Sugid: Works of Visual Artists from Bohol, a month-long exhibition curated by the late Leo Abaya at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Gallery in Intramuros, Manila. Some of his paintings, illustrations, digital drawings, and photographs have appeared in publications like Silliman Journal, Dark Blue Southern Seas, Style Weekend, Graphika 20/20, and several others. For literary writing, his works of prose and poetry have been published in the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Ani, NCCA’s Ubod, Santelmo, Likhaan: The Journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature, Philippines Graphic Reader, Philippine Speculative Fiction, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine, Manoa Journal, among others. He has authored two poetry chapbooks, Weights & Cushions (2018) and How to Make an Accident (2019). He is also a recipient of fellowships from national writing workshops in Dumaguete, Iligan, and Bacolod, and has served as a panelist twice at the Taboan Writers Festival. He won the poetry grand prize in the 2020 Cebu Climate Emergency Literature and Arts Competition for his poem “There is Too Much Light in this World,” and was recently hailed as Poet of the Year at the 2023 Nick Joaquin Literary Awards. He can be found online through Instagram and Twitter via @thebullfrog__. He is part of the panel on Literature and Social Media for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

HERSLEY-VEN CASERO lives in Dumaguete, and is a multidisciplinary visual artist, documentary and street photographer. He received his BSC in Marketing and an Artist of the Year Award from Foundation University, and in 2018, the Negros Oriental Young Heroes Award in the field of Visual Arts. In 2019, Casero became the first Filipino to participate in the Chalk Hill Artist Residency program based in California USA, after they awarded him one of their limited spots as a sponsored artist. His works have been recognized and published in local, national and international publications and exhibitions, including various cities around the USA, India, Ukraine, UAE, Poland, Germany, Portugal, France, Cyprus, France and Italy. His photographs have been featured in local, as well as national publications, such as Dumaguete Metropost, Visayan Daily Star, Cebu Daily Inquirer, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, The Picture Perfect of Manila Bulletin, and Smile Magazine. In 2023, Vogue Philippines featured an article about Casero’s life and works in their travel issue. He has also had several features in international publications, such as The Los Angeles Times, VIEW Magazine in Germany, and  Jaipur India City Guide Magazine, to name a few. He was part of the international photography exhibition ‘#ICPConcerned: Global Images for Global Crisis’ at the International Center for Photography in New York, and the international photography exhibition ‘City vs Quarantine’ in Lviv, Ukraine and other cities around Europe. He has earned several international awards and recognitions for his photography, including Finalist by Street Photography International Awards 2022, Finalist by Miami Street Photography Awards 2022, Finalist by Eyeshot Open Call 2022, 2nd Prize & Finalist by the Italian Street Photography Awards 2022, ‘Category Winner of the Year’ by Muse Photography Awards 2021, Finalist by the Sony World Photography Awards 2021, Silver Medal by Paris International Street Photography Awards 2020 to mention a few. In 2021, he published his first photography book, All in Good Time, and the following year, The Great Little Hunter, a children’s book written by Ian Rosales Casocot and illustrated by Casero was also published in collaboration with Pinspired. In 2024, Casero was on the jury for the Italian Street Photography Festival photography contest, and also a featured exhibitor in the StreetSoup Art Gallery, Milan. Casero’s photographs also featured in Art Fair Philippines 2023 in collaboration with MUGNA Gallery and Fotomoto. He motivates others by collaborating through art projects like ‘Ha?: The Laughing Boy Project’ and promoting the freedom of self-expression through art. He is part of the Ang Pagdakop sa Damgo exhibit for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

IAN ROSALES CASOCOT teaches literature, creative writing, and film at Silliman University, where he was Founding Coordinator of the Edilberto and Edith Tiempo Creative Writing Center. He is the author of several books, including the fiction collections Don’t Tell Anyone, Bamboo Girls, Heartbreak & Magic, and Beautiful Accidents. He has won the Palanca nine times for his fiction, plays, and children’s poetry. In 2008, his novel Sugar Land was longlisted in the Man Asian Literary Prize. He was Writer-in-Residence for the International Writers Program of the University of Iowa in 2010. He is part of the panel on Writing Dumaguete and Negros Oriental, the panel on The Place of the Palanca and Other Literary Awards in Philippine Literature, and the panel on Writing Speculative Fiction for the Dumaguete Literary Festival. He is also the festival co-director.

JIREH CATACUTAN lives in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental. He is an undergraduate student at the Department of English and Literature at Silliman University, and is currently in his fourth year in the Creative Writing program. An avid reader since childhood, and an enthusiast of all things pop culture and horror, his forays into the literary world as an author are reflections of these interests, and can be seen in his poetry, creative nonfiction, and plays. His first self-published poetry collection, Malice and Desperation (2023), sold out at the 2023 XXL Print Fair. He will give a Pechakucha talk for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

JOAN MAY “TITA DOC” CORDOVA lives in Dumaguete. She is a teacher of Kindergarten ESL to PhD students, teachers, and diverse communities. While completing her doctorate in education as a Harvard University scholar, she wrote the proposal for and co-directed “America’s Literary Landscapes: Places for Asian Americans,” a year-long seminar series for teachers that became the historic first National Endowment for the Humanities / NEH-funded project to focus on Asian American literature. She has published research, curriculum, oral histories, photos, and co-edited the text, Resist, Organize, Transform: An Introduction to Nonviolence and Activism (2020). She became a visiting professor to Silliman University in 2019. With a lifelong passion for peace-building, she’s been helping to build the Human Security Institute at Silliman’s Salonga Center through community dialogues. She also collaboratively teaches nonviolence to international cohorts and serves on the board of the Institute for Human Rights and Responsibilities. She served on the board of the social justice organization Asian Americans United for nine years and is a national president emerita of the Filipino American National Historical Society. She is part of the parallel sessions for Songs, Stories, and Crafts for Kids for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

D SALAG COLLECTIVE is an innovative and artist-oriented theatre collective founded by Earnest Hope Tinambacan in 2020. They will perform The Great Little Hunter for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

SHARON ROSE DADANG-RAFOLS lives in Dumaguete. She is a multifaceted artist with a rich tapestry of experiences spanning education, volunteering, organizational involvement, and diverse work experiences. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education, with a focus on English and History, from Silliman University, graduating in 1992. She has delved into specialized areas such as Conflict Transformation and Peace Building, and has obtained a certificate from Miriam University and the Mindanao Peace Institute. Her commitment to fostering peace is further evidenced by her involvement with the Silliman Justice and Peace Center. She has been an active volunteer, lending her expertise to various causes, including being a Training and Communication Advisor for Volunteer Service Overseas in Uganda, where she facilitated social reintegration for petty offenders and advocated for restorative justice. She is also an art teacher, a technical cross-cultural trainer, a studio artist, and a freelance consultant. She is a member of the Art and Design Collective Dumaguete, Incorporated. She is part of the parallel sessions for Songs, Stories, and Crafts for Kids for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

CLAIRE BETITA DE GUZMAN lives in Singapore, and is the author of five novels: Sudden Superstar (Penguin Random House SEA), a two-time The Straits Times bestseller; Budget is the New Black (Marshall Cavendish); Miss Makeover; Girl Meets World; and No Boyfriend Since Birth (Summit Media), which was adapted into a TV series. Sudden Superstar, released in November 2023, was also listed as a bestseller by Epigram Bookshop and Times Bookstore. A former journalist, she started as a lifestyle reporter for the broadsheet Today before becoming an editor for international and local magazines including Preview, Cosmopolitan Philippines, and Harper’s Bazaar Singapore. Currently, she works closely with the Migrant Writers of Singapore and has led talks, workshops, and panels at literary events, including the Singapore Writers Festival and Poetry Festival Singapore, as well as the Philippine Embassy in Singapore and Sing Lit Station.  She studied Journalism and graduated cum laude, with honors, at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. She has taken writing courses at the University of Oxford in England and was a fellow in literary workshops in Europe and Asia, including Miradoux, France, Bali, Indonesia, and Tbilisi, Georgia. She is co-author of a poetry collection, Dreaming of the Divine Downstairs and is co-editor of Get Luckier, an anthology of Philippine-Singapore writings. Her upcoming novel, Huế  City, by Penguin Random House SEA, will be released in July 2024. Her website is http://www.clairebetita.com. She is moderator for the panel on Penguin Random House Hour for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

TARA DE LEON lives in Dumaguete. She is an advocate for the arts, and has dabbled in theatre, visual, and electronic arts and is currently focused on the literary realm. She was a fellow for fiction at the 58th Silliman University National Writers Workshop. As a founding member of Buglas Writers Guild and Dum.Alt.Press, she’s actively trying to help strengthen the local writing community, in hopes that Dumaguete becomes a city of literature. She also enjoys partaking in the culinary arts. She is moderator for the panel on Writing Speculative Fiction for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

BERYL ANDREA DELICANA lives in Dumaguete, but hails from Butuan City. Her hometown is the setting for her full-length play Mango Tree, which was awarded first prize in the 2017 Palanca Awards. She was also a fellow for Drama in the 2021 Silliman National Writer’s Workshop. She is moderator for the panel on Writing the Romance for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

NICKY DUMAPIT lives in Dumaguete. He is an artist, musician, eco-warrior, radio host, and tour guide. He has dedicated his life to a cause close to his heart and formative to his very identity: spreading the message of the respect and protection of the natural environment. He has astonished and entertained various audiences by performing with his hand-crafted indigenous instruments made from natural and recycled materials that perfectly and uncannily mimic the sounds of tropical rain, thunder, babbling river water, native birds, frogs, geckos and more, all the while campaigning for conservation under his catchphrase “Lipay ang Kalibutan [The World is Happy]”. He has hosted a Sunday radio programme, “Higala Kumusta Na” for local radio station DYWC Radyo Bandilyo for more than 20 years. In 2013, Dumapit was recipient of the Gawad Kalinga Parangal ng mga Bayani for his outstanding service to the Negros Oriental community by way of championing for the environment they live within and rely upon. He will give a storytelling performance for the opening ceremony of the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

MINA V. ESGUERRA writes and publishes romance novels. Her young adult/fantasy trilogy Interim Goddess of Love is a college love story featuring gods from Philippine mythology. Her contemporary romance novellas won the Filipino Readers’ Choice awards for Chick Lit in 2012 (Fairy Tale Fail) and 2013 (That Kind of Guy). In 2013, she founded #RomanceClass, a community of Filipino authors of romance in English, and it has since helped over 100 authors write and publish romance books. She is also a media adaptation agent, working with LA-based Bold MP to develop romance media by Filipino creatives for an international audience. Visit minavesguerra.com for more information about her books and projects. She is part of the panel on Writing the Romance for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

MARJORIE EVASCO is a SEAWRITE 2010 awardee of the Philippines and an NCCA Ani ng Dangal 2011 awardee. Five of her books have won the Manila Critics’ Circle National Book Awards: for poetry [Dreamweavers and Ochre Tones]; for oral history [Six Women Poets: Inter/Views, co-authored by Edna Zapanta-Manlapaz]; for biography [A Life Shaped by Music: Andrea O. Veneracion and the Philippine Madrigal Singers]; and for art [Ani: The Life and Times of Hermogena Borja Lungay: Boholano Painter]. Her poetry books in English and Spanish translations by Latin American poets are Skin of Water and Fishes of Light/ Peces de Luz [co-authored by Alex Fleites]. She contributed poetry in groundbreaking anthologies like Agam: Filipino Narratives of Uncertainty in Climate Change [2015], and Sustaining the Archipelago: Philippine Ecopoetry Anthology [2018]. She edited an anthology of memoirs, The Bohol We Love [2017], which was a finalist in the 2017 National Book Award for anthology in English. She also published the biography Valentina’s Valor: Stories of the Life and Times of Valentina Galido Plaza [2018]. An advocate of literary development in the Visayas and Mindanao, particularly in creative writing in Binisaya and English, she has served as director and panelist in various workshops. She also serves as resource person of Bohol’s literary heritage. She is Outstanding Sillimanian Awardee for Creative Writing in 2008, and is a Regular Panelist at the Silliman University National Writers Workshop. Her newest book is It is Time to Come Home. She is part of the panel on Poetry in a Time of Crisis for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

SHANE JAY G. FABUGAIS lives in Siquijor. He is currently pursuing PhD, major in research and evaluation, at Cebu Normal University. With a strong passion for literature, he has been actively involved in the promotion and preservation of literary works in his local community. He was a fellow for Fiction in Cebuano at the 28th Iligan National Writer’s Workshop. He has taken it upon himself to be a voice and advocate for Siquijodnon literature. He is part of the panel on Siquijor Rising—Literature from Isla del Fuego for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

ANGELA GABRIELLE FABUNAN lives in Dumaguete, but was raised in New York. She is the author of Young Enough to Play (University of the Philippines Press, 2022). She attained her BA in English and American Literature from Bowdoin College in Maine, USA, and an MA in Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She has been a recipient of the Rutan Grant (Theater, 2010) as well as the Gibbons Fellowship (2011). She has been a fellow of the Silliman University National Writers’ Workshop (Poetry, 2015). She was the recipient of the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards (Poetry, 2016). She has published in over 30 publications in the Philippines and abroad. Her first poetry collection, The Sea That Beckoned, was published by Platypus Press (UK, 2019). She teaches Creative Writing at the Department of English and Literature at Silliman University. She is part of the panel on Poetry in a Time of Crisis for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

RINA FERNANDEZ-HILL lives in Dumaguete, and teaches at the Department of English and Literature of Silliman University. She is part of the panel on Reader’s Talk Back for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

CIL FLORES lives in Dumaguete. She is a visual artist. She graduated with a BS in Psychology from Silliman University, but her love for art and creativity led her to pursue a career as a visual artist and illustrator. Her art influences mainly come from pop culture (animation and video games), and she often draws inspiration from emotions, situations, and personal experiences. She describes her art style as pop surrealism and lowbrow, emphasizing rock/root-like details, lines, bright colors, and of course, her original character named “Clae.” These are all done through traditional acrylic painting, pen & ink, digital art, and sculptures. She will give a Pechakucha talk for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

GINA FONTEJON-BONIOR lives in Sibulan, Negros Oriental. She has a PhD in Education with specialization in Reading Education from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, as a CHED FDP2 recipient. She has two masters degrees: a Master of Arts degree major in English as Second Language, which she completed at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu in 2003 as a Fulbright Scholar; and a Master in Education major in Teaching English as Second Language (TESL) at the University of the Philippines in 1993. A fellow of the Philippines-Australia Project in Basic Education (PROBE), she completed a Certificate Program in Professional Studies in Teacher Education at the Queensland University of Technology, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. She also recently completed a Certificate Program in Higher Education Teaching at Harvard University, as a recipient of a grant from the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia. She earned her Bachelor of Education major in English, minor in journalism in 1988, cum laude at the College of Education at Silliman University, where she is currently an associate professor and dean. She has published articles and presented papers on language and literacy education in national and international conferences. She is moderator for the panel on The Place of the Palanca and Other Literary Awards in Philippine Literature for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

DANAH FORTUNATO lives in Dumaguete. She is the Executive Director of the ICT Association of Dumaguete and Negros Oriental or ICT DGTE, the organization of the local ICT or BPO or IT-BPM Industry. At various stages in her professional life, she has been a science research specialist at DOST Region 7, a carer at her drop-in daycare center, a bookstore owner and small time publisher, and the lone person in the back office of the team promoting Dumaguete as a location for BPO companies, responsible for showing off the city to prospective locators. She was a founding trustee and board secretary at ICT DGTE, and the lead organizer for several Startup Weekends, one of which was the Philippine representative when it was globally held simultaneously. She is also a founding trustee and board secretary of ONE Rescue, Metro Dumaguete’s version of 911. She is also a chemical engineer whose work at the DOST covered a variety of fields. She is part of the panel on The Business of Literature for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

ANTON GABILA lives in Dumaguete. He juggles several roles: husband, father, government employee, and creative enthusiast. He graduated from Silliman University in 2014 with a degree in business administration, setting the stage for his career path. For the past eight years, he has worked for the Department of Trade and Industry, where he started as a business counselor in Canlaon City. Currently, he is tasked with steering the Creative Industry Development Program and the Digital Strategies for the provincial office of DTI. His work involves fostering the growth of the creative industry by organizing capacity development workshops, forging partnerships with industry leaders, and orchestrating market exposure events. Outside the walls of the agency, he does photography. His work portfolio includes co-organizing key community building events like the 6200 Pop Up Fairs in 2018 and 2019, the Slingshot in 2019, the Experience Fair in 2022, CreateFest in 2023. These events served as a launchpad for creatives and startup businesses to expose themselves to a wider market and prepare them to join larger and wider platforms. These were born through collaboration with key creative community builders. He’s currently pursuing his master’s degree in business administration via the Open University System of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and completing the Dalubhasa Program Business Development Track of the DTI Academy, demonstrating his commitment to continuous learning and professional growth. He finds solace in the quiet moments with his wife, Angeline, and their son, Aaron. He is part of the panel on The Business of Literature for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

RENREN GALENO is a visual artist from Davao City. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of the Philippines Diliman with a degree in Fine Arts and currently works in comics and illustration. She has previously published I Pray You’re Born With Gills in the 10 Years to Save The World Anthology and illustrated Paghahanap Kay Maura for The Washington Post. Her first book, Sa Wala, was published in 2023. She is part of the panel on Writing Comics with Komiket for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

DANIELLE GASTON lives in Dumaguete. She is an events host, YouTuber, and content creator. She started her career at 14, and has hosted more than 100 events since then, with highlights including Miss Negros Oriental, ABS-CBN Kapamilya Night, and TM Fun Pasko [co-hosted with Alden Richards]. When she’s not holding a microphone, she produces lifestyle videos on her YouTube channel [with over 50,000 views] and creates content for brands like Maybelline and UNIQLO. She graduated in 2023 with a degree in journalism, major in broadcasting, at Silliman University. She is part of the panel for Literature and Social Media for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

GEORGETTE ANNA S. GONZALES, better known by her pen name Edith Joaquin, is a writer of bestselling romance novels. She graduated with a degree in Tourism from the University of the Philippines-Diliman in 1993, and then worked in various capacities for BMG Records (Pilipinas), Pioneer-Allianz Life Assuranc, and Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). She moved to Dumaguete in 2009, where she served as Corporate Communications Coordinator for Colegio de Santa Catalina de Alejandria (COSCA). She began a career in freelance writing, editing, and translation, and started writing Tagalog novels for the My Special Valentine imprint of Bookware Publishing Corp., specializing in romance in Tagalog and mystery/crime in English. Among the books she has published as Edith Joaquin are Tulungan Mo Akong Lumimot (2003), One-Sided Love (2006), Love At First Sight (2009), Excuse Me, ‘Di Kita Type (2009), Noon Hanggang Ngayon (2010), Una at Huling Mamahalin (2010), Patunayan Mong Mahal Mo Ako (2012), Kwentong Pag-Ibig Lang (2012), Maid to Love You (2013), Once Upon a Dream (2014), and I Finally Found Someone (2017). Her self-published novels in English include With You Tonight (2015), When Broken Hearts Find Love (2016), and Perfect Dad (2021). Her The X My Heart Series in 2011, consisting of Kenneth, Armand, Fernando, and Brent, are her ultimate bestsellers. She migrated to the U.S. in 2017. She is part of the panel for Writing the Romance for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

REYA GRACE HINAUT lives in Dumaguete, but hails from Bacolod. She is an artist with a diverse set of hobbies and skills. She ventured into creative writing unsure about where she was going. So far, she has written two poetry collections, To Satisfy a Craving (2022) and Cycle of Striking Woman (2023). She has also accomplished numerous artworks, including commissions for the covers of the Sands & Coral for 2023 and 2024. She is part of the parallel sessions for Songs, Stories, and Crafts for Kids for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

J. PHILIP IGNACIO is a musician, actor, documentary filmmaker, and improvisational theatre veteran. A recording artist from 1996 to 2002, Jay also taught Recording Technology and Sound Design at the College of St. Benilde. As an actor he appeared in many sitcoms, a movie, and co-founded the Silly People’s Improv Theatre (SPIT), as well as the Philippines’ first school for improvisational theatre known as Third World Improv. His graphic novel Alandal won the 2022 National Children’s Book Award for Best Reads, and the 2023 National Book Award for Best Graphic Novel in English. History, language, and food cultures are his passion, and these are highlighted in his stories. He is part of the panel on Writing Comics with Komiket for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

AARON JAMES D. JALALON lives in Dumaguete but hails from Davao. He is a part-time teacher at the Department of English and Literature of Silliman University, a full-time Editorial Technical Assistant at the Office of Media and Public Affairs, and the adviser of Sands & Coral, the university’s literary journal [and the longest-running in the country]. He is a member of the secretariat of the Edilberto and Edith Tiempo Creative Writing Center and the Silliman University National Writers Workshop. Before this, he was a copyeditor at SPi Global, and a ticketing supervisor at StudentUniverse, all based in Dumaguete. He worked online as a content writer for Dreambound, a U.S.-based startup company in the healthcare industry. He was a fellow for fiction at the Davao Writer’s Workshop in 2009 and the SUNWW in 2010. His works have appeared in Dagmay, the online literary journal of the Davao Writers Guild, and Lilinaon: Anthology of Young Mindanao Writers published in 2016. He is currently taking his master’s degree in Literary Studies at Silliman University. He is moderator for the panel on Readers Talk Back for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

MOOKIE KATIGBAK-LACUESTA is the author of four books of poetry, The Proxy Eros (2008), Burning Houses (2013), Hush Harbor (2017), and Eros Redux (2019), and a novel, Assembling Alice (2021). She studied communication at the Ateneo de Manila University and then creative writing at the New School in New York. In 2007, she won the Philippines Free Press Award in the poetry category, and in 2014, the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award, the most prestigious literary award in the Philippines. Her work has appeared in The Philippines Free Press and The New York Quarterly, among others. In 2019, she co-edited The Achieve Of, The Mastery, a survey of contemporary Philippine Poetry in English, with Gemino H. Abad. She is part of the panel on Poetry in a Time of Crisis and the panel on The Penguin Random House Hour for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

MARIA ELCON CABANAG KLEINE KOERKAMP graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music, major in voice, from Silliman University. She pursued her master’s degree in music, also major in voice, at the University of the Philippines Diliman, graduating in 2014. In 2010, she joined Tanghalang Pilipino’s acting workshop held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines which paved her way to Tanghalang Pilipino’s Idol Season Production of Banaag at Sikat: Isang Rock Musical. She has portrayed major roles in a few opera productions, including The Magic Flute, A Hand of Bridge, and Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night. After a few years of stay in Manila, she came back to Dumaguete to work as a music faculty at the College of Performing and Visual Arts of Silliman University. She continues to perform in musical productions, concerts, and choral festivals. She is affiliated with several professional choral groups such as Ating Pamana Inc., SU Chorale, Sing Philippines Youth Choir, and the Silliman University Women’s Ensemble [where she serves as director]. Most recently, she became one of only five Certified McClosky Voice Technicians in the Philippines. She is part of the parallel sessions for Songs, Stories, and Crafts for Kids for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

ANGELO R. LACUESTA has won many awards for his writing, among them three Philippine National Book Awards, the Madrigal Gonzalez Best First Book Award, the NVM Gonzalez Award, and numerous Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards and Philippines Graphic Awards. He has written several books, including five short story collections, two non-fiction books, and a collection of graphic stories. He has participated in many international literary residencies, fellowships, festivals and conferences. He is editor-at-large at Esquire Magazine Philippines, and is a member of the Board of the Philippine Centre of PEN International. He recently published a novel, Joy, in 2022. He is part of the panel on The Penguin Random House Hour and the panel on The Business of Literature for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

JOHANNA MICHELLE LIM is an essayist based in Cebu City, but has roots in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental. After graduating in Advertising Arts, she became involved in advocacy work for poverty alleviation and coastal development, during which she started her excursions around the Philippines and Southeast Asia. Her essays are mostly a result of these trips where she tackles subjects like Filipino diaspora, ancestry, identity, and culture. Her first essay collection What Distance Tells Us: Travel Essays about the Philippines was a finalist at the 2019 Madrigal Gonzales Best First Book Awards. Her newly-published chapbook Dagaton: Essays on the Sea won Best Print at the Blue Mango Awards 2023. Lim has been published in over ten anthologies including Disaster: Creative Non-Fiction for Women, Brown Child: The Best of Faigao, Tingog Nanay, and Creative Nonfiction for Senior High School Students. Lim is a creative entrepreneur by profession. She is the founder and CEO of Dual Story, a brand strategy agency that works in the interstice of strategy, creativity, and social development. She is also a part-time lecturer for the University of San Carlos and the University of the Philippines, teaching design subjects such as Brand Storytelling and Visual Identity. Her next book project is a collection of personal essays called The Map on My Skin. She is part of the panel on Writing from the Regions for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

The LIMUACO-GASTON DANCE IN MOTION was established in 2019 by Cheenee Limuaco. It bills itself as Dumaguete’s “homeground for budding dance artists.” The company is known for its Lapyahan series of small dance concerts. They also stage Christmas pageants every year. They will perform for May Day Eve: A Night for Nick Joaquin for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

ALJANA “CHEENEE” V. LIMUACO is the director of Dance In Motion Dumaguete. She is an ABT Certified Teacher, and has successfully completed the ABT teacher training Intensive in Pre-Primary through level 3 of ABT National Training Curriculum. In addition to her involvement with Dance in Dumaguete, she serves as a respected member of the Kahayag Dance Company Board. Through her collaboration and contributions to the board, she plays a crucial role in guiding and shaping the company’s artistic endeavors, ensuring the continued growth and success of the organization. Her talent and ingenuity have been recognized via various accolades, most notably as the Grand Prize winner of the WifiBody 2020 Choreographer’s Competition, held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Her innovative choreography captivated audiences and judges, showcasing her ability to seamlessly blend the pandemic’s challenges with contemporary movements. This prestigious recognition further solidifies her as a leading force in the dance community. An alumna of the C-MAP National Choreographer’s Program, she has honed her skills and expanded her artistic horizons through this esteemed program. It is here that she refined her style, explored new concepts, and further cultivated her unique approach to choreography. She has represented Dumaguete and the Philippines in many national and international dance festivals. She will perform for May Day Eve: A Night for Nick Joaquin for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

AMIEL LOPEZ lives in Dumaguete, but hails from Malaybalay, Bukidnon. He is a senior Creative Writing major at Silliman University. His literary genre of choice is speculative fiction, although recently, he has focused on writing plays. He has published an anthology of speculative fiction along with two other writers titled You Don’t Want to Know. He is an avid cinephile and a firm believer in meditation as a tool for a creative examination of the subconscious. He is moderator for the panel on Writing Comics with Komiket for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

The LUTAS FILM FESTIVAL is the film festival of Negros Oriental, headquartered at Foundation University. It aims to encourage and develop a storytelling culture within the province through screenings and workshops. It started as a thesis presentation and through the support of different organizations and local filmmakers, it became one of the first film festivals in the province. It has become a platform of regional filmmakers in showcasing their stories. It curates a screening of Dumaguete shorts for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

MOHAMMAD MALIK is a Pakistani writer and artist who now calls Dumaguete home. He has published two zines, My Freedom is Tied to Your Freedom: Poems for Palestine (2024), and Dumaguete on My Mind: Ten Poems (2024). Most days he can be found writing, farming, and dreaming under the shadow of Mt. Talinis. He will perform for May Day Eve: A Night for Nick Joaquin for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

LEO G. MAMICPIC is an advocate for the protection and conservation of our environment. After graduating from Silliman University High School in 1965 and then from the University of San Carlos in 1969, he migrated to the United States and began working in the field of information technology. Early retirement found him back in Dumaguete, where he has since been active in culture and heritage, and particularly environmental advocacy. He lives what he preaches, installing solar panels in his house for energy conservation, and a system for rainwater catchment to help conserve water. He drives an electric vehicle to minimize noise and the emission of CO2 in the air, and he shops with a basket and reusable bags to avoid using single-use plastics. He has spoken in countless fora against plastic pollution, and is an active member of the Friends of the Environment in Negros Oriental [FENOr]. He was granted an award for environmental living, and gave the proceeds to his community’s Zero Waste Program in Brgy. Bantayan. He envisions a green and sustainable Dumaguete which is also a walkable, runnable, and bikeable city. He remains an active member of the Brgy. Bantayan Development Council and the Bantayan Senior Citizens Association, as well as a member of the Silliman Univeristy Culture and Arts Council. He is the former president of the Silliman University Alumni Association-Dumaguete Chapter. He is part of the panel on Siquijor Rising—Literature from Isla del Fuego for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

KAYCEE MELON is a full-time faculty member at Silliman University, teaching Literature and writing classes in the Senior High School. Additionally, she is a member of the secretariat of the Edilberto and Edith Tiempo Creative Writing Center and the Language Learning Center. Currently, she serves as the coordinator of the Silliman University National Writers Workshop. She is part of the panel on Looking for Philippine Literature in the School Curriculum for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

MARYANNE MOLL lives in Naga City, Camarines Sur. She has written four books from 2001 to 2014. Her short story “At Merienda” won Third Prize in the 2005 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, and her other short stories have also been included in anthologies in the Philippines and abroad. In 2002 she was a fellow for both the Dumaguete and the University of Santo Tomas National Writer’s Workshops, while in 2021 she was a fellow to the University of the Philippines National Writer’s Workshop. Her fourth book is also her first novel, The Maps of Camarines, published by Penguin Random House SEA, and is available worldwide. She is part of the panel on The Penguin Random House Hour and the panel on Writing from the Regions for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

ALANA LEILANI C. NARCISO lives in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental. She graduated with a BA in English from Silliman University in 2003. She took up Law studies but left in 2008, and applied into the Graduate Teaching Fellowship program of Silliman, eventually completing her MA in Literary Studies while teaching English and literature classes. She was eventually invited to join the faculty of the Department of English and Literature, and became its Chair in 2016-2018. She recently completed her Ph.D. at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is part of the panel on Looking for Philippine Literature in the School Curriculum for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

LEAH NAVARRO, also known as Love Leah Studio, is an artist based in Dumaguete. Her passion lies in crafting handmade journals and designing digital stickers for Journaling enthusiasts. Collaborating closely with the local souvenir shop Pinspired, Leah has been actively engaged in various artistic projects within the community, fostering connections with fellow local artists. When she’s not immersed in her creative endeavors, Leah enjoys strumming her guitar and practicing calligraphy during her leisure moments. Her profound love for the arts extends to writing with her fountain pens, a cherished pastime she indulges in whenever inspiration strikes. Her work can be found on Instagram at @love.leah.creates. She will give a Pechakucha talk for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

ROCKY O. NICOR lives in Bacolod. He is a playwright, dramaturge, stage director, and cultural worker. He holds a degree in Psychology, and was a Performing Arts Scholar at the Colegio San Agustin Bacolod under the Kanlaon Theater Guild. He has participated in different local, national, and international theater and music festivals, such as the Bangkok International Theater Festival, Asian Youth Theater Festival, Jindo International Drum Festival, Tanghal: National Theater Festival, among others. His play, Sin-o ang Naglansang kay Kristo, which tackles politics and religion, was chosen as part of the first Virgin LabFest Visayas in 2023. His experiences in theatre led him to serving Indigenous People; he serves as the ethnoarts consultant of Schools for Living Tradition of Ati–Marikudo in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental. He also serves as a technical staff for the Panaad sa Negros Festival for the past six years. He is the Executive Director of Dagiaw Experimental Theater, the Alumni group of Kanlaon Theater Guild. He is also a member of Subcommission for Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts of National Commission for Culture and Arts. Currently, he is a part-time faculty of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education at Colegio San Agustin Bacolod, and the band director of the school. He is part of the panel on The Other Side of Negros for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

ROLIN CADALLO OBINA is a businessman and government employee from Bais City. A banker of over two decades, he was Vice President of Sterling Bank of Asia and Collections Director of Paloo Financing, Inc., a subsidiary of the Singapore-based financial technology company, Oriente Express Techsystems Corporation, before joining the Bais City LGU. He holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, major in mathematics, and pursued his MBA at De La Salle University and MA in Creative Writing at the Pontifical and Royal Catholic University of Santo Tomas. Presently, he works as Supervising Administrative Officer (Cashier IV) and concurrently serves as Officer-in-Charge of Market and Slaughterhouse Operations and as Arts and Culture Officer of Bais, where he has instituted culture and arts projects such as the National Bonsai Competition and the Bais Film Festival of Short Films. He was former Chief of Staff of the City Mayor and Head of Civil Security before he took over on the economic enterprise assignments. His play San Nicolas: Ang Sarsuela was the sole winner for Dulang May Ganap na Haba at the 2018 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award. His other works, such as Ang Pag-uulyanin ni Olivia Mendoza and Mga Bata sa Selda 43, have been staged and performed at the Cultural Center of the Philippines through the Annual Virgin Labfest. They have also been staged in other parts of the country as well as abroad. As an advocate of cultural preservation and artistic development, he gives free scriptwriting workshop to students of Bais City, as well as free HIV awareness seminar/workshops, being a certified HIV counsellor under the umbrella of Love Yourself, Inc. He also teaches at La Consolacion College. He is the owner of OBINA Blends Ground Robusta Coffee, OBINA Shoes, and Mountainview Art Gallery and Café. He is part of the panel on Writing Dumaguete and Negros Oriental for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

ALBERTHA LACHMI APHRODITE OBUT is a playwright and fictionist based in Dumaguete City. She earned her Creative Writing degree at Silliman University. She was a fellow for Drama and Fiction at the 60th Silliman University National Writers Workshop. Her work has been featured on the Buglas Writers Journal and the Dumaguete MetroPost. Her short play, Shades of Blue, was chosen to represent Silliman University for Tanghal Theatre Festival in 2018. In 2022, she served as editor for Sands & Coral. She is currently taking her Juris Doctor degree in Silliman University, where she serves as the President of the Dr. Jovito R. Salonga Center for Law and Development, a non-profit organization that offers free legal advice and services to marginalized communities all around the Visayas-Mindanao regions. She is part of the panel on Readers Talk Back for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

LADY FLOR PARTOSA-KOENIG teaches research and literature at the English and Literature Department in Silliman University. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Education Major in English in 2007 and her Master of Arts in English Major in Literary Studies in 2010 through a graduate teaching fellowship in Silliman. From 2013 to 2014, she was a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant at Skyline College in California. In 2016, she was a recipient of the Faculty Merit Award and the Most Productive Faculty Award. Parts completed her PhD in Cultural Studies at Lingnan University, Hong Kong in 2023 through the support of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia and the Scranton Women’s Leadership Center. She is currently the coordinator of the Edilberto and Edith Tiempo Creative Writing Center and chair of the English and Literature Department in Silliman University. She is moderator for the panel on Looking for Philippine Literature in the School Curriculum for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

HELLENE PIÑERO lives in Dumaguete, where she is a member of the faculty of the Silliman University Department of English and Literature. Growing up in the sugarland of Negros Oriental informed the core tenets of her teaching career: amplifying and supporting student voices to author their narratives as powerful tools to enrich the classroom. She  believes in the power of storytelling, which fosters inclusion of multicultural grassroots education in our increasingly diverse and multicultural society. She pursued the opportunity to teach through the Fulbright Program, and taught for two years in various community colleges in California, where she facilitated learning to heritage learners. In Dumaguete, she is known for being an active participant in triathlon races, in mountain hiking, and in long distance swimming. She is part of the panel on Looking for Philippine Literature in the School Curriculum for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

NORAINE G. PUENGAN, best known as Patch, is a writer, a gender rights advocate, and a community organizer. She is a creative writing graduate of Silliman University. In 2021, she received a fiction fellowship for the 28th Iligan National Writers Workshop, where she received the Manuel E. Buenafe Writing Fellowship Award. In 2022, she received a drama fellowship to the 60th Silliman National Writers Workshop. In 2022 and 2023, she won the essay writing competition of the Scranton Women’s Leadership Center of the American Methodist Korean Women’s Mission Foundation. She is currently taking up her Masters’ of Arts in Literary Studies at Silliman University. She is moderator for the Author’s Talk: How I Became an Amazon Writer for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

DESSA QUESADA-PALM is an artist-teacher-organizer with more than four decades of engagement in socially-relevant theater. She is the founder and director of the Youth Advocates Through Theater Arts, which since 2005 has produced performances and facilitated community arts workshops on themes such as youth rights, gender-based violence, environmental protection and community resilience. Dessa facilitates trainings on the nexus of arts and peacebuilding at the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute, and is a long-time board member of the Gender Watch Against Violence and Exploitation. She will perform for May Day Eve: A Night for Nick Joaquin for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

KEISIAH DAWN TIAOSON lives in Dumaguete, but hails from La Carlota City, Negros Occidental. She’s committed to immortalize country life and tell stories about her hometown, and to celebrate nature through her poems for children. At six years old, she started reading legends, guessing riddles, and listening to folktales. She often goes with her mom, who teaches Filipino literature in college, and actively engages herself with her teachings. Her essays got her two international scholarships, and her first collection of tulang pambata won her a Palanca. When she was fifteen, she developed a love for scientific research, and won several awards in the field. She claims that chemistry is fundamental, which is why she is pursuing a degree in that field in Silliman University. She is part of the panel on The Place of the Palanca and Other Literary Awards in Philippine Literature for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

DARA TUMACA-RAMOS hails from Malabugas, Bayawan City in Negros Oriental. Growing up in the barrio with hardworking parents who put premium in education, she finished her studies at the top of her class in both grade school and high school. She pursued her childhood dream of becoming a teacher at St. Paul University in Dumaguete City where she finished her bachelor’s degree in secondary education, major in English and minor in history, cum laude. She started her teaching career at Andres Soriano Memorial School-La Salle in Lutopan, Cebu where she taught Social Studies and Christian Living subjects and where she fell in love with the La Salle educational system. She then moved back to Negros and taught at the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod. She finished her Master of Arts in Teaching History and Political Science at De La Salle University in Manila. She spent most of her teaching career at USLS, where she served  as Social Studies teacher, Department Chair, High School Vice Principal, and Grade School Vice Principal. On her tenth year of teaching, she self-published a little book, Entrusted to My Care: The Joys of Teaching Minds and Touching Hearts, which was later translated into French and Spanish by the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Rome, Italy. She continued to share her gift in teaching and school administration by serving LIDE Learning Center, a La Salle- supervised school in Isabel, Leyte as Principal together with her husband, Ryan, a computer teacher. Her love for simple barrio life which was intensified by the pandemic, which crystallized her plan of writing her second book, Sang Una: Stories from the Barrio. The pandemic also led her and her husband to go home to Bayawan City for good. Currently, she teaches at the Negros Oriental State University, Bayawan-Sta. Catalina Campus, where she serves as instructor in the College of Teacher Education. She is part of the panel on Writing Dumaguete and Negros Oriental for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

JOHN EDGAR C. RUBIO is a faculty at the Silliman University Senior High School, handling language communication, academic reading and writing, and research writing subjects. Aside from being a full-time instructor, he is the Student Council Adviser and the Coordinator of the SU SHS Communication Arts, Languages, and Literature Department. He is a secretariat of the Edilberto and Edith Tiempo Creative Writing Center and the Language Learning Center. Currently, he is finishing his graduate studies in MA English, with a concentration in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at Silliman University. He is moderator for the panel on Writing from the Regions for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

JAZZY LYLE SARMIENTO SAMSON hails from Siquijor. She earned her BA in English Literature from Cebu Normal University in 2019, magna cum laude. She was a scriptwriter and director of CNU’s Elite and Drama Society, where her musical, Himagas, was successfully staged; its shortened version won second place in the Regional PASUC. In 2020, she earned a Diploma for Professional Education from Cebu Technological University while working as an ESL teacher for Japanese students in Nexseed Incorporation. During the pandemic, she went back to Siquijor and explored public service. In 2021, she started teaching at the Siquijor State College. She is currently the school paper adviser of SSC’s high school publication, The Reflector, and at the same time, a coach for campus journalism, theater, short filmmaking, extemporaneous and oratorical speech, and radio drama. She is also a contributor for Ang Suga, The Student POST, and Sun-Star Cebu. She finished her MA in Literature at Cebu Normal University in 2023. Also in 2023, she participated in a short film production workshop trained by ABS-CBN directors. Her short film, Buko Choy, won Best in Directing in that workshop. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Literary Studies at Silliman University. In 2024, she won fourth place in the Young Creatives Challenge, the first-ever national competition for young playwrights in the Philippines, for her musical, Tres Marias en Siquijor. She is part of the panel on Siquijor Rising—Literature from Isla del Fuego for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

LEA SICAT-REYES lives in Dumaguete, where she writes and teaches. Since 2004, she has been a classroom teacher at ABC Learning Center, teaching English, Science, and History. She currently freelances for United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. She is moderator for the panel on The Business of Literature for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

MITOS SUSON lives in Dumaguete, but hails from Cebu City. She took up commerce at De La Salle University-Taft, following her father’s wishes for her to be an entrepreneur, but shifted gears, enrolling in Asian Studies instead. She returned to Cebu and continued her studies at the University of San Carlos, majoring in World History. She began writing feature articles for The Freeman, Sun-Star Cebu, and the Visayan Herald. After graduation, she traveled to many countries, and has lived and worked in Germany, Chile, and the United States. She finally published her first book in 2020, A Doorbell, A Dictator, A Dad. She writes about growing up during Martial Law, when her father was held as a political prisoner, a cathartic experience for her. She published her second book, Shards of Time: A Memoir, during the pandemic, and also produced a compilation of her blog, Quarantine Wisdom. After surviving Super Typhoon Rai, she and her husband moved to Dumaguete, and currently resides in Valencia. She is sole panelist for the Author’s Talk: How I Became an Amazon Writer for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

RENZ TORRES lives in Dumaguete. He graduated with a degree in Mass Communication from Silliman University in 2017. He engages himself with craftwork, art, cooking—anything that will launch him off into the world. His work has been published in the special literary issue of Silliman Journal last November 2013, and in Philippine Speculative Fiction 9 in 2014. In 2017, he released his fiction chapbook, The Hoopoe Stories. In 2024, he also published his food essays in Curiosity Cured the Duck. He was a fellow for fiction in the 53rd Silliman University National Writers Workshop. He is moderator of the Pechakucha Volume 26 for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

TRIO BLUESETTE includes Carlos Zialcita, Arnold Franck, and Edgar Lucero. They are a musical group whose repertoire features a mix of jazz and blues standards along with some classical music and beloved Filipino love songs. Zialcita hails from Manila, and is a blues and jazz harmonica player, singer, composer, bandleader, jazz festival producer, and educator. He has recorded three CDs as a leader including Train Through Oakland produced by Johnny Otis, Evolution with the Carlos Zialcita Jazztet and Soul Shadows with the band Little Brown Brother. He also appears on recordings by numerous artists including Johnny Otis, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Sonny Rhodes, Aireene Espiritu, and the West Coast Spiritual Corinthians. He teaches harmonica privately and is a former faculty member at the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music and the Peralta Community Colleges. Franck has an extensive performance experience in Europe as a solo classical and acoustic jazz guitarist, as well as an ensemble player in groups like Sens Unique, Duo Animato, a Klezmer trio, and a jazz combo, among other styles. He has a masters degree in Music, and in 1989, he started teaching ensemble-playing and improvisation for guitar in Belgium, until 2019 when he decided to move to Dumaguete. He is active as a performer in Dumaguete, either as a solo guitarist or with his guitar and bossa ensembles in several venues such as the Dumaguete City Hall, Studio One, Mister Saigon, Apolong Brewing Company, CHADAA: Music and Dreams, and The Vineyard. Lucero is a long-time Dumaguete resident and a founding member of the Dumaguete PNOC-EDC Jazz Band (2005-2019). He performed in the 1st Dumaguete Jazz Festival held at Robinsons Place Dumaguete in 2010. He continues to play in a variety of bands in Dumaguete, including the Barkada Jazz Band, Brown Peak, the Rhythm Avenue Pop Jazz Band, Carlos Zialcita & Blues Oriental, and the Carlos Zialcita Jazz & Blues Trio. He studied piano/bass at the Silliman University School of Music summer classes, and was a participant in the four-day Michael Alba Masterclass held at Forest Camp, Valencia in 2016. They will play for May Day Eve: A Night for Nick Joaquin for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

RONELYN FAITH VAILOCES-NO lives in Dumaguete. She earned her Bachelor of Mass Communication degree at Silliman University. After graduating from college, she got an offer from the university to teach Media and Information Literacy to Senior High School students in 2016. The following year, she received a scholarship award from the Commission on Higher Education for graduate studies. She then took a Master of Arts in Communication Major in Applied Media Studies at De La Salle University-Manila. She is happily married and is now a first-time mom. She currently teaches at Silliman University as a College of Mass Communication faculty member. She also teaches at the Senior High School research and communication subjects. She is also one of the hosts of #Silliman, a TV magazine program of Silliman University, and other events inside and outside the campus. She is moderator for the panel on Literature and Social Media for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

LYDE SISON VILLANUEVA lives in Dumaguete. He graduated from Silliman University and was a fellow for poetry of the Silliman University National Writers Workshop. His works have appeared in various publications like Inquirer.net, The Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, The Tint Journal, among others. His first poetry chapbook, Made Easy, was published in 2019. He is working to accomplish his graduate degree in creative writing at De La Salle University Manila. He is moderator for the panel on Poetry in a Time of Crisis for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

PIA VILLAREAL grew up in San Ramon, Bayawan City where she spent most of her childhood catching dragonflies and terrorizing her grandmother’s nerves. She has a degree in literary and cultural studies from Silliman University. She is currently working as a copywriter and finds ways to enthusiastically support the budding writers around her. She spends her free time stuck in the curse of media consumption and trying to gain affection from her callous cat. She has hosted various literary events in Dumaguete and performed in some as well. She hopes to maintain her presence in local creative spaces as an eager observer if not an active participant. She is moderator for the panel on Writing Dumaguete and Negros Oriental for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

KATINKA VISITACION lives in Dumaguete, but hails from Bacolod. Since winning a storytelling competition in kindergarten, where she was the only contestant, she knew she was in it for the long haul. She is currently studying Creative Writing at Silliman University. She is also the founding secretary of the Silliman University Writer’s Bloc, secretary of the Silliman University English Society, feature editor of Portal 2024, and research head of the Silliman University Student Government Advocacy Committee. She is moderator for the panel on The Other Side of Negros, and will give a Pechakucha talk for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

ELIZABETH SUSAN VISTA-SUAREZ lives in Dumaguete, and teaches at the College of Performing and Visual Arts of Silliman University, where she is currently Dean. She is a conductor, pianist, professor, cultural worker, and writer. After a brief stint at the University of the Philippines, she returned to Silliman, and graduated a piano major—complete with Latin honors [cum laude] to her name. She pursued further studies, first at the Westminster Choir College in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and then at the Combs College of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she earned her masters in choral conducting. Here her musical prowess was finally becoming recognized, and she won the school’s coveted Liberace Award. In 1989, she came back to Silliman and was soon installed as the Director of the School of Music and Fine Arts by 1990, serving in that position until 2000. In the interim, she also served as Chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee [now the Silliman University Culture and Arts Council], and revamped and professionalized the platform of cultural work for the university. In 1990, she also picked up the thread of an unraveled Silliman University Campus Choristers, which was founded in 1952 by Priscilla Magdamo-Abraham, Ruth Imperial-Pfeiffer, and Elmira Layague, but which was now split into a Men’s Band and a Women’s Ensemble. With the newly transformed choir, she began a deeper journey into music, and into choral conducting. She continued training and conducting the Silliman University Campus Choristers, capping her stint with an American tour with the choir in 1999. In 2001, she returned to the U.S. with another tour, this time with the Silliman University Gratitude and Goodwill Ambassadors [SUGGA], which heralded the centennial celebration of Silliman University. After this stint, she formed a community choir named Ating Pamana, which also toured the U.S. in 2003. These forays into choral conducting also saw the release of several recordings and concerts, as well as tours all over the Philippines, and won plaudits in various competitions, including the National Music Competition for Young Artists in 1996. Under her, the Campus Choristers staged several successful concerts, including Sariling Awit and Yari in 1998, and Huni, Tutti and Spectrum in 1997. She also musical director for other concerts and musicals staged at the Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium, including Joseph the Dreamer (1993), Verité (1995), For His Glory (1996), Godspell (1997), and The Sound of Music (1999). She was also the lead accompanist for Fiddler on the Roof (1995). In 1997, she was awarded Most Productive Teacher in Silliman. She later published several books geared towards music education, which include Born to Make a Difference: If My Hands Could Sing, a progressive work-text material for elementary children from Grades 1-6, Music Fundamentals for Beginners, and Choral Conducting Exercise Book, a textbook for choral conducting students. She has also written a children’s book, Julia and the Music of the Light. In 2018 she was given the Gawad Nicanor Abelardo for Most Outstanding Music Educator of the Philippines, a centennial award from the University of the Philippines. She is also a recipient of the 2021 Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Kaisa Sa Sining (KSS) Award for the Visayas region, cited for her an outstanding work as music artist and cultural worker. She will read from her children’s book for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.

NEIL MATTHEW YASI is currently pursuing his BA Arts in Political Science at Silliman University, where he has been a University Honor awardee, and a candidate for Latin honors. An active student leader, he has been part of the Silliman University Debate Society, the History and Political Science Society, and the Silliman University Student Government Commission on Elections. He is also a volunteer leader for the youth ministry, YoungLife Philippines, Inc. He is co-founder and president of the Silliman University Writers’ Bloc, a literary organization devoted to the development and mutual support of student writers, aimed towards fostering a Silliman community of writers. He will give a Pechakucha talk for the Dumaguete Literary Festival.