Kamuning Bakery Cafe in Quezon City hosted a pre-World Poetry Day forum on March 20, bringing together Filipino literary icons, students, and poetry enthusiasts to celebrate the art of verse.
Held at the 86-year-old cafe’s Pandesal Forum, the event featured National Artist for Literature Gemino Abad, poet and educator Vim Nadera, Ateneo de Manila University professor Cyan Abad Jugo, and moderator Wilson Lee Flores.
Students from Neptali A. Gonzales High School in Mandaluyong also took part in a performance of Balagtasan, a traditional Filipino poetic debate.
Participants discussed poetry’s relevance in contemporary society and paid tribute to past Filipino literary figures. Dr. Abad urged young writers to nurture their craft with discipline, likening the writing process to farming. Nadera and Jugo cited the works of Filipino authors, including Nick Joaquin, Francisco Arcellana, and Marjorie Evasco.
Student performers Queen Jeramay R. Saldivar, Aries King T. Federis, and Pearl Mae Angela Cabudlan were guided by teacher Jayson A. Cruz and school principal Corazon Regino. Their performance showed how young people continue to engage with Filipino poetic traditions.
Flores contributed an original poem, Ang Tinta ng mga Diwata, which honored major figures in Philippine literature, such as Francisco Balagtas, Jose Rizal, Jose Garcia Villa, and Emman Lacaba.
On March 21, the cafe continued its observance of UNESCO’s World Poetry Day by offering free brewed coffee to anyone who submitted an original poem in any language. The initiative ran at the cafe’s location on Judge Jimenez Street corner K-1st Street in Barangay Kamuning.