The UP Literary Society presented “Sinews of Syllables 2025: Defiance and Disrupted Lands,” the creative thesis showcase of graduating BA English (Creative Writing) students, on May 29, 2025, in the CHSS Audio-Visual Room.
Excerpts from the students’ creative theses were brought to life on stage, offering glimpses into “a world unmade and tremors of rebellion,” according to the Literary Society.
“The title reflects the collective spirit of resistance and critical engagement embedded in the students’ works,” the organizers wrote. “Each performance delves into pressing societal issues, using art as a powerful tool of defiance and a means to envision transformation and resilience amid disruption.”
“This year’s Sinews of Syllables was a spectacle that showcased not only the students’ writing talents, but also their skills in singing, dancing, and acting,” said faculty member Prof. Jhoanna Lynn Cruz.
The featured works and their respective authors were as follows:
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After the Last Meal: A Novel by Diane Pearl Templado explores memory, loss, and political awakening within a militarized rural community.
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Beneath and Beyond Walangas by John Lester Cañete is a gothic short story collection rooted in the collective trauma and violence of the author’s hometown.
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Splinter and Other Poems by Princess Heart Abella chronicles a daughter’s struggle with the enduring impact of familial trauma.
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Sa Kahayag ug Kangitngit by Princess Joana Aznar comprises five one-act plays portraying the lives, struggles, and resilience of women in Davao City.
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When Lipadas Boils by Reggie Faye Canarias features dystopian short stories that revisit the past, reflect on the present, and reimagine the future through the lens of power and resistance.
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Echoes of Becoming by Maybelline G. Bedolido is a poetry collection tracing a journey from childhood to selfhood through memory, grief, and change.
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Sense Says by Karen Joy Carillo is a collection of hermit crab essays exploring her family’s psychic and spiritual abilities—and their collision with local politics.
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Between Jeepneys and Other Worlds by Fatima Herizza D. Edding presents stories that reimagine worlds beyond a village and a military camp.
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Balay-balay by Gwyn Ann Aldip is a collection of stories about imagined homes, blending utopia and reality, fantasy and fear.
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Man, Myth, Messiah: A Plunge into Plato’s Cave by Yehoshua Drilon reflects on diasporic identity, weaving together traditional mythology and modern media.
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Children of Harvest and Other Stories by Daryll Gayatin draws from local beliefs, superstition, and folk Catholicism.
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Mga Gunita Patungong Kalayaan: Koleksyon ng mga Tula by Allaiza Gerodiaz is a collection of 15 poems in Filipino with English translations.
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Scars from the Last Sanggi by Ric Solis is a short story collection that centers the body as a primary site of narrative and resistance.
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Búhû (The Crevice) by Rowenn Supremo, a Bol-anon writer, offers fantastical stories that reflect harsh realities in a world readers would rather believe.
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A Reader’s Guide to the Little Things That Stay by Neil Josephine V. Villagonzalo is a story collection inspired by the enduring presence of family and tradition.
Sources: Jhoanna Lynn Cruz, UP Literary Society
Update: New photos here