Three books have been produced and launched from the Writing Classes of Sunshine Place. The first book is Finding the Sun by students of the late Barbara “Tweetums” Gonzalez. The other two books are from students of Professor Oscar Penaranda, a recipient of the UMPIL Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas.
Penaranda was professor at the San Francisco State University and has lectured on literature, writing, history and culture at the Harvard University.
The first book written by his students at Sunshine Place under the Memoir Writing classes was Reflections in Light and Shadows. Virtual classes were held during the pandemic years. It was a four-hour class held once a week. Penaranda, who is based abroad, travelled to Manila after the pandemic and conducted in-person classes to the group of students for two months. The work of this group are contained in the anthology Reflections in Light and Shadows.
Penaranda conducted another workshop and continued teaching the first group focusing on Poetry and Creative Writing. The literary pieces of the group are featured in the second book, Bridges of Memory, that was launched last December 2nd at Sunshine Place.
Guest of honor and speaker of the launch was Dr. Jose “Butch” Dalisay, an award-winning author. He has won awards for his works on fiction, poetry, drama, non-fiction and screenwriting. He is also recipient of 16 Palanca awards. Also present was Prof Vim Nadera who wrote the introduction to the book.
Bridges of Memory is a collection of pieces from 12 “non-writers” who opened up a window to their soul for the reader to reflect upon and learn from. As contained in the book, memoirs are shared either in poetry, short story or memoir.
The authors are Linda Atayde, Lorenzo Clavejo, Len Torres Fernandez, Rodolfo Fernandez, Arlene Gonzales, Melanie Lago, Victoria Lopez, Consuelo Regino, Mariquit Reventar, Mario Torrento Jr., Imelda Trillo, and Maria Suzana Yap.
The writers took turns reading their poems, with Victoria Lopez who was in the U.S. reading her piece via video.
An intermission number was provided by Luigi Lago, son of one of the writers. He sang the Beatles’ In My Life and Come Together.
The authors dedicated the book to Mrs. Felicidad T. Sy who envisioned and established the Sunshine Place Senior Recreation Center. For the authors, Sunshine Place is a haven where creativity flourishes, friendships are made, and dreams are nurtured.
“It is within the warm and welcoming walls of Sunshine Place that we, the authors, discovered our voices and learned to express ourselves through poetry, short stories, and memoirs,” the authors said.
