Nick Joaquin Centennial Forum held at UST

By Zaira Vivien M. Manila

True to their commitment to knowledge production and dissemination in the arts, culture, and the humanities, four offices of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), namely, the Research Center for Culture, Arts, and Humanities (RCCAH), the Office of the Scholar-in-Residence, Department of Literature, and the Faculty of Arts and Letters, collaborated in sponsoring the second installment of the Nick Joaquin Centennial Forum, as part of the series of activities of The Research Fortnight 2018.

With its theme “Thomasian Research @ 55: Pananaliksik Paglilingkod sa Sambayanan,” the Research Fortnight was held from February 11 to February 24, 2018. The Nick Joaquin Centennial Forum which was held on February 24, 2018 at the UST Thomas Aquinas Research Center (TARC) Auditorium was a fitting culmination of a series of activities on literary and cultural studies, architecture, communication and media studies, fine arts and design, history, music, and philosophy. The activity which was co-sponsored by the Office of the Scholar-in-Residence, the editorial address of UST’s UNITAS journal, was the second installment of the Nick Joaquin Centennial Forum Series which started in 2017.

The director of the RCCAH, Prof. Joyce L. Arriola, delivered the opening remarks, which were followed by the keynote speech of Prof. Epifanio San Juan, Jr. from the Philippine Cultural Studies Center, US, who is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of the Philippines. His lecture titled, “Nick Joaquin’s Apocalypse: Women and the Tragi-comedy of the “Unhappy Consciousness,” commenced a series of talks by a panel speakers including Fr. Gabriel Jose Gonzales, SJ, from the Ateneo de Naga University, Dr. Vincenz Serrano from the Ateneo de Manila University, Dr. Lily Rose Tope from the University of the Philippines, and Mr. Joselito Zulueta, from the University of Santo Tomas. The closing remarks were given by the Editor-in-Chief of the UNITAS journal, Dr. Maria Luisa T. Reyes. The forum’s master of ceremonies was Dr. John Jack G. Wigley.
Nick Joaquin, who also went by the pen name ”Quijano de Manila,” is one of the most important Filipino writers in English. He was conferred the rank of National Artist of the Philippines for Literature in 1976. He wrote across genres including fiction, essays, drama, and poetry. He earned an Associate in Arts degree from UST.

Joaquin’s personal library is at the Miguel de Benavides Library of UST, Esquinita de Quijano de Manila, a reading corner, which was donated by his family in keeping with his will.