Invitation to Write Stories of Your Philippine Cordillera Childhood

Invitation to Write Stories of Your Philippine Cordillera Childhood (Updated Version) 

We Igorot Cordillera BIMAAK Europe (ICBE), a network of Igorot Cordillera organizations, foundations and groups in Europe, have constructed our website: www.icbe.eu. We now have several sections and one is “My Cordillera Childhood.” There are already many stories that have been submitted and posted, and we are grateful to those who have contributed their essay. However, we would like to add more stories

The objective of this section is to share childhood stories in the Philippine Cordillera. Through these stories, characters and/or places are preserved for  posterity. 

Having briefly said the above, we are inviting all who spent their childhood in the Philippine Cordillera, northern Luzon, Philippines to write their story or stories, which will be posted in the section, “My Cordillera Childhood,” on the ICBE website. Since there are many from the Cordillera who have emigrated to the foot of the mountain range, we would also like to invite them to write their stories.

Content

You can write on one subject or more. The more subjects you write on and the more specific, the better it is for readers to gain insight into how life was then. By sharing  experiences of long ago, you make the characters alive and places come to life. You are the best storyteller because you write what you know. It is important to be concrete and put in as many details as possible. Aside from using the sense of sight, include the senses of hearing, smell, taste and touch.

You could portray your parents, grandparents, favorite aunt or uncle. You could describe your birthplace and the town or village where you grew up. You could feature a kanyaw. What was it like during the festival? How about the wake of your grandfather or grandmother? Were you present? You may like to write more about it. Among the wedding ceremonies you attended,  which is the most unforgettable? What are your memorable experiences when you were in grade school or in secondary school? Did you have a favorite teacher? Tell more about him or her. These are only a few suggestions. It is said that if you find the story interesting, others will also find it interesting; if the story makes you laugh, your readers will also laugh and if the story makes you sad, the readers will also be sad.

Copyright

As long as the author has written the article, it is hers/his and s/he has the copyright. 

Procedure

The length of the story is 4,000 words or less. At the end of your story, please include your Bio (or the author’s Bio) in 200 words or less. For uniformity, use 1 spacing, Times New Roman and font size 12 pts. In between paragraphs, 2 spacing is advisable.

Please send your article as attachment to: yvonnekbelen(@)gmail.com. 

Timeframe 

So that there will be time to interview your parents, grandparents, relatives or teachers, the timeframe is from 1 August 2021 through 30 September 2022. However, for those who would like to write their stories now, you may write and send them. We will request Glenn Amora to post your essay in the section “My Cordillera Childhood” on the ICBE website.

Inquiries

For inquiries, please address them to me. 

ICBE

20 July 2021