Four Visayan Authors at Room to Read Workshop

“Celebrating the Voices of the Unheard.” This is the theme of Sugilanon: Palihan sa Pagsulat ng Aklat Pambata, the writing workshop for children’s books, the Visayas leg of the Room to Read Writing Workshop, held at Andana Resort in Guimaras from September 29 to October 3, 2025. The workshop seeks to empower Filipino writers and illustrators to create children’s books in regional languages, ensuring that young readers grow up seeing their own voices, cultures, and experiences reflected in literature. This year, four writers from the Visayas were selected to participate, bringing with them the richness of their home languages Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Hiligaynon-Capiznon, and Cebuano.

Dr. Michael Caesar C. Tubal of Iloilo is an associate professor at the College of Education, West Visayas State University, where he teaches English language teaching, Philippine literature, and Mother Tongue instruction for pre-service elementary and special education teachers. He writes in both Hiligaynon and English and is also active in translation, helping expand access to literature and academic work in Hiligaynon. For Dr. Tubal, children’s stories written in the language of home allow learners to connect more deeply with their own heritage.

From Antique, Jose Edison C. Tondares is a professional teacher and planning officer at St. Anthony’s College. Known primarily as a poet in Kinaray-a, he has recently turned to children’s literature as part of his advocacy to improve local literacy. A language scholar, translator, and environmental advocate, Tondares hopes to introduce young readers to the beauty of Kinaray-a through stories that celebrate nature, culture, and community.

Dr. Bryan Mari Argos of Capiz is a poet, fictionist, and cultural advocate. He authored the first Hiligaynon novella for children and young adults, Ang Hangaway kag ang Higante, which will be released by the University of the Philippines Press through its Philippine Translators’ Series. He is also the author of Kapid, a children’s storybook published by Kasingkasing Press. A multi-awarded writer who received the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards and the Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera, Argos has also been a fellow in national writing workshops such as the Iligan National Writers’ Workshop and the Silliman University National Writers’ Workshop. He currently serves as City Tourism Officer of Roxas City, Capiz, where he continues to champion regional literature and arts.

From Cebu, Cheryl Toting-Villarino brings her personal story as a mother who wished for better Cebuano children’s books for her daughter more than a decade ago. That wish came full circle when she released her debut book Alpabetong Bisaya, published by Aklat Alamid, the first Cebuano alphabet book for children. A designer and illustrator who once taught branding and art direction at the University of San Carlos Fine Arts Department, Villarino now combines her artistic background with her passion for storytelling, creating books that affirm the identity of young Cebuano readers.

Room to Read is a global organization dedicated to children’s literacy and education. Through initiatives like the Writing Workshop for Children’s Books, it nurtures local talent and produces storybooks that reflect the diversity of languages and cultures around the world. In the Philippines, the program emphasizes multilingual education, encouraging writers and illustrators to create quality children’s books in Filipino, English, and regional languages. Such initiatives ensure that young readers do not only encounter literature in dominant languages but also in the mother tongues that shape their earliest identities.

Leading the Visayas workshop is Noel Galon de Leon, writer, educator, and publisher at Kasingkasing Press. He teaches Filipino, Creative Writing, and Translation at the University of the Philippines Visayas and UP High School in Iloilo. A Palanca awardee for poetry and a member of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts National Committee on Literary Arts, de Leon has long championed Western Visayan literature. He serves as workshop coordinator and mentor for Sugilanon, guiding the participants in crafting stories that resonate with both local communities and broader readerships. He is joined in the larger program by mentors Beverly Siy for Luzon and MJ Tumamac for Mindanao, under the initiative of award-winning writer, educator, and theater director Al Santos, Senior Advisor at Room to Read. Esteemed artist Liza Flores serves as art director, ensuring the visual storytelling matches the richness of the texts.

The inclusion of Visayan writers in this workshop is not just symbolic, it is transformative. By producing children’s books in Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Capiznon, and Cebuano, these authors affirm that regional languages are not confined to oral tradition but are thriving, evolving, and capable of shaping the imaginations of the next generation. Representation in literature empowers children to see themselves in stories. For Visayan readers, encountering books written in their own language can nurture pride in their cultural identity and help ensure that these languages are preserved and celebrated. For the wider Philippine literary landscape, it underscores the truth that national literature is strongest when it is inclusive of all voices.

The Sugilanon workshop is more than a training ground, it is a celebration of voices too often unheard. For Tubal, Tondares, Argos, and Villarino, writing children’s books in their mother tongues is both a creative pursuit and a cultural responsibility. Their stories are bridges, connecting the past to the future, the home to the classroom, and the local to the national stage. In Guimaras this 2025, the act of writing becomes an act of remembrance and hope, remembrance of who we are, and hope for a generation that will continue to speak, read, and dream in the many languages of the Visayas.