The Xavier University Press is officially launching its 2014 publications on February 18.

The launching will be done in celebration of the XU Press Day—a day specifically aimed at promoting the proliferation of knowledge and creativity through print publications. It forms part of the month-long celebration of the Research and Social Outreach (RSO) cluster to which XU Press belongs.

The program will include the announcement of winners of Abot, the university-wide writing competition now on its second year. Winners come from the students and staff of XU whose literary creations express the University’s Development Goals also embodied in the various programs of the RSO.

Brief talks from authors of upcoming books targeted for release in 2016 are incorporated in the program to give inspiration about writing on issues close to home, close to the hearts and minds of Mindanaoans.

The talks will be given by Rudy Rodil, a historian and a respected resource person on the topic of peace and the tri-peoples of Mindanao; Lina Sagaral Reyes, a journalist and an award-winning poet; and James Gaje, a leader in the Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education.

The following books will be launched during the XU Press Day 2015:

Abot, an anthology of new works that gather the winning entries from the first university-wide writing competition;

Brick by Brick and the Xavier Ecoville Portraits of Icons, two books produced with the Xavier Ecoville Project;

Fr. William Masterson, S. J.: The Story of a Brooklyn Jesuit Missionary and the Xavier U Aggies, a compilation of essays by individuals touched by the life and works of the founder of XU’s College of Agriculture;

Land Reform in the Philippines: Challenges Today and Lessons from Asia, a book authored Christian Monsod, Belinda Formanes, Armando Jarilla and Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio J Ledesma SJ DD; and

The 35th volume of Kinaadman: A Journal of the Southern Philippines.