Dr Elio Garcia, literature and film professor of the Department of English Language and Literature of Xavier University, has been chosen as a writing fellow at the Ateneo National Writers Workshop to be held at the Ateneo de Manila on June 10-12, 2023.

Dr Garcia will join seven other writing fellows whose manuscripts made the final cut out of the many manuscripts submitted from all over the country. The rest of the chosen fellows are Ryan Cezar Alcarde, Amanda Juico Dela Cruz, DJ Elamil, Vincent Imbat, Jehu Laniog, Hunny Laurente, and Jessa Suganob. The fellows will be mentored by veteran writer-scholars namely Dr Genevieve Asenjo, Dr Luna Sicat-Cleto, Dr Jhoanna Lynn Cruz, Dr Allan Derain, Dr Eli Guieb III, Prof Junley Lazaga, Dr Vincenz Serrano, and Dr Alvin Yapan.

Dr Garcia’s entry is a braided media studies essay on Philippine colonial botany which will be workshopped during the three-day event. The 20th ANWW is a particularly unique edition due to its current focus on melding creative and critical writing and opening possibilities for interdisciplinary approaches to research while not being confined within conventional methods of research writing. ANWW promotes the essayistic spirit, challenges old forms and modes in writing, and awards fellowships no longer based on genre or language. Organized by the Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practices (AILAP), the 2023 edition of the ANWW is the first face-to-face workshop after the pandemic.

In the past years, Dr Garcia had earned writing fellowships at the Silliman National Writers Workshop (2011), Sulatdula Mindanao Playwriting Workshop (2010), Iligan National Writers Workshop (2011), and KRITIKA (2016). He hopes to learn new writing methods at the ANWW and consequently revise his work for publication.