Chi Rho Publications of Miriam College (MC), in partnership with the Benildean Press Corps (BPC), spearheaded the third iteration of Verses and Visuals, a literary and photography competition, with this year’s theme centering on “Where Stories and Snapshots Collide,” on Feb. 7 at Miriam College in Quezon City.
Participating institutions include its host, Chi Rho Publications, and other schools across the region such as De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s (DLS-CSB) BPC and Ad Astra, Pateros Catholic School’s (PCS) SHS Courier, St. Paul College Pasig’s (SPCP) Pauliworld, Philippine Christian University’s (PCU) The Scroll Publication, Centro Escolar University’s (CEU) The Manila Academe, Taguig City University’s (TCU) CED Herald, and the University of Santo Tomas (UST).
Over 60 attendees, including competing and non-competing participants, gathered to immerse themselves in stories, screens, and snapshots.
Crafting stories, capturing hearts
As the competition commenced, participants from the two categories—short story writing and photojournalism—were given one and a half hours to produce, finalize, and submit their output significant to the theme “KATHA: Anything Yet Everything.”
Meanwhile, non-competing participants and guests enjoyed a film viewing segment produced by students from 24Frames-CIIT College of Arts and Technology and Miriam College.
Literary Judges author Carl Javier and media practitioner Djulienne Flor Foster applauded the participants for delivering a polished work within a short period of time. “As writers, it’s very difficult, we need several submissions to only submit one piece […] please read more and continue writing,” Foster said.
Photography judges, multimedia specialist Clean Summer Lanuzo and freelance photo and video documentarian Luis Liwanag mutually agreed that the participants achieved the vision of the theme. “Ang galing ng creativity niyo, nahuli niyo ‘yung buhay, ‘yung rhythm—kasi ‘yung photography para siyang tugtog ng buhay ‘di ba?” Liwanag praised.
In the literary section, the First Place was earned by Lai Opeña from Pauliworld with a winning entry titled “Indak,” followed by Second Place “Spit out the water lethe” by Samantha Elise G. Paras from PCS - SHS Courier, while the Third Place went to “Mantsa” by Kate Angel C. Solinap from DLS-CSB - BPC.
In the photography section, the First Place was secured by Roane Alyssa Jade Galamgam from PCS - SHS Courier with a piece titled “The weight of waiting,” ranked Second Place was “Uncalled” by Alyanna Danna P. Villa from DLS-CSB - BPC and the Third Place was awarded to “Hulma” by Enrique Luis S. Silverio from DLS-CSB - BPC.
Benildean like no other
Three student journalists from Benilde bagged awards from both categories, earning a chance to be featured in Miriam College’s official literary folio, Lanai.
Solinap, hailing from the Filipino section of BPC, recounted her creative process when writing her piece. “The theme was so vague, I don't really know where to start so I thought about—how about I start from nothing, so I focused on my subject like alikabok, also, mud, or like dirt where people came from.”
She also mentioned her insecurities about her abilities and skills in writing due to lack of professional training, but joining gave her the confidence to persevere and thrive.
“Parang nabuhayan ako ng love na, okay, I really do like writing. And this competition makes it, you know, parang nag-burn up again yung writing ko,” she said.
Meanwhile, for photojournalists Villa and Silverio, they opened up about their struggles during the competition, but noted how these challenges helped them as creatives.
“For me, ‘yung time efficiency. Given that, na medyo malayo nga ‘yung kailangan namin i-shoot or we had a lot of options. So, feeling ko it's being decisive and also being smart on how you control your time,” Villa remarked.
“There’s a lot of pressure but it gives you [the] right amount of pressure to experience something for the future. […] Matututo ka talaga as it's not a test of your ability—it's mostly growth,” Villa and Silverio shared, offering insightful advice for the aspiring creatives and the next generation of writers and photographers.
