Filipino Poet Victor N. Sugbo

I first met the Filipino poet Victor N. Sugbo in Tacloban, Philippines last September just as a typhoon was heading our way. We spent a wonderful afternoon in a Tacloban literary café talking poetry and sharing our work. Sugbo is one of the Philippines most accomplished poets and writing teachers. He writes poetry in English and Waray. The selection chosen for this blog is a Waray poem that he has kindly translated into English. His poems in English have been included in national anthologies and journals. He has edited four books published by the Philippine National Commission for the Culture and the Arts, and recently released his first collection of poetry in Waray through the UP Press. He is also a professor of Communication and Literature at the University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College, Tacloban City, Philippines. He holds a Ph.D in Communication and two master's degrees, one in TESL and the other in Industrial Relations, all from the U.P. Diliman. He obtained his undergraduate degree at the Divine Word University of Tacloban. He has a number of articles published in reputable journals. His research interests are: language and literature,language and media, communication research, and language policy.

First, you can read the poem in its original Waray and enjoy the music of the syllables. Then you can read Sugbo’s English translation.

by Victor N. Sugbo

Diri ka ngay-an nahihidlaw han dagat?

Translated by Victor N. Sugbo