UP Mindanao alumnus wins 1st prize in int’l poetry contest

UP Mindanao alumnus Arian Tejano (BA English 2010) was awarded First Prize in “The Other Side” international poetry contest for his poem, “When a Ladyboy Loves a Foreign Man.”
The contest was sponsored by Cha, an Asian literary journal based in Hong Kong, for its March 2015 issue.
The first line of the poem reads, “The art of seduction begins in the language of the lips.” In the contest notes, judge Vinita Agrawal wrote, “It was easy to award this poem the first prize. The expressions in this piece are incredibly original and refreshing.”
The winning poems and those of the finalists may be read at www.asiancha.com.
In his own notes, the poet said, “This poem was born out of a brave modern promise: love knows no country, culture, gender, language, and time zone.” 
The poem was first read in public on February 18 at the LitOrgy 6 poetry reading event in Davao City.
The poet was also a fellow of the Davao Writers Workshop 2011.