UST Department of Literature

[𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬]

Starting June on a happy note by celebrating the birthday of one of our faculty members!

The Department of Literature wishes

𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐭. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟. 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐜 𝐃. 𝐓𝐚ñ𝐞𝐝𝐨, 𝐄𝐝𝐃

forever great health and more blessings in this wonderful day! Enjoy this exciting new year in your life Doc Marivic!

[𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬]

Happily closing May by celebrating the birthday of one of our faculty members!

The Department of Literature wishes

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭. 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐃𝐞𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨, 𝐌𝐀

a splendid birthday celebration! May your special day be filled with relaxation and everything you love and we wish you great health and more blessings in this brand new year in your life Sir JA!

[𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬]

Another happy May birthday celebration for one of our faculty members!

The Department of Literature wishes

𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐭. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟. 𝐌𝐚. 𝐄𝐥𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐒. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐳, 𝐏𝐡𝐃

a wonderful birthday celebration! May this new chapter in your life bless and grace you with great health, peace, happiness, and continuous success in your endeavors. All great manifestations for you and your loved ones.

[𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭]

Brightening Monday with a new publication from one of our Faculty Members!

The Department of Literature congratulates our very own

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭. 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐅. 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚, 𝐋𝐏𝐓, 𝐌𝐀

for his publication titled:

"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐉𝐨𝐚𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬"

This study reads the short stories The Legend of the Dying Wanton and Faith, Love, Time, and Dr. Lazaro, authored by two of the greatest Philippine writers Nick Joaquin and Gregorio Brillantes respectively, from the lenses of the Catholic Imagination. Using descriptive and interpretative methods and drawing from the seminal ideas of Mary Reichardt and Carlos Aureus, the analysis yields the presence of sacramentality,
redemption, grace, and conversion. The texts show how Catholicism, as a cultural and theological- literary framework, foreground a renewed discourse on the problem of evil and the grace of conversion grounded in Philippine realities.

His article is published in

𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐌𝐈-𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐑-𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐃𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇 𝐈𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄, 𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘 𝟗𝟖:𝟐 (𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓): 𝟐𝟑–𝟑𝟗

Mr. Isaiah F. Garcia, LPT, MA is a fulltime Senior High School Literature teacher and English Subject Area Coordinator at St. Stephen’s High School Manila. He is also a part-time instructor of the University of Santo Tomas Department of Literature where he teaches General Education literature and humanities courses. He also taught specialized subjects such as “Literature and Religion" and "Religious Writing" for the BA Literature and BA Creative Writing programs respectively. His research interests include Teaching Literature, Anime and Video Game studies, and Catholic literary studies.






LIT forever. Forever LIT.

UST evermore.

[𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭]

The Department of Literature congratulates our colleague from the Department of Creative Writing:

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭. 𝐇𝐞𝐳𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐢𝐞 𝐑. 𝐙𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞, 𝐋𝐏𝐓, 𝐌𝐀

for his publication titled:

"𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠"

In “Still Life with Twelve Sunflowers, after Scrolling,” the poem starts with Van Gogh’s twelve sunflowers—lively, bending, not perfectly arranged. Then it moves inward: the flowers’ bronze-gold color becomes a way to talk about grief that feels thick like paint, and desire that jumps beyond the frame. Just as suddenly, the poem looks outside: the rain has stopped, the sky is topaz, the soil is ready for planting. The speaker shuts a laptop and whispers two broken lines—“Art is—” and “Life is—.” By leaving those lines unfinished, the poem asks us to hold meaning somewhere between the painted flowers and the real world waiting outside.

His poem is published in

𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝟒 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝟖 (𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓)

Mr. Hezekiah Louie Zaraspe teaches literature and creative writing at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and De La Salle University (DLSU). He holds a Bachelor of Secondary Education, major in English, and a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from UST. His fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in English and Filipino have been featured in Inquirer.net, Rappler, Liwayway Magazine, and Locked Down, Lit Up: An Anthology of Creative Work in a Time of Quarantine (UP Press), among others. He was a fellow of the 2022 UST National Writers' Workshop.







LIT forever. Forever LIT.

UST evermore.

[𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭]

The Department of Literature congratulates our very own:

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭. 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐉. 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐳, 𝐌𝐅𝐀

for her publication titled:

𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞: 𝐎𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐋𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐡’𝐬 '𝐋𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞' 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐋𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

The art writing is about how Julie Luch’s activism bleeds into religious art—a genre that has largely lost its appeal in the contemporary art scene. Borrowing from the visual language of the Passion of Christ, she gives grief weight and the women who mourn a story: the three familiar Marys embody containment, eruption, and endurance. Then Lluch adds a fourth Mary—faceless, folded inward, and unbound by scripture. In doing so, Lluch shifts the narrative. Her group of sculptural works “Lamentations, a Prelude” is no longer only about Christ’s suffering, but about those who process violence in and through their own bodies. Think of Jennilyn Olayres, Inas Abu Maamar, Maria Meza, and the many other women who have grieved in public view. Lluch turns religious art into something less about devotion and more about those who remain to carry the bodies left behind.

Her art writing is published in

Esquire Philippines, February 18, 2026

Ms. Amanda Juico Dela Cruz, MFA teaches in the Fine Arts Department of the Ateneo de Manila University and in the Literature Department of the University of Santo Tomas. She was a fellow at the 20th Ateneo National Writers Workshop and the 8th Cordillera Creative Writing Workshop. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and an AB in Philosophy from De La Salle University. Her work has appeared in Philosophia: International Journal of Philosophy, TOMÁS, Beyond the Ghetto, SUSPECT, as well as in Plural Art Magazine, Art+ Magazine, and Esquire Philippines. Her scholarly and creative projects write through the female body in post-sexual revolution narratives, positioning it as both a subject and a source of theory, text, and art.

To access the art writing publication please play the video and scan the affixed QR code.







LIT forever. Forever LIT.

UST evermore.

[𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭]

The Department of Literature congratulates our faculty members, and our colleagues from the Department of Creative Writing for the successful release of:

𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐒: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝟔 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝟐 (𝐌𝐚𝐲, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔)

Prof. Cristina P. Hidalgo, PhD
Department of Creative Writing
𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫-𝐢𝐧-𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟

Prof. John Jack G. Wigley, PhD
Department of Creative Writing
𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫

Inst. Mark Anthony S. Angeles, MA, LPT
Department of Creative Writing
𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫

Assoc. Prof. Ralph S. Galan, MA
Department of Creative Writing
𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫

Below are the Faculty Members and their respective contributions in this current issue of Tomas:

Asst. Prof. Ma. Ailil B. Alvarez, PhD
Department of Literature
(𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨 𝐇. 𝐀𝐛𝐚𝐝: 𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐩. 𝟏𝟗-𝟒𝟔.)

Prof. Chuckberry J. Pascual, PhD
Department of Creative Writing
(𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 -𝐀𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐠𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧 – 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐚 𝐬𝐚 𝐌𝐠𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐩. 𝟔𝟖-𝟖𝟖.)

Inst. Joel M. Toledo, MA
Department of Creative Writing
(𝐏𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐲 - 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐩. 𝟏𝟐𝟓-𝟏𝟐𝟖.)

Inst. Benjamin Joshua L. Gutierrez, MA
Department of Creative Writing
(𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐚𝐲 - 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐚𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚 𝐩. 𝟏𝟗𝟕- 𝟐𝟏𝟐.)

Inst. John AndrewM. Del Prado, MA
Department of Literature
(𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧 - 𝐆𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐩. 𝟐𝟐𝟖 - 𝟐𝟓𝟒.)

To access the publication please play the video and scan the affixed QR code.







LIT forever. Forever LIT.

UST evermore.

[𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭]

The Department of Literature congratulates our very own:

𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐭. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟. 𝐌𝐚. 𝐀𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐥 𝐁. 𝐀𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐳, 𝐏𝐡𝐃

for her publication titled:

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐎𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐎 𝐇. 𝐀𝐁𝐀𝐃: 𝐀𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐂 𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐎𝐄𝐌𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄’𝐒 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃

This paper focuses on the aspects of the Catholic sacramental imagination as seen in eight poems from National Artist Gémino H. Abad’s latest poetry collection, The Light in One’s Blood (UP Press, 2021). This essay attempts to show through textual analysis how Abad’s verses reflect a distinct Catholic spirituality by highlighting key themes found in the poems, such as seeing nature as divine revelation, using poetry as a form of prayer of direct address, verbalizing faith and belief, yearning for the transcendent, and hungering for God.

Her article is published in

𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐒: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝟔 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝟐 (𝐌𝐚𝐲, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔)

Ma. Ailil B. Alvarez recently finished her dissertation on the Catholic Imagination in the poetry of National Artist Gémino H. Abad. She was also newly appointed as Co-Editor-in-Chief of UNITAS, the Philippines’ oldest extant journal of advanced research in literature, culture, and society. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Literature at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), a Resident Fellow of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies, and a researcher with the UST Research Center for Culture, Arts, and the Humanities. She also served as the former Director of the UST Publishing House, where she worked as an administrator for more than a decade. Her book of critical essays, Slivers of the Sky: Catholic Literary Readings and Other Essays (2016), was named a f inalist in the 36th National Book Awards for the category Literary Criticism/ Literary History in English.

To access the publication please play the video and scan the affixed QR code.







LIT forever. Forever LIT.

UST evermore.