Here’s how to join
In an effort to promote the Philippine literature and highlights its role in promoting unity and nation building, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), and National Book Development Board (NBDB) spearhead the celebration of National Literature Month (NLM) with the theme “Kultura ng Pagkakaisa: Pagsisiyasat ng Pagkakaisa sa Pamamagitan ng Panitikan.”
NLM 2023 celebration aims to explore the unity in every Filipino that guides nation building. It also hopes to pave a way to find out how literature can spread unity and the role of artists and their works in forging unity in the era where fake news is rampant. 
As part of the celebration there will also be an online competition series that aims to revive and promote Philippine literary tradition in the form of folk songs originated and performed in different parts of the country such as Timpalak Florentino H. Hornedo: Ang Paglikha at Pag-awit ng Laji, Timpalak Komposo: Komposo Festival: Sambuwa Sa Pagsulat Kag Pagkanta Sang Komposo, Timpalak Leleng, and Ligligan Poesyang Makuyad.
Timpalak Florentino H. Hornedo is an online competition exclusive in Batanes, that encourages writing and singing of the traditional Ivatan literary art form, Laji. This is open to elementary students for the singing category and high school students for the singing and writing category.
Timpalak Komposo is a contest and workshop that aims to revive, promote, and revitalize the komposo. The komposo is a narrative song, a Hiligaynon ballad that is unique to Western Visayas. It has a particular form that identifies it as a komposo. It usually recounts historical events, significant happenings in a locality, and human-interest stories. It can be in the form of commentaries on prevailing issues or events, as political or ideological propaganda, and as catalog based on geography, taxonomy, and human occupations. It is traditionally accompanied by a guitar, but for the competition, innovations on the melody, arrangement, and accompaniment are welcome. The competition aims to encourage the manugkomposo to sustain the tradition and for young people to appreciate and learn the art of composing and performing a komposo.
Timpalak Leleng is a two-day workshop and a competition on the traditional folk song Leleng. It is open to high school students in Region 9 (Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Zamboanga del Sur) and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM - Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi).
Ligligan Poesyang Makuyad is a two-day workshop on children’s story and poetry writing and a literary contest exclusive for Proverbsville high school students. This is designed to develop the literary writing ability of the participants using the Kapampangan language.
For more information, clickhere.
