2nd Gig Contest Winners Announced

From the FB wall of Genaro Gojo-Cruz --

Gig and the Amazing Sampaguita Foundation, Inc. (GASFI) is happy to announce that ten stories won the Gig Book Storywriting Contest. The authors will receive P20,0000.00 each, a winner’s certificate, and a chance for their story to be published as a full-color, fully-illustrated children’s book.

Arranged alphabetically by title, the winning stories are:

Hello, Tatay!
-----by Genaro R. Gojo Cruz
Ishmael And The Ocean
-----by Franklin P. Andaya
Junior's Diary
-----by Carlo Baltazar Ventura
My Dad And I Travel The World
-----by Francesca Cielo M. Ravanes
Postcards To Papa
-----by Raissa Claire R. Falgui
Postscript For Pio
-----by Mia Ayroso Buenaventura
The Stranger At My Door
-----by Gail Christiane Te
The Woman In Daddy's Wallet
-----by Fernando R. Gonzalez
What's Inside A Turtle's Shell?
-----by Raymond G. Falgui
When You Are Away
-----by Bella Charina Alexandra D. Mercado

GASFI, the contest sponsor, is a non-profit organization. Founded and headed by Marissa Oca Robles, GASFI is driven by three of Marissa’s passions: honoring the memory and youthful spirit of her son Gig, promoting the reading habit among children and their families, and serving the needs of Filipino seamen and their families.

The first has to do with turning the loss of a loved one into life-affirming action.

The second is about giving children and their families something that will always keep on giving: a life-long and shared love of reading. “Twenty Minutes At Bedtime” is not only GASFI’s slogan, it is also the minimum amount of time, Marissa believes, that parents should set aside everyday to read to their children.

The third means continuing and expanding the life-work of Marissa’s family, a hallmark of which is the Associated Marine Officers and Seaman’s Union of the Philippines (Amosup), the largest union of seafarers in the world founded and headed by her father, Captain Gregorio S. Oca.

Marissa plans to publish all ten winning stories as full color illustrated children's books. This time, the books might turn out to be more thought provoking and meaningful for seafarer children and their families. In the previous year, the rules specified: “The theme must be something that seafarers’ families---especially children---can identify with. The story must . . . resonate well with children whose fathers are mostly away at sea.” This year, the rules also stated that “bonus points and a greater chance of winning will be given to positive, sensitive, and creatively child-appropriate stories that deal with difficult seafarer family issues like relatives, in-laws, neighbors, troubled teens, money management, parental infidelity, sibling rivalry, resentment, anger, alienation, abandonment, illness, and others.”

All in all, the storywriting contest received more than a hundred and fifty stories. The judges were Karina Africa Bolasco, children's book author and Publishing Manager of Anvil Publishing, Inc.; Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, children's author, book reviewer, educator, and Chairman of the National Book Development Board (NBDB); and Beaulah Pedregosa Taguiwalo, children's illustrator and Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI).

For inquiries about the Gig book project,
e-mail gigbookcontest@gmail.com
or visit http://gigbookcontest.blogspot.com/.

For inquiries about GASFI,
e-mail gigfoundation@gmail.com
or visit http://www.gasfi.com/