Discipline: Literature
The Bikol-Virac dialect produces a unique phoneme which is not (yet) represented in a standard alphabet. This phoneme closely resembles a very soft R or a double L (ll). The symbol /£/ used in the following poems is just an approximation of that phoneme. In harmony with the 2010 Philippine PEN Congress theme, “Solidarity in Literature without Borders,” these Bikol-Virac poems are hereby included in this journal. Eds.