International delegates gathered at the World Poetree Festival honored two Filipino poets – one doctor-poet and an author-poet – in ceremonies held in October at the Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, India.
The Pentasi B Fellowship Hyderabad 2017 of the World Poetree Festival recognized Doc Penpen Bugtong Takipsilim, aka Dr. Epitacio Tongohan in real life, for being the Father of Visual Poetry.
The Filipino poet was previously awarded as Father of Visual Poetry in Canada, Turkey, Italy, and Ghana.
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Dr. Tongohan was conferred as Father of Visual Poetry by the National Library of the Philippines in 2013 and the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards (known as FAMAS Awards) in 2016.
Doc Penpen, creator and inventor of Pentasi B Poetry, was also acknowledged as the man behind the Pentasi- B World Poetree Festival.
Another delegate to the poetry festival, Ed Cordevilla, was given the Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Dr. Tongohan and Cordevilla represented the Philippines at the India poetry festival along with fellow Filipinos Ethel P David, Ajarn Wu Hsih, and Jobb Gosamo,
Thirty-three international poet-delegates from Bhutan, India, Poland, Ghana, Bangladesh, Greece, United States, Taiwan, Philippines, Canada, Cyprus, Italy, Egypt, Mauritius and Nepal participated in the poetry festival.
