While it takes most artists and writers years of heartbreaks and disappointments before making it big in the literary circle, the road to success is relatively shorter and easier for Carlos Piocos, the first place awardee for the Tula (Poetry in Filipino) category of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature 2007, outperforming writers his senior both in age and experience.

And he is just warming up.

Compelling literary works, for some artists, are produced out of vivid imagination, while others are inspired by merely observing the everyday rustics. But for Nicolas Pichay, the latest Hall of Fame awardee in the prestigious Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, compelling and effective literary pieces are best derived from one’s heart and experiences.

On its 57th year, the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the country’s premier literary awards, honored this year’s winners in 18 categories in the awards ceremony held at The Peninsula Manila in Makati City with Senator Mar Roxas as the guest speaker.

Senator Mar Roxas who has been described as “one of the young leaders in politics and business who will bring Asia and the Pacific to the forefront of world affairs” is known for his advocacies on quality education, livelihood programs, information technology, consumer welfare, and good governance.