Cindy Velasquez Biography

Cindy A. Velasquez is a full professor at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, Philippines. An alumna of several fellowships in creative writing and art criticism, she received a National Commission for Culture and the Arts grant for Basabalak Kanunay, the poetry podcast she produces and hosts which features Bisaya poets and their works. Among her forthcoming projects include an illustrated children's book which aims to preserve the ethnomedicinal practices and knowledge of the indigenous Ati community in Cebu Province and the anthology she edited, Dagat ug Kinabuhi: Translating Contemporary Cebuano Poetry [Sea and Life]. Also a performance poet and lyricist, Velasquez and her co-composer Jude Gitamondoc won the 43rd Gawad Urian Awards for Best Music for the song " Usa ka Libo ug Usa ka Panamilit" [A Thousand and One Goodbyes] in 2020. Her first poetry collection Lawas [Body] was published in 2016, while her second, Your Soul is Home: A Collection of Photo Haiku in Tokyo and Yamagata, was released in 2022.