By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net
MARIKINA, Philippines—MONDAY nights are for abandon.
Veering away from the usual notion of “busy-ness” attached to Mondays, college students, faculty and business professionals troop to Mag:net Katipunan Cafe to celebrate a night of poetry reading, drinks, fun and lots of learning. Welcome to Happy Mondays.
Happy Mondays started three years ago when a small group of poets met Monday nights after work to read and write poems over several bottles of beer. The drill is nothing too formal: chat, draft poems and enjoy the company of friends over some drinks. And the results are impressive: hundreds of poems, some of which have won the Palanca Awards.
A year after, the group was approached by Mag:net Katipunan owner Rock Drilon to bring their poetry reading session at the cafe, said Joel Toledo, a poet from the original group during an interview with INQUIRER.net at the 39th installment of Happy Mondays. Since then, the group attracted other poets from all genres and age, growing to a community of poets. And though people come and go, a fully-packed night can have about 80 persons at the house, Toledo noted.
Though a community, they avert the structure of an organization since they don’t want exclusivity or having the image of an elite group. A faculty member at Miriam College, Toledo said what they have is a loosely based organization where everyone is invited to join and have fun.
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