Last call for entries for the 66th Palanca Awards

At the stroke of midnight, April 30, you're going to have to commit and follow your elementary school teacher again. Remember? When she said, "Finished or not finished, pass your paper!"

Who knows? What you thought was just a mess of feelings could be the next blockbuster hit, like "That Thing Called Tadhana." Director Antoinette Jadaone's screenplay was awarded the third place for Dulang Pampelikula in 2014. 

You could also be the next Filipino author to strike a deal with Penguin Publications, as Marivi Soliven Blanco did after her novel "In the Service of Secrets" won the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature in 2011. The book would be published as "The Mango Brides" in 2013.

The Carlos Palanca Foundation will not be accepting submissions for the novel and nobela category this year, but writers are encouraged to send their finest works for the each section in the English Division (Short Story, Short Story for Children, Essay, Poetry, Poetry Written for Children, One-act Play, and Full-length Play), the Filipino Division (Maikling Kuwento, Maikling Kuwentong Pambata, Sanaysay, Tula, Tulang Para sa mga Bata, Dulang May Isang Yugto, Dulang Ganap ang Haba, and Dulang Pampelikula), and the Regional Division (Short Story in Cebuano, Hiligaynon, or Ilocano).

The Palanca Awards is open to Filipino and former Filipino citizens of all ages.

Official contest rules and forms are available at the Palanca Foundation offices:

• Unit 603, 6th Floor Park Trade Centre Bldg., 1716 Investment Drive, Madrigal Business Park, Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City
• Unit 3G, OPL Bldg., 100 C. Palanca St., Legaspi Village, Makati City

The form is also available online at the CPMA website. 

This year's lucky winners would be joining Peter Solis Nery, Alfred “Krip” Yuson, Isagani R. Cruz, Luisa Igloria, Gregorio Brillantes, and Cirilo Bautista among others as Palanca laureates. In the future, perhaps Hall of Famers, too. —Aya Tantiangco/KG, GMA News