Hiraya

08/12/2021

Update: We'll be sending acceptance letters in the coming days. Please bear with us, and in the meantime, please wear your mask and be safe. Thank you!

23/08/2021

23/08/2021

Ms. Mary Monique Renegado on the origin and drafting of her winning poem "On My Way to Nowhere"

Link: http://hirayaanniverzine.weebly.com/poetry-contest/hiraya-poetry-contest-2021-winner

16/08/2021

𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

Hiraya is a non-profit print literary and devotional magazine published annually.

For the 21st anniversary of Immanuel United Methodist Church – La Union (HIRAYA ISSUE 2, 2022), Hiraya looks for submissions from fresh voices that shakes our soul, make us cry and feel your heartaches; works that take risks and bold and quiet. Tell us about how you rise from the depths, your fears. Show us your faithfulness, discipleship and obedience—your unending love to the one who governs us all.

𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧.
We encourage all UMYFs and UMYFs at heart to heed our call.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝:
𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟏𝟓 – 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟏𝟓
Our response time ranges from 3 days to 2 months.

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬
Hiraya accepts works from everyone (𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐨, 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐥𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐧𝐨) but we are dedicated and biased to publishing more works from the youth and young adults.

We want fresh and original work. Please do not submit a retelling of popular books or tv shows or your fanfictions.

Proofread your work. When your submissions are sent to us, we expect to read polished works. Submissions that are difficult to read because of typos and misspellings will likely be turned down.

We absolutely will not publish anything that is racist, sexist, hateful towards any particular group of people, needlessly profane, or sexually explicit. Any submission that contains such material will be immediately declined.

Multiple Submissions are allowed. Include a brief third-person bio with your submission and send your works to [email protected], and put HIRAYA ISSUE 02_GENRE_LASTNAME (ex. HIRAYA ISSUE 02_POETRY_SANTI) in the subject line.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please let us know immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. Hiraya also accepts previously published works as long as you have your rights back to you and the original publication is clearly credited.

Devotionals & Reflections:
• 3-5 devotionals & reflections
• Double-spaced, Times New Roman or fonts of similar in a Word document as a single submission, 12-point type

Prose (CNF, Short Stories, Essays & Personal Essays, Flash or Micro Fiction):
Hiraya accepts prose of up to 5,000 words in length (although the shorter is probably better)
• Double-spaced, Times New Roman or fonts of similar in a Word document as a single submission, 12-point type
• Authors may submit 3 short stories, essays & personal essays
• Authors may submit up to 5 flash or micro fiction and no more than 1,000 words each

Poetry:
Hiraya accepts 3-5 poems and not more than 10 pages in length.
• Times New Roman or fonts of similar in a Word document as a single submission
• Poetry should be single-spaced, 12-point type
• no PDF unless your poem has very specific formatting

Novels, Scripts and Plays:
You may submit scripts up to 20 pages in length.

Arts:
Hiraya accepts 1-5 pieces of all mediums of artwork including paintings, drawings, photography, digital art. (in a clear and high-resolution jpeg or png file) and provide an artist’s statement of no more than 200 words to describe your piece.

Your submission may receive one of three outcomes:
Accepted – Your submission has been accepted for publication, and we may ask you to do some minor revisions.
Accepted with conditions - Your submission has been accepted for publication, pending completion of suggested revisions and copy edits (provided in an attached document with commentary on your original submission).
Not accepted – Your submission has been reviewed by our staff but ultimately determined to be not quite right for our magazine. If your submission is not accepted, we will still provide you with some helpful feedback on your piece.

Honorarium
*IF MORE THAN 100 copies were sold, Hiraya will pay a flat fee of at least PhP 300 for every author regardless of works accepted and a pdf contributor’s copy. We know that this is a small amount but we can guarantee our best efforts to promote your work. Also, our volunteer staff are not paid nor compensated. Lastly, submissions are free and will always remain free.

15/08/2021

Dear participants:

Thank you for participating in Hiraya’s Poetry Competition 2021. Please receive our sincerest congratulations because your submission of entries is a leap of faith. May God bless you and your loved ones always!

"On My Way to Nowhere"
Mary Monique Renegado

I lie still on the dense cement
Scathed by the harsh cold, counting my breath
A sharp serpent crawling into my skin,
My gay disposition turned to a lament.
The idea of mortality and death,
Put my stubborn head in a spin.

Solid ice cracks when winter passes
What once was intact is now in pieces;
Akin to a heart of stone, it, too, thaws
When laid in the hands from where it draws,
Ardent love from which it lacks.
A lone, roving footstep without tracks

Immersed in the midnight sky,
I attempt to count a myriad of light

It and I had something in common—with that, I am right
In time, we both will perish and fly.
To what purpose, twinkling stars, do you stay beautiful?
While I, as time serves, turn ugly and scornful?

I once wore a dress buried in thorns;
My nakedness pleases them, but why do I feel forlorn?
In this fabric torn in shreds, I imagine,
White petunias frolicking in the breeze
As my scars gasp for air inside an enclosed tin,
Pleasure and pain: mystical to seize

I die every time in my sleep
Along with secrets burdened to keep;
I close my eyes as I count to ten,
But the dead shall not live again.
Look above; see mourning in a shape of a billow;
Gentle cries, raging fires --- raining on your acid pillow.

O flowing rivers! Pointing south, they lead me to die
Toward the summit of life; I cannot defy
Marble tombs curtsy to the moon, right at its eye.
Alas, not all sins you can rectify!
Ghosts lurk in nothingness; they pry
I fall to the geysers as angels sigh

Deeper I go, the echoes rose like a bonfire
Weak as wood---but willfully I burned
Ashes in my lungs became sapphire,
Pieces of the past, mercilessly churned,
Screaming songs in the wrenching flame
Indeed, I was no longer the same.

Death chases my elusive tail; I run
Onward to the glorious sun;
I lay on the grass, mind at ease,

Making sweet memories around fruit trees.
Twirl and leap in places so evergreen;
For life is birth, however you mean.

15/08/2021

Congratulations! 🤗

07/08/2021

Hello Finalists! Kindly send/email us a photo of yours on or before August 14. The winner will be announced on August 15. Maraming Salamat po!

30/07/2021

Congratulations everyone!
Here are your Top 8 who'll advance to the final round:

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗪𝗮𝘀 by El.Sunshine
𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵 by Jasmine Karla
𝗢𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗪𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗼𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 by Mary Monique Renegado
𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲'𝘀 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 by KC Cordero
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂 by Jazira M. Ismael

Wildcards
𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 by Pauline L. Navarro
𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗳𝘂𝗹 by Angelyn Pecson
𝗢𝗳 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 by Patricia Navarro

30/07/2021

Thank you contestants for sharing your poetry with us. We are very excited to announce that out of 34 entries, we now have a shortlist of 8 which will be shared publicly tomorrow, July 31. Maraming-maraming salamat po sa pagsuporta! 🤧🤧

17/07/2021

new work from your EIC!! 🤧
https://www.olitmag.com/jeffwilliamacosta

16/07/2021

Entry no. 33
"LAWIT NA DILA, UBOS NA ANG PASENSYA"
Vincent Reign Nicholas

16/07/2021

Entry no. 32
“Paalam”
Shardanika H. Kissae

16/07/2021

Entry no. 31
Let it bloom
Lyne Jacinto

16/07/2021

Entry no. 29
Her Creation Story
Pauline L. Navarro

16/07/2021

Entry no. 28
faux love / late end
august

16/07/2021

Entry no. 27
MULING PAGTAYO
Zharica Boyonas

16/07/2021

Entry no. 26
Ordinaryong Sundalo
Carl Joseph Jimenez Tipo

16/07/2021

Entry no. 25
BARO A BIAG
Vhea Dumsing

16/07/2021

Entry no. 24
The Writer In You
JAZIRA M. ISMAEL

16/07/2021

Entry no. 23
"Mga mata mo : Tahimik ngunit tuso"
April Mamano

16/07/2021

Entry no. 22
"Bahay, Buhay"
Glenny S. Galleto

16/07/2021

Entry no. 21
"For Love"
FREDERICK FERNANDEZ CANATA

16/07/2021

Entry no. 20
Of cleaning and leaving
Patricia Navarro

16/07/2021

Entry no. 19
TRENCH
Jasmine Karla

16/07/2021

Entry no. 18
I AM RISEN
Abundio Noel M. Libot