Press Release

Renowned performance poet and ethereal vocalist, Yanna Verbo Acosta, will be conducting a Performance Poetry Workshop on February 8, 1-4pm, at the CAS Annex 2 Lecture Hall 1, CAS Annex 2 Bldg, UP Los Baños. With approximately 75 participants registered to date, this UPLB Communication Arts graduate expresses much gratitude to the Department of Humanities for inviting her as the resource person for the activity. "I'm very excited to come back home to LB...It's definitely an honor to give back to my alma mater all the humble service I can offer as a proud alumna, as an artist in my craft, and as an individual; specially during this Centennial Year of the University..." says Acosta.

Ms Acosta also took up post-graduate units in MA Women and Development Studies in UP Diliman. As a freelance writer, she has worked with international environmental organizations – such as the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the United Nations – Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO) as Communications Consultant for foreign-assisted projects here in the Philippines. She has also worked in the academe as a part-time professor in English, Literature, and Arts subjects in Miriam High School and the De La Salle-Araneta University. In 2004, she worked as Host/Writer/Executive Producer for the Living Asia Channel.

As a performance poet, she stands as the fiery frontwoman of ambient-experimental world music group PROJECT GANYMEDE, a most profound collaborative with several musicians such as Punnu Wasu of Sing India (harmonium), Oz Arcilla (violin), Erick Calilan a.k.a. UGONG (electronica) and Egai Roxas (percussions) among others. Ms Acosta is a frequent guest artist in the Romancing Venus poetry sessions and is a recognized performance poetry trainer under the British Council & the UP-ICW’s program with Francesca Beard. She is also part of the Electric Underground Collective, which regularly performs at Cesare Syjuco’s exhibit openings.

Her provocative poetry is known for its fire and sensuality. She tackles the subject of human passion and emotion, among others, and delivers her pieces with fever and flare that is her trademark. Baptized by her contemporaries as La Gitana, this Renaissance woman has garnered the admiration and respect of the artist community and has cast a spell upon the hearts of many. She will soon be appearing in an experimental short film produced locally.

The Performance Poetry Workshop is sponsored by the Department of Humanities, UPLB; The UPLB Com Arts Society; and the UP Rhetoricians. For further inquiries please contact Mr. Junel SJ. Labor, Instructor II at the Division of Speech Communications and Performing Arts, Department of Humanites, CAS, UP Los Baños through mobile number 0915 432 1639.