Gateway Gallery celebrates Independence Month with its second onsite or face-to-face KulturaSerye Talk titled "The Writer as Liberator" on June 17, 2023, Saturday, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Gateway Gallery, Araneta City. The KulturaSerye Talk will feature Palanca Awards Hall of Famer Jose “Butch” Dalisay Jr., who will be sharing his writing career and milestones and how his body of work impacts his audience with regard to individual and collective (or national) enlightenment and liberation. Jose Y. Dalisay Jr., Ph.D. has published more than 40 books of fiction and nonfiction. He is a Professor Emeritus of English and Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines, where he also chaired the English department and served as Director of the UP Institute of Creative Writing and Vice President for Public Affairs. He holds a BA English degree, cum laude, from the University of the Philippines, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In 2007, his second novel, Soledad’s Sister, was shortlisted for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize in Hong Kong; it has since been published in Italian, French, American, and German editions. He writes a weekly opinion column and a monthly Lifestyle column for the Philippine Star. The KulturaSerye Talk will be moderated by UP Los Baños Instructor John Carlo Santos, the resident moderator and host of KulturaSerye. Admission is free but pre-registration is requested for priority seating. The registration link can be found in the gallery's Facebook Page, GatewayGalleryPH.