N.V.
M Gonzales
N. V. M. González
September 8, 1915
Born
Romblon, Romblon, Philippine Islands
Died November 28, 1999 (aged 84)
Occupation Teacher, author, journalist, essayist
Language English
Nationality Filipino
Alma mater National University (Philippines) (dropped out)
Notable awards
National Artist of the Philippines
Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, Palanca Memorial Award for Literature, City of
Manila Medal of Honor
Spouse Narita Manuel Gonzalez
Néstor Vicente Madali González (September 8, 1915 – November 28, 1999)
was a Filipino novelist, short story writer, essayist and poet. Conferred as the
National Artist of the Philippines for Literature in 1997.
Biography
He was born on 8 September 1915 in Romblon, Philippines.[1] González,
however, was raised in Mansalay, a southern town of the Philippine province
of Oriental Mindoro. González was a son of a school supervisor and a teacher.
As a teenager, he helped his father by delivering meat door-to-door across
provincial villages and municipalities. González was also a musician. He
played the violin and even made four guitars by hand. He earned his first peso
by playing the violin during a Chinese funeral in Romblon. González attended
Mindoro High School (now Jose J. Leido Jr. Memorial National High School)
from 1927 to 1930. González attended college at National University (Manila)
but he was unable to finish his undergraduate degree. While in Manila,
González wrote for the Philippine Graphic and later edited for the Evening
News Magazine and Manila Chronicle. His first published essay appeared in
the Philippine Graphic and his first poem in Poetry in 1934. González made his
mark in the Philippine writing community as a member of the Board of
Advisers of Likhaan: the University of the Philippines Creative Writing Center,
founding editor of The Diliman Review and as the first president of the
Philippine Writers' Association. González attended creative writing classes
under Wallace Stegner and Katherine Anne Porter at Stanford University. In
1950, González returned to the Philippines and taught at the University of
Santo Tomas, the Philippine Women's University and the University of the
Philippines (U.P.). At U.P., González was only one of two faculty members
accepted to teach in the university without holding a degree. On the basis of
his literary publications and distinctions, González later taught at the
University of California, Santa Barbara, California State University,
Hayward, the University of Washington, the University of California, Los
Angeles, and the University of California, Berkeley.
Gonzalez is buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
On 14 April 1987, the University of the Philippines conferred on N.V.M.
González the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, "For his
creative genius in shaping the Philippine short story and novel, and making a
new clearing within the English idiom and tradition on which he established
an authentic vocabulary, ...For his insightful criticism by which he advanced
the literary tradition of the Filipino and enriched the vocation for all writers
of the present generation...For his visions and auguries by which he gave the
Filipino sense and sensibility a profound and unmistakable script read and
reread throughout the international community of letters..."
N.V.M. González was proclaimed National Artist of the Philippines in 1997.
He died on 28 November 1999 at the age of 84. As a National Artist, Gonzalez
was honored with a state funeral at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Works
Gonzalez on a 2015 stamp of the Philippines
The works of Gonzalez have been published in Filipino, English, Chinese,
German, Russian and Indonesian.
Novels
The Winds of April (1941)
A Season of Grace (1956)
The Bamboo Dancers (1988)
The Land And The Rain
The Happiest Boy in The World
Bread of Salt
short fiction
"The Tomato Game".1992
A Grammar of Dreams and Other Stories. University of the Philippines
Press, 1997
The Bread of Salt and Other Stories. Seattle: University of Washington
Press, 1993; University of the Philippines Press, 1993
Mindoro and Beyond: Twenty-one Stories. Quezon City: University of the
Philippines Press, 1981; New Day, 1989
Selected Stories. Denver, Colorado: Alan Swallow, 1964
Look, Stranger, on this Island Now. Manila: Benipayo, 1963
Children of the Ash-Covered Loam and Other Stories. Manila: Benipayo,
1954; Bookmark Filipino Literary Classic, 1992
Seven Hills Away. Denver, Colorado: Alan Swallow, 1947
Essays
A Novel of Justice: Selected Essays 1968–1994. Manila: National Commission for
Culture and the Arts and Anvil (popular edition), 1996
Work on the Mountain (Includes The Father and the Maid, Essays on
Filipino Life and Letters and Kalutang: A Filipino in the World), University
of the Philippines Press, 1996
Awards and Prizes
Regents Professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, 1998–
1999
Philippines Centennial Award for Literature, 1998
National Artist Award for Literature, 1997
Oriental Mindoro Sangguniang Panlalawigan Resolution "extending due
recognition to Nestor V. M. González... the commendation he well
deserves..." 1996
City of Manila Diwa ng Lahi award "for his service and contribution to
Philippine national Literature," 1996
City of Los Angeles resolution declaring October 11, 1996 "N.V.M.
González Day, 1996
The Asian Catholic Publishers Award, 1993
The Filipino Community of California Proclamation "honoring N.V.M.
González for seventy-eight years of achievements," 1993
Ninoy Aquino Movement for Social and Economic Reconstruction through
Volunteer Service award, 1991
City and County of San Francisco proclamation of March 7, 1990
"Professor N.V.M. González Day in San Francisco," 1990
Cultural Center of the Philippines award, Gawad Para sa Sining, 1990
Writers Union of the Philippines award, Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni
Balagtás, 1989
University of the Philippines International Writer-in-Residence, 1988
Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) from the University of the
Philippines, 1987
Djerassi Foundation Artist-in-Residence, 1986
Philippine Foreign Service Certificate of Appreciation for Work in the
International Academic and Literary Community, at San Francisco, 1983
Emeritus Professor of English, California State University, 1982
Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), First Prize for 'The Tomato
Game,' 1971
City of Manila Medal of Honor, 1971.
Awarded Leverhulme Fellowship, University of Hong Kong, 1969.
Visiting Associate Professorship in English, University of California, Santa
Barbara, 1968.
British Council award for Travel to England, 1965.
Intemaciones Award for Travel in the Federal German Republic, 1965.
Philippines Free Press First Prize Award winner for Serenade (short story),
1964.
Rockefeller Foundation Writing Grant and Travel in Europe, 1964
Jose Rizal Pro-Patria Award for The Bamboo Dancers, 1961
Republic Cultural Heritage Award for The Bamboo Dancers, 1960
Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), Third Prize winner for On
the Ferry, 1959
Philippine Free Press Third Prize winner for On the Ferry, 1959
Republic Award of Merit for "the advancement of Filipino culture in the
field of English Literature," 1954.
Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), Second Prize winner for
Lupo and the River, 1953
Rockefeller Foundation Study and Travel fellowship to India and the Far
East, 1952
Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), Second Prize winner for
Children of the Ash-covered Loam, 1952
Rockefeller Foundation Writing Fellowship to Stanford University, Kenyon
College School of English, and Columbia University, 1949–1950
Liwayway Short Story Contest, Third Prize winner for Lunsod, Nayon at
Dagat-dagatan, 1943
First Commonwealth Literary Contest honorable mention for The Winds of
April, 1940
