CANONICAL AUTHORS AND WORKS OF first recipient of a British Council fellowship as a

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL ARTIST IN LITERATURE creative writer at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1987.

1. CIRILO F. BAUTISTA (born July 9, 1941) is a

Filipino poet, fictionist, critic and writer of nonfiction. He
was conferred with the National Artist of the Philippines Bautista works include Boneyard Breaking, Sugat ng
award in 2014. Salita, The Archipelago, Telex Moon, Summer Suns,
Charts, The Cave and Other Poems, Kirot ng Kataga,
Born on July 9, 1941 (age 75) and Bullets and Roses: The Poetry of Amado V.
Hernandez. His novel Galaw ng Asoge was published
Education by the University of Santo Tomas Press in 2004. His
latest book, Believe and Betray: New and Collected
He received his basic education from Legarda Poems, appeared in 2006, published by De La Salle
Elementary School (1st Honorable Mention, 1954) and University Press.
Mapa High School (Valedictorian, 1959). He received
his degrees in AB Literature from the University of
Santo Tomas (magna cum laude, 1963), MA Literature
from St. Louis University, Baguio City (magna cum His poems have appeared in major literary journals,
laude, 1968), and Doctor of Arts in Language and papers, and magazines in the Philippines and in
Literature from De La Salle University-Manila (1990). anthologies published in the United States, Japan, the
He received a fellowship to attend the International Netherlands, China, Romania, Hong Kong, Germany
Writing Program at the University of Iowa (1968–1969) and Malaysia. These include: excerpts from Sunlight
and was awarded an honorary degree—the only on Broken Stones, published in World Literature
Filipino to have been so honored there. Today, USA, Spring 2000; What Rizal Told Me (poem),
published in Manoa, University of Hawaii, 1997; She of
the Quick Hands: My Daughter and The Seagull
(poems), published in English Teacher’s Portfolio of
Career Multicultural Activities, edited by John Cowen (New
York: Simon & Schuster, 1996).
Bautista taught creative writing and literature at St.
Louis University (1963–1968) and the University of
Santo Tomas (1969–1970) before moving to De La
Salle University-Manila in 1970. He is also a co- Aside from his teaching, creative and research
founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council activities as a Professor Emeritus of Literature at the
(PLAC) and a member of the Manila Critics Circle, College of Liberal Arts, De La Salle University-Manila,
Philippine Center of International PEN and the Bautista is also a columnist and literary editor of the
Philippine Writers Academy. Philippine Panorama, the Sunday Supplement of the
Manila Bulletin. He is also a member of the Board of
Advisers and Associate, Bienvenido Santos Creative
Writing Center of De La Salle University-Manila and
Bautista has also received Carlos Palanca Memorial
Senior Associate, The Center for Creative Writing and
Awards (for poetry, fiction and essay in English and
Studies of the University of Santo Tomas.
Filipino) as well as Philippines Free Press Awards for
Fiction, Manila Critics' Circle National Book Awards, M
Gawad Balagtas from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng
Pilipinas, the Pablo Roman Prize for the Novel, and the Works
highest accolades from the City of Manila, Quezon City
and Iligan City. Bautista was hailed in 1993 as Makata Poetry
ng Taon by the Komisyon ng mga Wika ng Pilipinas for
winning the poetry contest sponsored by the Summer Suns (with Albert Casuga, 1963)
government. The last part of his epic trilogy The Trilogy
of Saint Lazarus, entitled Sunlight on Broken Stones, The Cave and Other Poems (1968)
won the Centennial Prize for the epic in 1998. He was
The Archipelago (1970)
an exchange professor in Waseda University and Ohio
University. He became an Honorary Fellow in Creative Charts (1973)
Writing at the University of Iowa in 1969, and was the
Telex Moon (1981) Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature
nine (9) times for poetry, fiction and essay. His prize-
Sugat ng Salita (1985) winning works include: Philippine Poetics: The Past
Eight Years (essay), 1981; Crossworks (collected
Kirot Ng Kataga (1995), poems), 1979; Charts (collected poems), 1973; The
Archipelago (epic poem), 1970; Telex Moon (epic
Sunlight On Broken Stones (2000)
poem), 1975; The Cave and Other Poems (collected
Tinik Sa Dila: Isang Katipunan Ng Mga Tula (2003) poems), 1968; and the short stories Ritual and The
Man Who Made a Covenant with the Wind.
The Trilogy Of Saint Lazarus (2001)
National Book Award given by the Manila Critics Circle
Believe and Betray: New and Collected Poems (2007) five (5) times, for The Archipelago, Sugat ng Salita,
Sunlight on Broken Stones, The Trilogy of Saint
Fiction Lazarus and Tinik sa Dila.

Stories (1990) Diwa ng Lahi, Gawad Antonio Villegas at Patnubay ng

Sining at Kalinangan in the field of literature by the City
Galaw ng Asoge (2004) of Manila. This award is given to outstanding Manila
artists who have contributed to the advancement of
Literary Theory and Cultural Studies[edit] arts and culture. 430th Araw ng Maynila, June 22,
2001, Bulwagang Villegas, Manila City Hall.
Breaking Signs (1990)
Gawad Balagtas in 1997 by the Unyon ng mga
Words And Battlefields: A Theoria On The Poem
Manunulat ng Pilipinas for Bautista’s achievements as
(1998)
a poet, fictionist, and critic.
The Estrella D. Alfon Anthology Vol. I – Short Stories
Included in Who’s Who in the World, 1996, New
(2000)
Providence, New Jersey, U.S.
Bullets And Roses: The Poetry Of Amado V.
Makata ng Taon 1993, sponsored by the Komisyon ng
Hernandez / A Bilingual Edition (translated Into English
mga Wikang Pilipinas with the poem Ulat Buhat Sa
And With A Critical Introduction) (2002)
Bulkan. With this and his Palanca award for Tagalog
poetry and his winning the First Prize in the Poetry
Awards, Prizes and Honors
contest sponsored by the Dyaryo Filipino with his
First Prize in Epic Writing English Category, of the poem, Ilang Aeta Mula Sa Botolan, Bautista affirmed
National Centennial Commission’s Literary Contests, his importance as a bilingual writer.
1998, sponsored by the Philippine Government. The
Included in The Oxford Companion to the English
judges in this prestigious contest, held to
Language, edited by Tom MacArthur, Oxford
commemorate the Centennial of our freedom, gave the
University Press, 1992.
prize to Bautista’s Sunlight on Broken Stones, the last
volume in his The Trilogy of Saint Lazarus. This epic of
Included in The Traveller’s Guide to Asian Literature,
3,050 lines concludes his monumental work on
1993.
Philippine history.
Knight Commander of Rizal by the Order of the Knights
In 1999, Sunlight on Broken Stones, published by De
of Rizal, December 1998, in recognition of Bautista’s
La Salle University-Manila Press, garnered the
literary works that helped propagate the ideas and
National Book Award given by the Manila Critics Circle
achievements of the national hero. His The Trilogy of
and the Gintong Aklat Award given by the Book
Saint Lazarus has the national hero as the main
Development Association of the Philippines
character and focal point in the author’s poetic
recreation of the development of the Filipino soul from
Hall of Fame of the Palanca Awards Foundation for
the beginning of our history to the present.
achievements in the field of literature, 1995. This is
given to Filipino writers who have distinguished
Adopted Son of Iligan City, 1997, by virtue of Executive
themselves by winning at least five First Prizes in the
Order #98 signed by Mayor Alejo Yanes, for his
Palanca Literary Contests.
contribution “in the development of creative writing in
Mindanao, for serving as a role model among young Honorary Fellow in Creative Writing, University of Iowa,
writers, as well as his tireless promotion of Iligan City U.S., 1969
as a center for literary arts in the Philippines.” Bautista
was instrumental in the founding of the Iligan Writers Visiting Professor at Waseda University, Japan and
Workshop and was its primary mover in attracting Ohio University, U.S.
young writers to congregate in Mindanao and learn the
craft of writing.

Gawad Manuel L. Quezon in 1996 by the Quezon City

Government in connection with the Quezon Day
2. LAZARO A. FRANCISCO developed the social
Celebrations for Bautista’s outstanding achievement
realist tradition in Philippine fiction. His eleven novels,
as writer, editor and teacher.
now acknowledged classics of Philippine literature,
Certificate of appreciation from the Benigno Aquino, embodies the author’s commitment to nationalism.
Jr., Foundation for his literary works that helped Amadis Ma. Guerrero wrote, “Francisco championed
perpetuate the memory of the late senator the cause of the common man, specifically the
oppressed peasants. His novels exposed the evils of
St. Miguel Febres Cordero Research Award, SY2002- the tenancy system, the exploitation of farmers by
03 given by De La Salle University-Manila, 2002. This unscrupulous landlords, and foreign domination.”
award was given to Bautista in recognition of his Teodoro Valencia also observed, “His pen dignifies the
achievements in research and creative writing. Filipino and accents all the positives about the Filipino
way of life. His writings have contributed much to the
First Annual Dove Award by the College of Liberal Arts, formation of a Filipino nationalism.” Literary historian
De La Salle University-Manila, February 14, 2001. An and critic Bienvenido Lumbera also wrote, “When the
alumnus of the Graduate School of the University, history of the Filipino novel is written, Francisco is likely
Bautista was honored for the contributions he had in to occupy an eminent place in it. Already in Tagalog
energizing the writing life in campus through his co- literature, he ranks among the finest novelists since the
founding of the creative writing programs in the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to a deft hand
University and activities as Writer-in-Residence for at characterization, Francisco has a supple prose style
fifteen years. responsive to the subtlest nuances of ideas and the
sternest stuff of passions.”
Most Outstanding Achievement Award in Literature by
the Philets-Artlets Centennial Alumni Association of the
University of Santo Tomas, 1996.
Francisco gained prominence as a writer not only for
Most Outstanding Alumnus Award for Literature, Mapa his social conscience but also for his “masterful
High School Alumni Association, 1983. handling of the Tagalog language” and “supple prose
style”. With his literary output in Tagalog, he
Pablo Roman Prize for his Novel-in-Progress entitled contributed to the enrichment of the Filipino language
Reconstruction, 1982. and literature for which he is a staunch advocate. He
put up an arm to his advocacy of Tagalog as a national
Most Outstanding Alumnus Award for Literature from language by establishing the Kapatiran ng mga Alagad
the Alumni Association of the College of Arts and ng Wikang Pilipino (KAWIKA) in 1958.
Letters, University of Santo Tomas, 1982.

Fernando Maria Guerrero Award for Literature,

University of Santo Tomas Alumni Association, 1980. His reputation as the “Master of the Tagalog Novel” is
backed up by numerous awards he received for his
Most Outstanding Alumnus Award for Literature, meritorious novels in particular, and for his contribution
Graduate School, Saint Louis University, 1975. to Philippine literature and culture in general. His
masterpiece novels—Ama, Bayang Nagpatiwakal,
British Council Fellowship as Visiting Writer, Trinity
Maganda Pa Ang Daigdig and Daluyong—affirm his
College, Cambridge, England, 1987. Bautista was the
eminent place in Philippine literature. In 1997, he was
first Filipino writer to be invited to attend the Cambridge
honored by the University of the Philippines with a
Seminar on Contemporary Literature.
special convocation, where he was cited as the
“foremost Filipino novelist of his generation” and at Osaka University of Foreign Studies in Japan from
“champion of the Filipino writer’s struggle for national 1985 to 1988 and the very first Asian scholar-in-
identity.” residence at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

3. BIENVENIDO LUMBERA is a Filipino poet, critic Martial law

and dramatist. He is a National Artist of the Philippines
and a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for After Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos declared
Journalism, Literature and Creative Communications. Martial Law, Lumbera was arrested by the Philippine
He won numerous literary awards, including the military in January 1974. He was released in December
National Book Awards from the National Book of the same year. Cynthia Nograles, his former student
Foundation, and the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards. at the Ateneo de Manila University, wrote to Gen. Fidel
Ramos for his release. Lumbera married Cynthia a few
Personal life months later. In 1976, Lumbera began teaching at the
Department of Filipino and Philippine Literatures, U.P.
Lumbera was born in Lipa on April 11, 1932.[1] He was College of Arts and Letters. In 1977, he served as
barely a year old when his father, Christian Lumbera (a editor of Diliman Review upon the request of then
Shooting Guard with a local basketball team), fell from College of Arts and Sciences Dean Francisco
a fruit tree, broke his back, and died. Carmen Lumbera, Nemenzo. The publication was openly against the
his mother, suffered from cancer and died a few years dictatorship but was left alone by Marcos’ authorities.
later. By the age of five he was an orphan. He and his
older sister were cared for by their paternal
grandmother, Eusebia Teru.
Creative works

At the height of Martial Law, Lumbera had taken on

When the war ended, Lumbera and his grandmother other creative projects. He began writing librettos for
returned to their home in Lipa. Eusebia, however, soon musical theater. Initially, the Philippine Educational
succumbed to old age and he was once again Theater Association (PETA) requested him to create a
orphaned. For his new guardians, he was asked to musical based on Carlos Bulosan’s America Is in the
choose between his maiden aunts with whom his sister Heart. Eventually, Lumbera created several highly
had stayed or Enrique and Amanda Lumbera, his acclaimed musical dramas such as Tales of the
godparents. The latter had no children of their own and Manuvu; Rama, Hari; Nasa Puso ang Amerika; Bayani;
Bienvenido, who was barely fourteen at the time, says Noli me Tangere: The Musical; and Hibik at Himagsik
he chose them mainly because "they could send me to Nina Victoria Laktaw. Sa Sariling Bayan: Apat na
school." Dulang May Musika, an anthology of Lumbera's
musical dramas, was published by De La Salle
University-Manila Press in 2004. Lumbera authored
numerous books, anthologies and textbooks such as:
Education Revaluation; Pedagogy; Philippine Literature: A History
and Anthology; Rediscovery: Essays in Philippine Life
Lumbera received his Litt.B. and M.A. degrees from the
and Culture; Filipinos Writing: Philippine Literature
University of Santo Tomas in 1950, and then his Ph.D.
from the Regions; and Paano Magbasa ng Panitikang
in Comparative Literature from Indiana University in
Filipino: Mga Babasahing Pangkolehiyo.
1968.

Organizational affiliations
Academic
Lumbera also established his leadership among
Lumbera taught Literature, Philippine Studies and
Filipino writers, artists and critics by co-founding
Creative Writing at the Ateneo de Manila University, De
cultural organizations such as the Philippine
La Salle University, the University of the Philippines
Comparative Literature Association (1969); Pamana
Diliman, and the University of Santo Tomas. He was
ng Panitikan ng Pilipinas (1970); Kalipunan para sa
also appointed visiting professor of Philippine Studies
mga Literatura ng Pilipinas (1975); Philippine Studies
Association of the Philippines (1984) and Manunuri ng Works
Pelikulang Pilipino (1976). In such ways, Lumbera
contributed to the downfall of Marcos although he was Poetry
in Japan during the 1986 Edsa uprising, teaching at the
Osaka University of Foreign Studies. Ka Bel

The Yaya’s Lullaby

Lumbera is also the founding and current chairperson Servant

of the Board of Trustees of the multi-awarded media
Sadness
group Kodao Productions and a member of the
Concerned Artists of the Philippines and the Bagong Magic
Alyansang Makabayan.
Eulogy of Roaches

Literary criticism
Literary reputation
Revaluation: Essays on Literature, Cinema, and
Lumbera is now widely acknowledged as one of the Popular Culture, 1984
pillars of contemporary Philippine literature, cultural
studies and film, having written and edited numerous Tagalog Poetry, 1570-1898: Tradition and Influences
books on literary history, literary criticism, and film. He on Its Development, 1986
also received several awards citing his contribution to
Philippine letters, most notably the 1975 Palanca Abot-Tanaw: Sulyap at Suri sa Nagbabagong Kultura
Award for Literature; the 1993 Magsaysay Award for at Lipunan, 1987
Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication
Arts; several National Book Awards from the Manila Textbooks
Critics Circle; the 1998 Philippine Centennial Literary
Prize for Drama; and the 1999 Cultural Center of the Pedagogy
Philippines Centennial Honors for the Arts. He is
Philippine Literature: A History and Anthology
currently the editor of Sanghaya (National Commission
on Culture and the Arts), Professor at the Department
Rediscovery: Essays in Philippine Life and Culture
of English in the School of Humanities of the Ateneo de
Manila University, Emeritus Professor at the Filipinos Writing: Philippine Literature from the Regions
Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature,
College of Arts and Letters, U.P. Diliman, and Paano Magbasa ng Panitikang Filipino: Mga
Professor of Literature at De La Salle University. For a Babasahing Pangkolehiyo
time, he also served as president of the Alliance of
Concerned Teachers (ACT), a national organization of Awards
more than 40,000 teachers and employees in the
education sector. National Artist, April, 2006

Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature,

and Creative Communication Arts, 1993
The launching of Bayan at Lipunan: Ang Kritisismo ni
Bienvenido Lumbera, edited by Rosario Torres-Yu and Pambansang Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni
published by the University of Santo Tomas Publishing Balagtas, Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas
House, was celebrated by the University of the (UMPIL)
Philippines in January 2006.
National Book Awards from the Manila Critics' Circle

Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature

Bienvenido Lumbera was proclaimed National Artist in
Visiting Professorship, Osaka University of Foreign
April 2006.
Studies
Professor Emeritus, University of the Philippines 1951. Roces did not only focus on short stories alone,
as he also published books such as Of Cocks and Kites
Philippine Centennial Literary Prize for Drama (1959), Fiesta (1980), and Something to Crow About
(2005). Of Cocks and Kites earned him the reputation
Cultural Center of the Philippines Centennial Honors as the country's best writer of humorous stories. It also
for the Arts contained the widely anthologized piece “My Brother’s
Peculiar Chicken”. Fiesta, is a book of essays,
1st Asian scholar-in-residence at the University of
featuring folk festivals such as Ermita's Bota Flores,
Hawaii at Manoa.
Aklan's Ati-atihan, and Naga's Peñafrancia.

4. ALEJANDRO REYES ROCES (13 July 1924 – 23

Something to Crow About, on the other hand, is a
May 2011) was a Filipino author, essayist, dramatist
collection of Roces’ short stories. The book has been
and a National Artist of the Philippines for literature. He
recently brought to life by a critically acclaimed play of
served as Secretary of Education from 1961 to 1965,
the same title; the staged version of Something to Crow
during the term of Philippine President Diosdado
About is the first Filipino zarzuela in English. This
Macapagal.
modern zarzuela tells the story of a poor cockfighter
named Kiko who, to his wife's chagrin, pays more
attention to the roosters than to her. Later in the story,
Noted for his short stories, the Manila-born Roces was a conflict ensues between Kiko’s brother Leandro and
married to Irene Yorston Viola (granddaughter of Golem, the son of a wealthy and powerful man, over
Maximo Viola), with whom he had a daughter, the affections of a beautiful woman named Luningning.
Elizabeth Roces-Pedrosa. Anding attended The resolution? A cockfight, of course. Something to
elementary and high school at the Ateneo de Manila Crow About won the Aliw Award for Best Musical and
University, before moving to the University of Arizona Best Director for a Musical Production. It also had a run
and then Arizona State University for his tertiary off-Broadway at the La Mama Theater in New York.
education. He graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts and,
not long after, attained his M.A. from Far Eastern
University back in the Philippines. He has since
Through the years, Roces has won numerous awards,
received honorary doctorates from Tokyo University,
including the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award,
Baguio's St. Louis University, Polytechnic University of
the Diwa ng Lahi Award, the Tanging Parangal of the
the Philippines, and the Ateneo de Manila University.
Gawad CCP Para sa Sining, and the Rizal Pro Patria
Roces was a captain in the Marking’s Guerilla during
Award. He was finally bestowed the honor as National
World War II and a columnist in Philippine dailies such
Artist of Literature on 25 June 2003.
as the Manila Chronicle and the Manila Times. He was
previously President of the Manila Bulletin and of the
CAP College Foundation.
When once asked for a piece of advice on becoming a
famous literary figure Roces said, "You cannot be a
great writer; first, you have to be a good person".[2]
In 2001, Roces was appointed as Chairman of the
Movie and Television Review and Classification Board
(MTRCB). Roces also became a member of the Board
of Trustees of GSIS (Government Service Insurance Socio-Cultural-Civic Affiliations
System) and maintained a column in the Philippine
Star called Roses and Thorns. Trustee, Government Service Insurance System
(GSIS)
Literary works
Chairman, College Assurance Plan Foundation
During his freshman year in the University of Arizona,
Roces won Best Short Story for We Filipinos are Mild Columnist, “Roses and Thorns” of The Philippine Star
Drinkers. Another of his stories, My Brother’s Peculiar
Chicken, was listed as Martha Foley’s Best American Chairman, Movie and Television Review and
Stories among the most distinctive for years 1948 and Classification Board (MTRCB), 2001
President, Bagong Katipunan Foundation Member of the Board, National Historical Commission
of the Philippines
President, UNESCO Philippine Centre of the
International Theatre Institute Board of Authenticators, National Museum

President, Bulletin Publishing Corporation Member of the Board, TOYM Foundation

Secretary of Education, Republic of the Philippines, Member of the Board, Casino Español de Manila
1961
Member of the Board, Philippine National Bank
Dean of the Institute of Arts and Science, Far Eastern
University Member of the Board, Brent International School,
Baguio
Co-Founder of the Philippine PEN
Member of the Board, Yuchengco Museum
Board of Regents, University of the Philippines
First Chairman of the Board, PETA Theater
Chairman, Board of Trustees, Colegio San Agustin
First Chairman of the Board, Philippine Ballet Theater
Chairman, Board of Regents, Pamantasan ng
Lungsond ng Maynila

Chairman, Board of Regents, St. Louis University, 5.Virgilio S. Almario, (born March 9, 1944) better
Baguio City known by his pen name, RIO ALMA, is a Filipino artist,
poet, critic, translator, editor, teacher, and cultural
Chairman, Board of Regents, St. Mary's University, manager.[1] He is a National Artist of the Philippines
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya and currently serves as the chairman of the Komisyon
sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), the government agency
Chair, United Way Philippines mandated to promote and standardize the use of the
Filipino language. On January 5, 2017, Almario was
Chairman, UNESCO National Commission of the also elected as the chairman of the National
Philippines Commission for Culture and the Arts.[2]

President, Cultural Nationalism of the Philippines

Head, FEU Cultural Research Team Growing up in Bulacan among peasants, Almario
sought his education at Manila and completed his
President, Philippine International Friendship
degree in A.B. Political Science at the University of the
Organization
Philippines.
President, Research Foundation in Philippine
Anthropology and Archeology, Inc.
His life as a poet started when he took master’s course
Vice President, Art Association of the Philippines
in education at the University of the East where he
Vice President, Manila Symphony Society became associated with Rogelio G. Mangahas and
Lamberto E. Antonio.
President, Philippine-Italian Association

Chair, Philippine Selection Committee - Eisenhower

Fellowship Inc. A prolific writer, he spearheaded the second successful
modernist movement in Filipino poetry together with
Member of the Board, Academia Filipina de la Lengua Rogelio Mangahas and Teo Antonio. His earliest
Española pieces of literary criticism were collected in Ang Makata
sa Panahon ng Makina (1972), now considered the first
Member of the Board, Association for Philippine China book of literary criticism in Filipino. Later, in the years
Understanding of martial law, he set aside modernism and formalism
and took interest in nationalism, politics and activist
movement. As critic, his critical works deal with the Katon Para sa Limang Pandama. (1987)
issue of national language.
Sentimental. (2004)

Estremelenggoles. (2004)
Aside from being a critic, Almario engaged in
translating and editing. He has translated the best Memo Mulang Gimokudan. (2005)
contemporary poets of the world. He has also
translated for theater production the plays of Nick Dust Devils. (2005)
Joaquin, Bertolt Brecht, Euripides and Maxim Gorki.
Sonetos Postumos, book of poems with translation by
Other important translations include the famous works
Marne Kilates and paintings by National Artist Ang
of the Philippines' national hero, José Rizal, namely
Kiukok. (2006)
Noli Me Tangere and El filibusterismo. For these two,
he was awarded the 1999 award for translation by the Tatlong Pasyon sa Ating Panahon, poems for children
Manila Critics Circle. with illustrations by Mark Justiniani, Neil Doloricon,
Ferdinand Doctolero. (2006)

Buwan, Buwang, Bulawan. (2009)

Almario has been a recipient of numerous awards such
as several Palanca Awards, two grand prizes from the
Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Makata ng Taon
of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, the TOYM for 6. FRANCISCO SIONIL JOSÉ (born 3 December
literature, and the Southeast Asia Write Award of 1924) is one of the most widely read Filipino writers in
Bangkok. the English language. His novels and short stories
depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and
colonialism in Filipino society.José's works—written in
English—have been translated into 28 languages,
He was an instructor at the Lagao Central Elementary
including Korean, Indonesian, Czech, Russian,
School from 1969-1972. He only took his M.A. in
Latvian, Ukrainian and Dutch.
Filipino in 1974 in the University of the Philippines. In
2003, he was appointed Dean of the College of Arts José was born in Rosales, Pangasinan, the setting of
and Letters in the said university. On June 25 of the many of his stories. He spent his childhood in Barrio
same year, he was proclaimed National Artist for Cabugawan, Rosales, where he first began to write.
Literature. José is of Ilocano descent whose family had migrated
to Pangasinan prior to his birth. Fleeing poverty, his
forefathers traveled from Ilocos towards Cagayan
Almario is also the founder and workshop director of Valley through the Santa Fe Trail. Like many migrant
the Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA), an families, they brought their lifetime possessions with
organization of poets who write in Filipino. Award- them, including uprooted molave posts of their old
winning writers and poets such as Roberto and houses and their alsong, a stone mortar for pounding
Rebecca Añonuevo, Romulo Baquiran Jr., Michael rice.
Coroza, Jerry Gracio, and Vim Nadera are but some of
the products of the LIRA workshop.
One of the greatest influences to José was his
industrious mother who went out of her way to get him
He was a founding member of the Gallan sa Arte at the books he loved to read, while making sure her
Tula (GAT), along with fellow poets Teo Antonio and family did not go hungry despite poverty and
Mike Bigornia. landlessness. José started writing in grade school, at
the time he started reading. In the fifth grade, one of
José’s teachers opened the school library to her
students, which is how José managed to read the
Poetry Collections novels of José Rizal, Willa Cather’s My Antonia,
Faulkner and Steinbeck. Reading about Basilio and
Palipad-Hangin. (1985) Crispin in Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere made the young
José cry, because injustice was not an alien thing to In his regular column, Hindsight, in The Philippine
him. When José was five years old, his grandfather STAR, dated 12 September 2011, he wrote "Why we
who was a soldier during the Philippine revolution, had are shallow", blaming the decline of Filipino intellectual
once tearfully showed him the land their family had and cultural standards on a variety of modern
once tilled but was taken away by rich mestizo amenities, including media, the education system—
landlords who knew how to work the system against particularly the loss of emphasis on classic literature
illiterates like his grandfather. and the study of Greek and Latin—and the abundance
and immediacy of information on the Internet.

Writing career
Awards
José attended the University of Santo Tomas after
World War II, but dropped out and plunged into writing Five of José's works have won the Carlos Palanca
and journalism in Manila. In subsequent years, he Memorial Awards for Literature: his short stories The
edited various literary and journalistic publications, God Stealer in 1959, Waywaya in 1979, Arbol de
started a publishing house, and founded the Philippine Fuego (Firetree) in 1980, his novel Mass in 1981, and
branch of PEN, an international organization for his essay A Scenario for Philippine Resistance in 1979.
writers. José received numerous awards for his work.
The Pretenders is his most popular novel, which is the
story of one man's alienation from his poor background
and the decadence of his wife's wealthy family. Since the 1980s, various award-giving bodies have
feted José with awards for his outstanding works and
for being an outstanding Filipino in the field of literature.
His first award was the 1979 City of Manila Award for
José Rizal's life and writings profoundly influenced Literature which was presented to him by Manila Mayor
José's work. The five volume Rosales Saga, in Ramon Bagatsing. The following year, he was given
particular, employs and interrogates themes and the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for
characters from Rizal's work. Throughout his career, Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication
José's writings espouse social justice and change to Arts. Among his other awards during that period
better the lives of average Filipino families. He is one include the Outstanding Fulbrighters Award for
of the most critically acclaimed Filipino authors Literature (1988) and the Cultural Center of the
internationally, although much underrated in his own Philippines Award (Gawad para sa Sining) for
country because of his authentic Filipino English and Literature (1989).
his anti-elite views.

By the turn of the century, José continued to receive

"Authors like myself choose the city as a setting for recognition from several award-giving bodies. These
their fiction because the city itself illustrates the include the Cultural Center of the Philippines
progress or the sophistication that a particular country Centennial Award in 1999, the prestigious Chevalier
has achieved. Or, on the other hand, it might also dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 2000, and the Order
reflect the kind of decay, both social and perhaps of Sacred Treasure (Kun Santo Zuiho Sho) in 2001. In
moral, that has come upon a particular people." that same year, the Philippine government bestowed
upon him the prestigious title of National Artist for
Literature for his outstanding contributions to Philippine
literature.[10] In 2004, José was garnered the coveted
— F. Sionil José, BBC.com, 30 July 2003[1] Pablo Neruda Centennial Award in Chile.

Sionil José also owns Solidaridad Bookshop, which is

on Padre Faura Street in Ermita, Manila. The bookshop
offers mostly hard-to-find books and Filipiniana reading Works
materials. It is said to be one of the favorite haunts of
many local writers. Rosales Saga novels
A five-novel series that spans three centuries of The God Stealer and Other Stories (2001) ISBN 971-
Philippine history, translated into 22 languages 8845-35-6

Puppy Love and Thirteen Short Stories (March 15,

1998) ISBN 971-8845-26-7 and ISBN 978-971-8845-
Po-on (Source) (1984) ISBN 971-8845-10-0 26-4

The Pretenders (1962) ISBN 971-8845-00-3 Olvidon and Other Stories (1988) ISBN 971-8845-18-6

My Brother, My Executioner (1973) ISBN 971-8845-16- Platinum: Ten Filipino Stories (1983) ISBN 971-8845-
X 22-4 (now out of print, its stories are added to the new
version of Olvidon and Other Stories)
Mass (December 31, 1974) ISBN 0-86861-572-2
Waywaya: Eleven Filipino Short Stories (1980) ISBN
Tree (1978) ISBN 971-8845-14-3 99922-884-0-X

Original novels containing the Rosales Saga Asian PEN Anthology (as editor) (1966)

Source (Po-on) (1993) ISBN 0-375-75144-0 Short Story International (SSI): Tales by the World's
Great Contemporary Writers (Unabridged, Volume 13,
Don Vicente (1980) ISBN 0-375-75243-9 – Tree and
Number 75) (co-author, 1989) ISBN 1-55573-042-6
My Brother, My Executioner combined in one book
Children's books
The Samsons ISBN 0-375-75244-7 The Pretenders
and Mass combined in one book The Molave and The Orchid (November 2004)

Other novels Verses[edit]

Gagamba (The Spider Man) (1991) ISBN 978-971- Questions (1988)

536-105-7
Essays and non-fiction
Viajero (1993) ISBN 978-971-8845-04-2
In Search of the Word (De La Salle University Press,
Sin (1994) ISBN 0-517-28446-4 March 15, 1998) ISBN 971-555-264-1 and ISBN 978-
971-555-264-6
Ben Singkol (2001) ISBN 971-8845-32-1
We Filipinos: Our Moral Malaise, Our Heroic Heritage
Ermita (1988) ISBN 971-8845-12-7
Soba, Senbei and Shibuya: A Memoir of Post-War
Vibora! (2007)
Japan ISBN 971-8845-31-3 and ISBN 978-971-8845-
Sherds (2008) 31-8

Muse and Balikbayan: Two Plays (2008) Heroes in the Attic, Termites in the Sala: Why We are
Poor (2005)
Short Stories (with Introduction and Teaching Guide by
Thelma B. Kintanar) (2008) This I Believe: Gleanings from a Life in Literature
(2006)
The Feet of Juan Bacnang (2011)
Literature and Liberation (co-author) (1988)
Novellas[edit]
In translation
Three Filipino Women (1992) ISBN 9780307830289
Zajatec bludného kruhu (The Pretenders) (Czech
Two Filipino Women (1981) ISBN 9711001136 language, Svoboda, 1981)

Short story collections

Po-on (Tagalog language, De La Salle University
Press, 1998) ISBN 971-555-267-6 and ISBN 978-971-
555-267-7 Tiempo was born in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. Her
poems are intricate verbal transfigurations of
Anochecer (Littera) (Spanish language, Maeva, significant experiences as revealed, in two of her much
October 2003) ISBN 84-95354-95-0 and ISBN 978-84- anthologized pieces, "Lament for the Littlest Fellow"
95354-95-2 and "Bonsai." As fictionist, Tiempo is as morally
profound. Her language has been marked as
In anthologies "descriptive but unburdened by scrupulous detailing."
She is an influential tradition in Philippine Literature in
Tong (a short story from Brown River, White Ocean: An English. Together with her late husband, writer and
Anthology of Twentieth-Century Philippine Literature in critic Edilberto K. Tiempo, they founded (in 1962) and
English by Luis Francia, Rutgers University Press, directed the Silliman National Writers Workshop in
August 1993) ISBN 0-8135-1999-3 and ISBN 978-0- Dumaguete City, which has produced some of the
8135-1999-9 Philippines' best writers. She was conferred the
National Artist Award for Literature in 1999.
In film documentaries
Novels
Francisco Sionil José – A Filipino Odyssey by Art
Makosinski (Documentary, in color, 28min, 16mm. A Blade of Fern (1978)
Winner of the Golden Shortie for Best Documentary at
the 1996 Victoria Film and Video Festival)[11] His Native Coast (1979)

Books about F. Sionil José The Alien Corn (1992)

Frankie Sionil José: A Tribute by Edwin Thuboo (editor) One, Tilting Leaves (1995)
(Times Academic Press, Singapore, January 2005)
ISBN 981-210-425-9 and ISBN 978-981-210-425-0 The Builder (2004)

Conversations with F. Sionil José by Miguel A. Bernard The Jumong (2006)

(editor) (Vera-Reyes Publishing Inc., Philippines, 304
pages, 1991 Short stories

The Ilocos: A Philippine Discovery by James Fallows, Abide, Joshua, and Other Stories (1964)
The Atlantic Monthly magazine, Volume 267, No. 5,
May 1991 The Corral

F. Sionil José and His Fiction by Alfredo T. Morales Poetry

(Vera-Reyes Publishing Inc., Philippines, 129 pages)
The Tracks of Babylon and Other Poems (1966)
Die Rosales Saga von Francisco Sionil José.
The Charmer's Box and Other Poet (1993)
Postkoloniale Diskurse in der Romanfolge eines
Philippinischen Autors by Hergen Albus (SEACOM Marginal Annotations and Other Poems
Edition, Berlin, 2009)
Inside
Post-colonial Discourses in Francisco Sionil José's
Rosales Saga: Post-colonial Theory vs. Philippine Honors and awards
Reality in the Works of a Philippine Autor by Hergen
Albus (Südwestdeutscher Verlag für National Artist Award for Literature (1999)
Hochschulschriften, 14. November 2012)
Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature

Cultural Center of the Philippines (1979, First Prize in

7. EDITH L. TIEMPO (April 22, 1919 – August 21, Novel)
2011),[1] poet, fiction writer, teacher and literary critic
was a Filipino writer in the English language. Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas (1988)
 genius in shaping the Philippine short story and novel,
and making a new clearing within the English idiom and
8. NÉSTOR VICENTE MADALI GONZÁLEZ tradition on which he established an authentic
(September 8, 1915 – November 28, 1999) was a vocabulary, ...For his insightful criticism by which he
Filipino novelist, short story writer, essayist and poet. advanced the literary tradition of the Filipino and
Conferred as the National Artist of the Philippines for enriched the vocation for all writers of the present
Literature in 1997. generation...For his visions and auguries by which he
gave the Filipino sense and sensibility a profound and
He was born on 8 September 1915 in Romblon, unmistakable script read and reread throughout the
Philippines.[1] González, however, was raised in international community of letters..."
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 N.V.M. González was proclaimed National Artist of the
provincial villages and municipalities. González was Philippines in 1997. He died on 28 November 1999 in
also a musician. He played the violin and even made Philippines at the age of 84. As a National Artist,
four guitars by hand. He earned his first peso by Gonzalez was honored with a state funeral at the
playing the violin during a Chinese funeral in Romblon. Libingan ng mga Bayani.
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 Works
degree. While in Manila, González wrote for the
Philippine Graphic and later edited for the Evening
News Magazine and Manila Chronicle. His first Gonzalez on a 2015 stamp of the Philippines
published essay appeared in the Philippine Graphic
and his first poem in Poetry in 1934. González made The works of Gonzalez have been published in Filipino,
his mark in the Philippine writing community as a English, Chinese, German, Russian and Indonesian.
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. Novels
González attended creative writing classes under
Wallace Stegner and Katherine Anne Porter at The Winds of April (1941)
Stanford University. In 1950, González returned to the
A Season of Grace (1956)
Philippines and taught at the University of Santo
Tomas, the Philippine Women's University and the
The Bamboo Dancers (1988)
University of the Philippines (U.P.). At U.P., González
was only one of two faculty members accepted to teach The Land And The Rain
in the university without holding a degree. On the basis
of his literary publications and distinctions, González The Happiest Boy in The World
later taught at the University of California, Santa
Barbara, California State University, Hayward, the Short fiction[edit]
University of Washington, the University of California,
Los Angeles, and the University of California, Berkeley. "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

Gonzalez is buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. of Washington Press, 1993; University of the
Philippines Press, 1993
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
Mindoro and Beyond: Twenty-one Stories. Quezon City and County of San Francisco proclamation of
City: University of the Philippines Press, 1981; New March 7, 1990 "Professor N.V.M. González Day in San
Day, 1989 Francisco," 1990

Selected Stories. Denver, Colorado: Alan Swallow, Cultural Center of the Philippines award, Gawad Para
1964 sa Sining, 1990

Look, Stranger, on this Island Now. Manila: Benipayo, Writers Union of the Philippines award, Gawad
1963 Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtás, 1989

Children of the Ash-Covered Loam and Other Stories. University of the Philippines International Writer-in-
Manila: Benipayo, 1954; Bookmark Filipino Literary Residence, 1988
Classic, 1992
Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) from the
Seven Hills Away. Denver, Colorado: Alan Swallow, University of the Philippines, 1987
1947
Djerassi Foundation Artist-in-Residence, 1986
Essays
Philippine Foreign Service Certificate of Appreciation
A Novel of Justice: Selected Essays 1968–1994. for Work in the International Academic and Literary
Manila: National Commission for Culture and the Arts Community, at San Francisco, 1983
and Anvil (popular edition), 1996
Emeritus Professor of English, California State
Work on the Mountain (Includes The Father and the University, 1982
Maid, Essays on Filipino Life and Letters and Kalutang:
A Filipino in the World), University of the Philippines Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), First
Press, 1996 Prize for 'The Tomato Game,' 1971

Awards and prizes City of Manila Medal of Honor, 1971.

Regents Professor at the University of California at Los Awarded Leverhulme Fellowship, University of Hong
Angeles, 1998–1999 Kong, 1969.

Philippines Centennial Award for Literature, 1998 Visiting Associate Professorship in English, University
of California, Santa Barbara, 1968.
National Artist Award for Literature, 1997
British Council award for Travel to England, 1965.
Oriental Mindoro Sangguniang Panlalawigan
Resolution "extending due recognition to Nestor V. M. Intemaciones Award for Travel in the Federal German
González... the commendation he well deserves..." Republic, 1965.
1996
Philippines Free Press First Prize Award winner for
City of Manila Diwa ng Lahi award "for his service and Serenade (short story), 1964.
contribution to Philippine national Literature," 1996
Rockefeller Foundation Writing Grant and Travel in
City of Los Angeles resolution declaring October 11, Europe, 1964
1996 "N.V.M. González Day, 1996
Jose Rizal Pro-Patria Award for The Bamboo Dancers,
The Asian Catholic Publishers Award, 1993 1961

The Filipino Community of California Proclamation Republic Cultural Heritage Award for The Bamboo
"honoring N.V.M. González for seventy-eight years of Dancers, 1960
achievements," 1993
Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), Third
Ninoy Aquino Movement for Social and Economic Prize winner for On the Ferry, 1959
Reconstruction through Volunteer Service award, 1991
Philippine Free Press Third Prize winner for On the from the Art Association of the Philippines in 1954, the
Ferry, 1959 Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan award from the city
government of Manila in 1981, and the Gawad
Republic Award of Merit for "the advancement of Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for English fiction
Filipino culture in the field of English Literature," 1954. from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipino (UMPIL)
in 1988.
Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), Second
Prize winner for Lupo and the River, 1953

Rockefeller Foundation Study and Travel fellowship to On April 2, 1989, the University of the Philippines
India and the Far East, 1952 conferred upon Arcellana a doctorate in humane
letters, honoris causa. Francisco Arcellana was
Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), Second proclaimed National Artist of the Philippines in
Prize winner for Children of the Ash-covered Loam, Literature on 23, 1990 by then Philippine President
1952 Corazon C. Aquino.

Rockefeller Foundation Writing Fellowship to Stanford

University, Kenyon College School of English, and
Columbia University, 1949–1950 In 2009, or seven years after his death, his family came
out with a book to pay tribute to National Artist for
Liwayway Short Story Contest, Third Prize winner for Literature Arcellana. The book entitled, "Franz," is a
Lunsod, Nayon at Dagat-dagatan, 1943 collection of essays gathered by the Arcellana family
from colleagues, friends, students and family
First Commonwealth Literary Contest honorable
members, including fellow National Artist Nick Joaquin,
mention for The Winds of April, 1940.
Butch Dalisay, Recah Trinidad, Jing Hidalgo, Gemino
Abad, Romina Gonzalez, Edwin Cordevilla, Divina
Aromin, Doreen Yu, Danton Remoto, Jose Esteban
9. FRANCISCO "FRANZ" ARCELLANA (September Arcellana and others.
6, 1916 – August 1, 2002) was a Filipino writer, poet,
essayist, critic, journalist and teacher. He was born on
September 6, 1916. Arcellana already had ambitions of
becoming a writer during his years in the elementary.
His actual writing, however, started when he became a Arcellana is buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
member of The Torres Torch Organization during his
high school years. Arcellana Grande continued writing Arcellana died in 2002. As a National Artist, he
in various school papers at the University of the received a state funeral at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Philippines Diliman. He later on received a Rocketfeller
Granted and became a follower in creative writing the
University of Iowa and Breadloaf's writers conference
from 1956– 1957. His grandson Liam Hertzsprung performed a piano
concert in 2006 dedicated to him.

He is considered an important progenitor of the modern

Filipino short story in English. Arcellana pioneered the Arcellana's published books include:
development of the short story as a lyrical prose-poetic
form within Filipino literature. His works are now often
taught in tertiary-level-syllabi in the Philippines. Many
Selected Stories (1962)
of his works were translated into Tagalog, Malaysian,
Russian, Italian, and German. Arcellana won 2nd place Poetry and Politics: The State of Original Writing in
in 1951 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for English in the Philippines Today (1977)
Literature, with his short story, "The Flowers of May."
14 of his short stories were also included in Jose The Francisco Arcellana Sampler (1990).
Garcia Villa's Honor Roll from 1928 to 1939. His major
achievements included the first award in art criticism
10. CARLOS PEÑA ROMULO, QSC PLH (14 January
1898 – 15 December 1985) was a Filipino diplomat,
statesman, soldier, journalist and author. He was a President of the UN General Assembly
reporter at 16, a newspaper editor by the age of 20,
and a publisher at 32. He was a co-founder of the Boy He served as the President of the Fourth Session of
Scouts of the Philippines, a general in the US Army and United Nations General Assembly from 1949 to 1950—
the Philippine Army, university president, President of the first Asian to hold the position—and served as
the UN General Assembly, was eventually named one president of the United Nations Security Council four
of the Philippines' National Artists in Literature, and times, in 1981, in 1980 and twice in 1957.[4] He had
was the recipient of many other honors and honorary served with General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific,
degrees. His hometown is Camiling, Tarlac and he and became the first non-American to win the Pulitzer
studied at the Camiling Central Elementary School Prize in Correspondence in 1942. The Pulitzer Prize
during his basic education. website says Carlos P. Romulo of Philippine Herald
was awarded "For his observations and forecasts of
Diplomatic career Far Eastern developments during a tour of the trouble
centers from Hong Kong to Batavia." He was a
Romulo served eight Philippine presidents, from candidate for the position of United Nations Secretary-
Manuel L. Quezon to Ferdinand Marcos, as the General in 1953, but did not win.
Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines and as
the country’s representative to the United States and to
the United Nations. He also served as the Resident
Commissioner to the U.S. House of Representatives Ambassador to the United States
during the Commonwealth era. In addition, he served
From Jan 1952 to May 1953, Romulo became only the
also as the Secretary of Education in President
second former member of Congress to become the
Diosdado P. Macapagal’s and President Ferdinand E.
Ambassador to the United States from a foreign
Marcos’s Cabinet through 1962 to 1968.[1][2]
country, following Joaquin M. Elizalde, who had been
his immediate predecessor in both posts. He later
served as Ambassador again from Sept 1955 to Feb
Resident Commissioner 1962.[5]

Romulo served as Resident Commissioner of the

Philippines to the United States Congress from 1944 to
1946. This was the title of the non-voting Delegate to Philippine Presidential Aspiration
the US House of Representatives for lands taken in the
Instead, he returned to the Philippines and was a
Spanish–American War, and as such, he is the only
candidate for the nomination as the presidential
member of the US Congress to end his tenure via a
candidate for the Liberal Party, but lost at the party
legal secession from the Union.
convention to the incumbent Elpidio Quirino, who ran
unsuccessfully for re-election against Ramon
Magsaysay. Quirino had agreed to a secret ballot at the
United Nations convention, but after the convention opened, the
president demanded an open roll-call voting, leaving
In his career in the United Nations, Romulo was a the delegates no choice but supporting Quirino, the
strong advocate of human rights, freedom and candidate of the party machine. Feeling betrayed,
decolonization. In 1948 in Paris, France, at the third UN Romulo left the Liberal Party and became national
General Assembly, he strongly disagreed with a campaign manager of Magsaysay, the candidate of the
proposal made by the Soviet delegation headed by opposing Nacionalista Party who won the election.
Andrei Vishinsky, who challenged his credentials by
insulting him with this quote: "You are just a little man
from a little country." In return, Romulo replied, "It is the
duty of the little Davids of this world to fling the pebbles
of truth in the eyes of the blustering Goliaths and force
Romulo, portrait by Soshana, oil on canvas, 1945
them to behave!", leaving Vishinsky with nothing left to
do but sit down.[3]
Ang Paglulunsad Memorial, Lingayen, Pangasinan
(Carlos P. Romulo launched on January 10, 1945
Philippine and Pacific troops to liberate Luzon Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 1952 "For his
contribution in international cooperation, in particular
Minister of Foreign Affairs on questions on undeveloped areas, and as president
for UN's 4th General Assembly"[7]
He was the signatory for the Philippines to the United
Nations Charter when it was founded in 1945. He was Quezon Service Cross, April 17, 1951
the Philippines' Secretary (Minister from 1973 to 1984)
of Foreign Affairs under President Elpidio Quirino from Philippine National Artist in Literature, 1982
1950 to 1952, under President Diosdado Macapagal
from 1963 to 1964 and under President Ferdinand United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, January
Marcos from 1968 to 1984. In April 1955 he led the 12, 1984
Philippines' delegation to the Asian-African
Boy Scouts of America Silver Buffalo Award
Conference at Bandung.
Distinguished Service Star of the Philippines

Philippine Gold Cross

Romulo, in all, wrote and published 22 books, which
includes The United (novel), I Walked with Heroes Distinguished Silver Star
(autobiography), I Saw the Fall of the Philippines,
Mother America and I See the Philippines Rise (war- Purple Heart
time memoirs).
Presidential Unit Citation with Two Oak Leaf Clusters

Philippine Legion of Honor (Commander)

Death
US Legion of Merit (Commander)
He died, at 87, in Manila on 15 December 1985 and
was buried in the Heroes’ Cemetery (Libingan ng mga Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix from the
Bayani). He was honored as "one of the truly great Greek Government
statesmen of the 20th century."[citation needed][6] In
1980, he was extolled by United Nations Secretary- Grand Cross of the Order of Carlos Manuel do
General Kurt Waldheim as "Mr. United Nations" for his Cespedes from the Republic of Cuba
valuable services to the United Nations and his
dedication to freedom and world peace. Pulitzer Prize in Correspondence, 1942

World Government News First Annual Gold Nadal

Award (for work in the United Nations for peace and
Awards and Recognitions world government), March 1947

Princeton University - Woodrow Wilson Memorial

Foundation Gold Medal award ("in recognition of his
Gen. Romulo (3d from R), as President of the United contribution to public life"), May 1947
Nations General Assembly, talks with Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru International Benjamin Franklin Society's Gold Medal
(for “distinguished world statesmanship in 1947”),
January 1948

Carlos P. Romulo statue UN Avenue. Freeman of the City of Plymouth, England, October
1948
Romulo is perhaps among the most decorated Filipino
in history, which includes 72 honorary degrees from United Nations Peace Medal
different international institutions and universities and
144 awards and decorations from foreign countries: World Peace Award

Four Freedoms Peace Award

Philippine Presidential Medal of Merit, July 3, 1949

Hero of the Republic Award, 1984 Romulo was a dapper little man (barely five feet four
inches in shoes). When they waded in at Leyte beach
Notre Dame University, Doctor of Laws (LL.D.), 1935 in October 1944, and the word went out that General
MacArthur was waist deep, one of Romulo's journalist
Georgetown University, Doctor of Laws (LL.D.), 1960 friends cabled, “If MacArthur was in water waist deep,
Romulo must have drowned!”
Harvard University, Doctor of Laws (LL.D.), 1950

Anecdotes from Beth Romulo through Reader's Digest

(June 1989) In later years, Romulo told another story himself about
a meeting with MacArthur and other tall American
At the third UN General Assembly, held in Paris in
generals who disparaged his physical stature.
1948, the USSR’s deputy foreign minister, Andrei
"Gentlemen," he declared, "When you say something
Vishinsky, sneered at Romulo and challenged his
like that, you make me feel like a dime among nickels."
credentials: “You are just a little man from a little
country.” “It is the duty of the little Davids of this world,”
cried Romulo, “to fling the pebbles of truth in the eyes
of the blustering Goliaths and force them to behave!” Books

Carlos P. Romulo at the Clark Air Base (1979)

During his meeting with Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, I Saw the Fall of The Philippines
Marshal Tito welcomed Gen. Romulo with drinks and
cigars, to which the general kindly refused. Their Mother America
conversation went as follows:
My Brother Americans

I See The Philippines Rise

“ Tito: "Do you drink?"
The United
Romulo: "No, I don't."
Crusade in Asia (The John Day Company, 1955; about
the 1953 presidential election campaign of Ramon
Magsaysay)
Tito: "Do you smoke?"
The Meaning of Bandung

The Magsaysay Story (with Marvin M. Gray, The John

Romulo: "No, thank you." Day Company 1956, updated re-edition by Pocket
Books, Special Student Edition, SP-18, December
1957; biography of Ramon Magsaysay, Pocket Books
edition updated with an additional chapter on
Tito: "What do you do then?"
Magsaysay's death)

I Walked with Heroes (autobiography)

Romulo: "I etcetera."
Last Man off Bataan (Romulo's experience during the
Japanese Plane bombings.)

” Romulo: A Third World Soldier at the UN

At this, Marshal Tito was tickled by his reply and loudly Daughters for Sale and Other Plays
exclaimed around the room, "I etcetera, etcetera,
etcetera!"
11. JOSE GARCIA VILLA (August 5, 1914 – February After the publication of Footnote to Youth in 1933, Villa
7, 1997) was a Filipino poet, literary critic, short story switched from writing prose to poetry, and published
writer, and painter. He was awarded the National Artist only a handful of works until 1942. During the release
of the Philippines title for literature in 1973, as well as of Have Come, Am Here in 1942, he introduced a new
the Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by rhyming scheme called "reversed consonance"
Conrad Aiken. He is known to have introduced the wherein, according to Villa: "The last sounded
"reversed consonance rhyme scheme" in writing consonants of the last syllable, or the last principal
poetry, as well as the extensive use of punctuation consonant of a word, are reversed for the
marks—especially commas, which made him known corresponding rhyme. Thus, a rhyme for near would be
as the Comma Poet. He used the penname Doveglion run; or rain, green, reign."
(derived from "Dove, Eagle, Lion"), based on the
characters he derived from himself. These animals
were also explored by another poet E. E. Cummings in
Doveglion, Adventures in Value, a poem dedicated to In 1949, Villa presented a poetic style he called
Villa. "comma poems", wherein commas are placed after
every word. In the preface of Volume Two, he wrote:
Villa was born on August 5, 1908, in Manila's Singalong "The commas are an integral and essential part of the
district. His parents were Simeón Villa (a personal medium: regulating the poem's verbal density and time
physician of Emilio Aguinaldo, the founding President movement: enabling each word to attain a fuller tonal
of the First Philippine Republic) and Guia Garcia (a value, and the line movement to become more
wealthy landowner).[citation needed] measured."

He graduated from the University of the Philippines Villa worked as an associate editor for New Directions
Integrated School and the University of the Philippines Publishing in New York City from 1949–51, and then
High School in 1925. Villa enrolled on a Pre-Medical became director of poetry workshop at City College of
course in the University of the Philippines, but then New York from 1952 to 1960. He then left the literary
switched to Pre-Law course. However, he realized that scene and concentrated on teaching, first lecturing in
his true passion was in the arts. Villa ,the The New School|The New School for Social Research
corresponding rhyme. Thus, a rhyme for near would be from 1964 to 1973, as well as conducting poetry
run; or rain, green, reign." workshops in his apartment. Villa was also a cultural
attaché to the Philippine Mission to the United Nations
Villa's tart poetic style was considered too aggressive from 1952 to 1963, and an adviser on cultural affairs to
at that time. In 1929 he published Man Songs, a series the President of the Philippines beginning 1968.
of erotic poems, which the administrators in UP found
too bold and was even fined Philippine peso for On February 5, 1997, at the age of 88, Jose was found
obscenity by the Manila Court of First Instance. In that in a coma in his New York apartment and was rushed
same year, Villa won Best Story of the Year from to St. Vincent Hospital in the Greenwich Village area.
Philippine Free Press magazine for Mir-I-Nisa. He also His death two days later, February 7, was attributed to
received P1,000 prize money, which he used to "cerebral stroke and multilobar pneumonia". He was
migrate to the United States. buried on February 10 in St. John's Cemetery in New
York, wearing a Barong Tagalog.

He enrolled at the University of New Mexico, wherein

he was one of the founders of Clay, a mimeograph New York Centennial Celebration
literary magazine. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
degree, and pursued post-graduate work at Columbia On August 5 and 6, 2008, Villa's centennial celebration
University. Villa had gradually caught the attention of began with poem reading at the Jefferson Market
the country's literary circles, one of the few Asians to Library. For the launch of Doveglion: Collected Poems,
do so at that time. Penguin Classics’ reissue of Villa's poems edited by
John Edwin Cowen, there were readings of his poems
by Cowen, by book introducer Luis H. Francia, and by
scholar Tina Chang.[4] Then, the Leonard Lopate
Show will interview Cowen and Francia on the "Pope was edited by Eileen Tabios with a foreword provided
of Greenwich Village's" life and work, followed by the by Hagedorn (both in 1999).
Asia Pacific Forum show.

His popular poems include When I Was No Bigger

Personal Than A Huge, an example of his "comma poems", and
The Emperor's New Sonnet (a part of Have Come, Am
In 1946 Villa married Rosemarie Lamb, with whom he Here) which is basically a blank sheet of paper.
had two sons, Randall and Lance. They annulled ten
years later. He also had three grandchildren, Jordan
Villa, Sara Villa Stokes and Travis Villa. Villa was
especially close to his nieces, Ruby Precilla, Milagros Writing style
Villanueva, Maria Luisa Cohen and Maria Villanueva.
Villa described his use of commas after every word as
similar to "Seurat's architectonic and measured
pointillism—where the points of color are themselves
Works the medium as well as the technique of statement".
This unusual style forces the reader to pause after
As an editor, Villa first published Philippine Short every word, slowing the pace of the poem and resulting
Stories: Best 25 Short Stories of 1928 in 1929, an in what Villa calls "a lineal pace of dignity and
anthology of Filipino short stories written in English movement". An example of Villa's "comma poems" can
literature English that were mostly published in the be found in an excerpt of his work #114:
literary magazine Philippine Free Press for that year. It
is the second anthology to have been published in the
Philippines, after Philippine Love Stories by editor Paz
Márquez-Benítez in 1927. His first collection of short “ In, my, undream, of, death,
stories that he had written were published under the
title Footnote to Youth: Tales of the Philippines and I, unspoke, the, Word.
Others in 1933; while in 1939, Villa published Many
Since, nobody, had, dared,
Voices, his first collection poems, followed by Poems
by Doveglion in 1941. Other collections of poems With, my, own, breath,
include Have Come, Am Here (1942) and Volume Two
(1949; the year he edited The Doveglion Book of I, broke, the, cord!
Philippine Poetry in English from 1910). Three years
later, he released a follow-up for The Portable Villa
entitled The Essential Villa. Villa, however, went under
"self-exile" after the 1960s, even though he was ”
nominated for several major literary awards including
the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. This was perhaps Villa also created verses out of already-published
because of oppositions between his formalism proses and forming what he liked to call "Collages".
(literature) formalist style and the advocates of This excerpt from his poem #205 was adapted from
proletarian literature, who misjudged him as a petty Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke, volume 1:
bourgeois. Villa only "resurfaced" in 1993 with an
anthology entitled Charlie Chan Is Dead, which was
edited by Jessica Hagedorn.
“ And then suddenly,

A life on which one could

Several reprints of Villa's past works were done,
Stand. Now it carried one and
including Appasionata: Poems in Praise of Love in
1979, A Parliament of Giraffes (a collection of Villa's Was conscious of one while it
poems for young readers, with Tagalog language
Tagalog translation provided by Larry Francia), and
The Anchored Angel: Selected Writings by Villa that
Carried. A stillness in which ... the pace-setter for an entire generation of young
writers, the mentor laying down the law for the whole
Reality and miracle tribe, the patron-saint of a cult of rebellious
moderns."[6] However, Villa was accused of having
little faith in Filipinos' ability to write creatively in
English, saying that "poetry in English has no
Had become identical -
prospects whatsoever in the Philippines—i.e., ... that it
Stillness of that greatest cannot be written by Filipino writers. An exception or
two may arise after a long period of time, but these
Stillness. Like a plant that is to writers will remain exceptions. The reason why Filipino
writers are at a disadvantage in the writing of English
Become a tree, so was I poetry—is that they have no oneness with the English
language."
Taken out of the little container,

Carefully, while earth

In a review to Footnote to Youth, The New York Times
wrote, "For at least two years the name of Jose Garcia
Villa has been familiar to the devotees of the
” experimental short story... They knew, too, that he was
an extremely youthful Filipino who had somehow
While Villa agreed with William Carlos Williams that
acquired the ability to write a remarkable English prose
"prose can be a laboratory for metrics", he tried to
and who had come to America as a student in the
make the adapted words his own. His opinion on what
summer of 1930." This comment brought out two
makes a good poetry was in contrast to the progressive
opposing impressions of him as a literary genius, and
style of Walt Whitman, concerning which he said:
merely as a writer of English as a second language.
"Poetry should evoke an emotional response. The poet
has a breathlessness in him that he converts into a During the United States' Formalist period in literature,
breathlessness of words, which in turn becomes the American writers admired Villa's work. Mark Van Doren
breathlessness of the reader. This is the sign of a true wrote in reaction to Selected Poems and New that it is
poet. All other verse, without this appeal, is just verse." "...So natural yet in its daring so weird, a poet rich and
surprising, and not to be ignored". Babette Deutsch
wrote in The New Republic that Have Come, Am Here
reveals that Villa's concern for "ultimate things, the self
He also advised his students who aspire to become
and the universe. He is also on visiting terms with the
poets not to read any form of fiction, lest their poems
world. He is more interested in himself than in the
become "contaminated by narrative elements",
universe, and he greets the world with but a decent
insisting that real poetry is "written with words, not
urbanity." Although she viewed Villa's range as
ideas".
somewhat narrow, he "soars high and plunges deep".
British poet Edith Sitwell revealed in the preface of
Villa's Selected Poems and New that she experienced
Critical reception "a shock" upon reading Have Come, Am Here, most
notably the poem "#57", "a strange poem of ineffable
Villa was considered as a powerful literary influence in beauty, springing straight from the depths of Being. I
the Philippines throughout much of the 20th century, hold that this is one of the most wonderful short poems
although he had lived most of his life in the United of our time, and reading it I knew that I was seeing for
States. His writing style, as well as his personality and the first time the work of a poet with a great, even an
staunch opinions on writing, has often made him astonishing, and perfectly original gift." Meanwhile,
considered as an eccentric.[5] Francia explained in noted American poet Garret Hongo described Villa as
Asiaweek magazine, "In a world of English-language "one of the greatest pioneers of Asian American
poetry dominated by British and Americans, Villa stood literature...our bitter, narcissistic angel of both late
out for the ascetic brilliance of his poetry and for his Modernism and early post-colonialism." In his
national origin." Fellow Filipino writer Salvador P. introduction to Footnote to Youth, American writer
López described Villa as "the one Filipino writer today Edward J. O'Brien—who dedicated his collection Best
who it would be futile to deride and impossible to ignore American Short Stories of 1932 to Villa—hailed the
poet as "one of a half-dozen American short-story Poetry: An Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our
writers who count". Meanwhile, in reaction to Villa's Time published in 2000, which featured over 1,600
poems, e.e. cummings wrote, "and i am alive to see a poems written by hundreds of poets in different
man against the sky". languages and culture within a span of 40 centuries
dating from the development of early writing in ancient
Sumer and Egypt.

Critics were divided about Villa's "comma poems". On

one side, they were irritated by them, calling them
"gimmicky". Leonard Casper wrote in New Writings
from the Philippines that the technique of putting
commas after every word "is as demonstrably
malfunctional as a dragging foot". Ten years later,
Casper continued to criticize Villa because he "still
uses the 'commas' with inadequate understanding and
skill". On the other hand, Sitwell wrote in The American
Genius magazine that the comma poem "springs with
a wild force, straight from the poet's being, from his
blood, from his spirit, as a fire breaks from wood, or as
a flower grows from its soil".

Despite his success in the United States, Villa was

largely dismissed in mainstream American literature
and has been criticized by Asian American scholars for
not being "ethnic" enough.

Awards

Villa was granted a Guggenheim Fellowship in

Creative Writing by American writer Conrad Aiken,
wherein he was also awarded a $1,000 prize for
"outstanding work in American literature", as well as a
fellowship from Bollingen Foundation. He was also
bestowed an Academy Award for Literature from The
American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1943.[10]
Villa also won first prize in the Poetry Category of UP
Golden Jubilee Literary Contests in 1958, as well as
the Pro Patria Award for literature in 1961, and the
Heritage Award for poetry and short stories a year later.
He was conferred with a honoris causa doctorate
degree for literature by Far Eastern University in Manila
on 1959 (and later by University of the Philippines), and
the National Artist Award for Literature in 1973.

He was one of three Filipinos, along with novelist Jose

Rizal and translator Nick Joaquin, included in World