Paz Latorena

(1907 - 1953)

Paz Latorena was born in Boac, Marinduque in 1907. At a young age she was brought to Manila where she completed her basic schooling, first at St. Scholastica and later at South High School. In 1925 she enrolled at the University of the Philippines for a degree in education. Working by day as an elementary school teacher, she attended evening classes. One of these was a short story writing class conducted by Mrs. Paz Marquez Benitez. It was not long before Mrs. Benitez invited Latorena to write a column in the Philippines Herald, of which she was then literary editor. In 1927 Latorena joined some campus writers to form the U.P. Writers Club and contributed a short story, A Christmas Tale to the maiden issue of The Literary Apprentice. That same year, her short story The Small Key won third place in Jose Garcia Villas Roll of Honor for the years best short stories. Some of her other stories received similar prizes over the next several years. In her senior year, Latorena transferred to the University of Sto. Tomas, from which institution she graduated in 1930 and where she subsequently enrolled for graduate studies. Her dissertation entitled Philippine Literature in English: Old Voices and New received a grade of sobre saliente, qualifying her for a doctoral degree in 1934. By this time, Latorena had already joined the faculty, earning a reputation as a dynamic teacher. Among her many students were then-aspiring writers Juan Gatbonton, F. Sionil Jose, Nita Umali, Genoveva Edroza Matute and Zeneida Amador. Increasingly involved in academic work, Latorena wrote fewer stories and at longer intervals, publishing her last known story, Miguel Comes Home, in 1945. In 1953 while proctoring a final examination, Latorena suffered a cerebral hemorrhage which proved fatal. Thirty-five of her stories have recently been collected in a single volume: Desire and Other Stories, edited by Eva V. Kalaw (U.S.T., 2000).