What is Literary Cannon?

 Cannon refers to a rule and a list of books containing names of important books serves as a rule or guide for reading
 It automatically suggests a reading list which belongs to a country or a certain period in time.
 It contains mainly literary works by authors who are accepted as an authority in their field and their writings constitute a
serious body of literature in any given language.
 The collection of works included in a literary canon is largely approved by cultural and academic institutions and is regarded as
Literature of that language.
 If a book is included in a literary canon it means it has attained a certain status of authority and is of high aesthetic quality
which gives the viewer or reader the idea that that book is highly regarded in the literary world.

What is a Filipino National Artist in Literature?

 The form and content of their writings created a sense of nationhood or instilled nationalism
 Pioneered a unique style of creative expression in the literary arts that inspired younger generations of writers
 Displayed consistent excellence in the quality of their works
 Gained recognitions and awards from prestigious national or international literary institutions

Who Selects the Filipino National Artist in Literature?

 Panel of literary experts
 Commissioners of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA)
 Board of Governors of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)
 President of the Republic of the Philippines

CANONICAL PHILIPPINE NATIONAL ARTISTS IN LITERATURE

1. EDITH L. TIEMPO (1999) (April 22, 1919 – August 21, 2011)

 She is a poet, fictionist, teacher and literary critic.
 She is one of the finest Filipino writers in English whose works are characterized by a remarkable fusion of style and
substance, of craftsmanship and insight.
 Born on April 22, 1919 in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, her poems are intricate verbal transfigurations of significant
experiences as revealed, in two of her much anthologized pieces, “The Little Marmoset” and “Bonsai”.
 As fictionist, Tiempo is as morally profound. Her language has been marked as “descriptive but unburdened by
scrupulous detailing.”
 She is an influential tradition in Philippine literature in English.
 Together with her late husband, Edilberto K. Tiempo, she founded and directed the Silliman National Writers
Workshop in Dumaguete City, which has produced some of the country’s best writers.
 Tiempo’s published works include the novel A Blade of Fern (1978), The Native Coast (1979), and The Alien Corn (1992);
the poetry collections, The Tracks of Babylon and Other Poems (1966), and The Charmer’s Box and Other
Poems(1993); and the short story collection Abide, Joshua, and Other Stories (1964)

2. BIENVENIDO LUMBERA (2006)

 Bienvenido Lumbera, is a poet, librettist, and scholar.
 As a poet, he introduced to Tagalog literature what is now known as Bagay poetry, a landmark aesthetic tendency
that has helped to change the vernacular poetic tradition.
 He is the author of the following works: Likhang Dila, Likhang Diwa (poems in Filipino and English), 1993; Balaybay,
Mga Tulang Lunot at Manibalang, 2002; Sa Sariling Bayan, Apat na Dulang May Musika, 2004; “Agunyas sa Hacienda
Luisita,” Pakikiramay, 2004.
 As a librettist for the Tales of the Manuvu and Rama Hari, he pioneered the creative fusion of fine arts and popular
imagination.
 As a scholar, his major books include the following: Tagalog Poetry, 1570-1898: Tradition and Influences in its
Development; Philippine Literature: A History and Anthology, Revaluation: Essays on Philippine Literature, Writing the
Nation/Pag-akda ng Bansa.

3. NVM GONZALES (2007) (Sept. 8m 1915 – Nov. 28, 1999)

 Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez, better known as N.V.M. Gonzalez, fictionist, essayist, poet, and teacher, articulated
the Filipino spirit in rural, urban landscapes.
 Among the many recognitions, he won the First Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940, received the Republic
Cultural Heritage Award in 1960 and the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining in 1990.
 The awards attest to his triumph in appropriating the English language to express, reflect and shape Philippine culture
and Philippine sensibility.
 He became U.P.’s International-Writer-In-Residence and a member of the Board of Advisers of the U.P. Creative
Writing Center.
 In 1987, U.P. conferred on him the Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, its highest academic recognition.
 Major works of N.V.M Gonzalez include the following: The Winds of April, Seven Hills Away, Children of the Ash-
Covered Loam and Other Stories, The Bamboo Dancers, Look Stranger, on this Island Now, Mindoro and Beyond:
Twenty -One Stories, The Bread of Salt and Other Stories, Work on the Mountain, The Novel of Justice: Selected Essays
1968-1994, A Grammar of Dreams and Other Stories.

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 4. VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO (2003)
 Virgilio S. Almario, also known as Rio Alma, is a poet, literary historian and critic, who has revived and reinvented
traditional Filipino poetic forms, even as he championed modernist poetics.
 In 34 years, he has published 12 books of poetry, which include the seminal Makinasyon and Peregrinasyon, and the
landmark trilogy Doktrinang Anakpawis, Mga Retrato at Rekwerdo and Muli, Sa Kandungan ng Lupa. In these works,
his poetic voice soared from the lyrical to the satirical to the epic, from the dramatic to the incantatory, in his often
severe examination of the self, and the society.
 He has also redefined how the Filipino poetry is viewed and paved the way for the discussion of the same in his 10
books of criticisms and anthologies, among which are Ang Makata sa Panahon ng Makina, Balagtasismo versus
Modernismo,Walong Dekada ng Makabagong Tula Pilipino, Mutyang Dilim and Barlaan at Josaphat.
 Many Filipino writers have come under his wing in the literary workshops he founded –the Galian sa Arte at Tula (GAT)
and the Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika at Anyo (LIRA).
 He has also long been involved with children’s literature through the Aklat Adarna series, published by his Children’s
Communication Center.
 He has been a constant presence as well in national writing workshops and galvanizes member writers as chairman
emeritus of the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL).
 He headed the National Commission for Culture and the Arts as Executive Director, (from 1998 to 2001) ably steering
the Commission towards its goals.
 But more than anything else, what Almario accomplished was that he put a face to the Filipino writer in the country,
one strong face determinedly wielding a pen into untruths, hypocrisy, injustice, among others.
5. CIRILO F. BAUTISTA (2014)
 Cirilo F. Bautista is a poet, fictionist and essayist with exceptional achievements and significant contributions to the
development of the country’s literary arts.
 He is acknowledged by peers and critics, and the nation at large as the foremost writer of his generation.
 Throughout his career that spans more than four decades, he has established a reputation for fine and profound
artistry; his books, lectures, poetry readings and creative writing workshops continue to influence his peers and
generations of young writers.
 As a way of bringing poetry and fiction closer to the people who otherwise would not have the opportunity to
develop their creative talent, Bautista has been holding regular funded and unfunded workshops throughout the
country. In his campus lecture circuits, Bautista has updated students and student-writers on literary developments
and techniques.
 As a teacher of literature, Bautista has realized that the classroom is an important training ground for Filipino writers.
In De La Salle University, he was instrumental in the formation of the Bienvenido Santos Creative Writing Center. He
was also the moving spirit behind the founding of the Philippine Literary Arts Council in 1981, the Iligan National
Writers Workshop in 1993, and the Baguio Writers Group.
 Thus, Bautista continues to contribute to the development of Philippine literature: as a writer, through his significant
body of works; as a teacher, through his discovery and encouragement of young writers in workshops and lectures;
and as a critic, through his essays that provide insights into the craft of writing and correctives to misconceptions
about art.
 Major works: Summer Suns (1963), Words and Battlefields (1998), The Trilogy of Saint Lazarus (2001), Galaw ng Asoge
(2003).
6. NICK JUAQUIN (1976) (May 4, 1917 – April 29, 2004)
 Nick Joaquin, is regarded by many as the most distinguished Filipino writer in English writing so variedly and so well
about so many aspects of the Filipino.
 Nick Joaquin has also enriched the English language with critics coining “Joaquinesque” to describe his baroque
Spanish-flavored English or his reinventions of English based on Filipinisms.
 Aside from his handling of language, Bienvenido Lumbera writes that Nick Joaquin’s significance in Philippine
literature involves his exploration of the Philippine colonial past under Spain and his probing into the psychology of
social changes as seen by the young, as exemplified in stories such as Doña Jeronima, Candido’s Apocalypse and The
Order of Melchizedek.
 Nick Joaquin has written plays, novels, poems, short stories and essays including reportage and journalism.
 As a journalist, Nick Joaquin uses the name de guerre Quijano de Manila but whether he is writing literature or
journalism, fellow National Artist Francisco Arcellana opines that “it is always of the highest skill and quality”.
 Among his voluminous works are The Woman Who Had Two Navels, A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino, Manila, My
Manila: A History for the Young, The Ballad of the Five Battles, Rizal in Saga, Almanac for Manileños, Cave and
Shadows.
 Nick Joaquin died April 29, 2004.

7. F. SIONIL JOSE (2001)

 F. Sionil Jose’s writings since the late 60s, when taken collectively can best be described as epic. Its sheer volume puts
him on the forefront of Philippine writing in English. But ultimately, it is the consistent espousal of the aspirations of
the Filipino–for national sovereignty and social justice–that guarantees the value of his oeuvre.
 In the five-novel masterpiece, the Rosales saga, consisting of The Pretenders, Tree, My Brother, My Executioner,
Mass, and Po-on, he captures the sweep of Philippine history while simultaneously narrating the lives of generations
of the Samsons whose personal lives intertwine with the social struggles of the nation. Because of their international
appeal, his works, including his many short stories, have been published and translated into various languages.
 F. Sionil Jose is also a publisher, lecturer on cultural issues, and the founder of the Philippine chapter of the
international organization PEN. He was bestowed the CCP Centennial Honors for the Arts in 1999; the Outstanding

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 Fulbrighters Award for Literature in 1988; and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative
Communication Arts in 1980.

8. AMADO V. HERNANDEZ (1973) (Sept. 13, 1903 – May 24, 1970)

 Amado V. Hernandez, poet, playwright, and novelist, is among the Filipino writers who practiced “committed art”.
 In his view, the function of the writer is to act as the conscience of society and to affirm the greatness of the human
spirit in the face of inequity and oppression.
 Hernandez’s contribution to the development of Tagalog prose is considerable — he stripped Tagalog of its ornate
character and wrote in prose closer to the colloquial than the “official” style permitted. His novel Mga Ibong
Mandaragit, first written by Hernandez while in prison, is the first Filipino socio-political novel that exposes the ills of
the society as evident in the agrarian problems of the 50s.
 Hernandez’s other works include Bayang Malaya, Isang Dipang Langit, Luha ng Buwaya, Amado V. Hernandez: Tudla
at Tudling: Katipunan ng mga Nalathalang Tula 1921-1970, Langaw sa Isang Basong Gatas at Iba Pang Kuwento ni
Amado V. Hernandez, Magkabilang Mukha ng Isang Bagol at Iba Pang Akda ni Amado V. Hernandez.

9. LAZARO FRANCISCO (2009) (feb. 22, 1898 – June 17, 1980)

 Prize-winning writer Lazaro A. Francisco developed the social realist tradition in Philippine fiction. His eleven novels,
now acknowledged classics of Philippine literature, embodies the author’s commitment to nationalism.
 Amadis Ma. Guerrero wrote, “Francisco championed the cause of the common man, specifically the oppressed
peasants. His novels exposed the evils of the tenancy system, the exploitation of farmers by unscrupulous landlords,
and foreign domination.”
 Teodoro Valencia also observed, “His pen dignifies the Filipino and accents all the positives about the Filipino way of
life. His writings have contributed much to the formation of a Filipino nationalism.”
 Literary historian and critic Bienvenido Lumbera also wrote, “When the history of the Filipino novel is written,
Francisco is likely to occupy an eminent place in it. Already in Tagalog literature, he ranks among the finest novelists
since the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to a deft hand at characterization, Francisco has a supple prose
style responsive to the subtlest nuances of ideas and the sternest stuff of passions.”
 Francisco gained prominence as a writer not only for his social conscience but also for his “masterful handling of the
Tagalog language” and “supple prose style”. With his literary output in Tagalog, he contributed to the enrichment of
the Filipino language and literature for which he is a staunch advocate. He put up an arm to his advocacy of Tagalog as
a national language by establishing the Kapatiran ng mga Alagad ng Wikang Pilipino (KAWIKA) in 1958.
 His reputation as the “Master of the Tagalog Novel” is backed up by numerous awards he received for his meritorious
novels in particular, and for his contribution to Philippine literature and culture in general. His masterpiece novels—
Ama, Bayang Nagpatiwakal, Maganda Pa Ang Daigdig and Daluyong—affirm his eminent place in Philippine
literature.
 In 1997, he was honored by the University of the Philippines with a special convocation, where he was cited as the
“foremost Filipino novelist of his generation” and “champion of the Filipino writer’s struggle for national identity.”
10. ALEJANDRO ROCES (2003) (July 13, 1924 – May 23, 2011)
 Alejandro Roces, is a short story writer and essayist, and considered as the country’s best writer of comic short
stories. He is known for his widely anthologized “My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken.”
 In his innumerable newspaper columns, he has always focused on the neglected aspects of the Filipino cultural
heritage. His works have been published in various international magazines and has received national and
international awards.
 Ever the champion of Filipino culture, Roces brought to public attention the aesthetics of the country’s fiestas. He
was instrumental in popularizing several local fiestas, notably, Moriones and Ati-atihan.
 He personally led the campaign to change the country’s Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, and caused the
change of language from English to Filipino in the country’s stamps, currency and passports, and recovered Jose
Rizal’s manuscripts when they were stolen from the National Archives.
 His unflinching love of country led him to become a guerilla during the Second World War, to defy martial law and to
found the major opposition party under the dictatorship.
 His works have been published in various international magazines and received numerous national and international
awards, including several decorations from various governments.

11. CARLOS P. ROMULO (1982) (January 14, 1899- December 15, 1985)
 Carlos P. Romulo‘s multifaceted career spanned 50 years of public service as educator, soldier, university president,
journalist and diplomat.
 It is common knowledge that he was the first Asian president of the United Nations General Assembly, then Philippine
Ambassador to Washington, D.C., and later minister of foreign affairs.
 Essentially though, Romulo was very much into writing: he was a reporter at 16, a newspaper editor by the age of 20,
and a publisher at 32. He was the only Asian to win America’s coveted Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for a series of
articles predicting the outbreak of World War II.
 Romulo, in all, wrote and published 18 books, a range of literary works which included The United (novel), I Walked
with Heroes (autobiography), I Saw the Fall of the Philippines, Mother America, I See the Philippines Rise (war-time
memoirs).
 His other books include his memoirs of his many years’ affiliations with United Nations (UN), Forty Years: A Third
World Soldier at the UN, and The Philippine Presidents, his oral history of his experiences serving all the Philippine
presidents.

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 12. JOSE GARCIA VILLA (1973) (August 5, 1908 – Feb. 7, 1997)
 Jose Garcia Villa is considered as one of the finest contemporary poets regardless of race or language.
 Villa, who lived in Singalong, Manila, introduced the reversed consonance rime scheme, including the comma poems
that made full use of the punctuation mark in an innovative, poetic way.
 The first of his poems “Have Come, Am Here” received critical recognition when it appeared in New York in 1942 that,
soon enough, honors and fellowships were heaped on him: Guggenheim, Bollingen, the American Academy of Arts
and Letters Awards.
 He used Doveglion (Dove, Eagle, Lion) as penname, the very characters he attributed to himself, and the same ones
explored by e.e. cummings in the poem he wrote for Villa (Doveglion, Adventures in Value). Villa is also known for the
tartness of his tongue.
 Villa’s works have been collected into the following books: Footnote to Youth, Many Voices, Poems by Doveglion,
Poems 55, Poems in Praise of Love: The Best Love Poems of Jose Garcia Villa as Chosen By Himself, Selected
Stories,The Portable Villa, The Essential Villa, Mir-i-nisa, Storymasters 3: Selected Stories from Footnote to Youth, 55
Poems: Selected and Translated into Tagalog by Hilario S. Francia.

13. ROLANDO S. TINIO (1997) (march 5, 1973 –July 7, 1997)

 Rolando S. Tinio, playwright, thespian, poet, teacher, critic and translator, marked his career with prolific artistic
productions.
 Tinio’s chief distinction is as a stage director whose original insights into the scripts he handled brought forth
productions notable for their visual impact and intellectual cogency. Subsequently, after staging productions for the
Ateneo Experimental Theater (its organizer and administrator as well), he took on Teatro Pilipino. It was to Teatro
Pilipino which he left a considerable amount of work reviving traditional Filipino drama by re-staging old theater
forms like the sarswela and opening a treasurehouse of contemporary Western drama.
 It was the excellence and beauty of his practice that claimed for theater a place among the arts in the Philippines in
the 1960s.
 Aside from his collections of poetry (Sitsit sa Kuliglig, Dunung – Dunungan, Kristal na Uniberso, A Trick of Mirrors)
among his works were the following: film scripts for Now and Forever, Gamitin Mo Ako, Bayad Puri and Milagros;
sarswelas Ang Mestisa, Ako, Ang Kiri, Ana Maria; the komedya Orosman at Zafira; and Larawan, the musical.

14. FRANCISCO ARCELLANA (1990) (Sept. 6, 1916 – August 1, 2002)

 Francisco Arcellana, writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist and teacher, is one of the most important progenitors of
the modern Filipino short story in English.
 He pioneered the development of the short story as a lyrical prose-poetic form.
 For Arcellana, the pride of fiction is “that it is able to render truth, that is able to present reality”. Arcellana kept alive
the experimental tradition in fiction, and had been most daring in exploring new literary forms to express the
sensibility of the Filipino people.
 A brilliant craftsman, his works are now an indispensable part of a tertiary level-syllabi all over the country.
 Arcellana’s published books are Selected Stories (1962), Poetry and Politics: The State of Original Writing in English
in the Philippines Today (1977), The Francisco Arcellana Sampler(1990).
 Some of his short stories are Frankie, The Man Who Would Be Poe, Death in a Factory, Lina, A Clown Remembers,
Divided by Two, The Mats, and his poems being The Other Woman, This Being the Third Poem This Poem is for
Mathilda, To Touch You and I Touched Her, among others.

15. LEVI CERELIO (1997) (April 30, 1910 – April 2, 2002)

 Levi Celerio is a prolific lyricist and composer for decades. He effortlessly translated/wrote anew the lyrics to
traditional melodies: “O Maliwanag Na Buwan” (Iloko), “Ako ay May Singsing” (Pampango), “Alibangbang” (Visaya)
among others.
 Born in Tondo, Celerio received his scholarship at the Academy of Music in Manila that made it possible for him to join
the Manila Symphony Orchestra, becoming its youngest member. He made it to the Guinness Book of World Records
as the only person able to make music using just a leaf.
 A great number of his songs have been written for the local movies, which earned for him the Lifetime Achievement
Award from the Film Academy of the Philippines.
 Levi Celerio, more importantly, has enriched the Philippine music for no less than two generations with a treasury of
more than 4,000 songs in an idiom that has proven to appeal to all social classes.

16. CARLOS QUIRINO (1997) (January 14, 1910 – May 20, 1999)
 Carlos Quirino, biographer, has the distinction of having written one of the earliest biographies of Jose Rizal titled The
Great Malayan.
 Quirino’s books and articles span the whole gamut of Philippine history and culture–from Bonifacio’s trial to
Aguinaldo’s biography, from Philippine cartography to culinary arts, from cash crops to tycoons and president’s lives,
among so many subjects. In 1997, Pres. Fidel Ramos created historical literature as a new category in the National
Artist Awards and Quirino was its first recipient. He made a record earlier on when he became the very first Filipino
correspondent for the United Press Institute
 His book Maps and Views of Old Manila is considered as the best book on the subject. His other books include
Quezon, Man of Destiny, Magsaysay of the Philippines, Lives of the Philippine Presidents, Philippine Cartography,
The History of Philippine Sugar Industry, Filipino Heritage: The Making of a Nation, Filipinos at War: The Fight for
Freedom from Mactan to EDSA.

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