7/31/2017 MISS RIZA O.

VILLANUEVA 1
 AMADO V. (September 13, 1903 –
May 24, 1970)

HERNANDEZ 1973
- poet, playwright, and novelist
- Is among the Filipino writers who
practiced “committed art”
- The function of the writer is to act as the
conscience of the society and to affirm the
greatness of the human spirit in the face of
inequity and oppression
- his 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.

7/31/2017 MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 2

 AMADO V. (September 13, 1903 –
May 24, 1970)

HERNANDEZ 1973
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.
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 (August 5, 1908 –
July 7, 1997)
JOSE GARCIA
1973 VILLA
“Art is a miraculous flirtation with Nothing!
Aiming for nothing, and landing on the Sun.”
― Doveglion: Collected Poems

- is considered as one of the finest contemporary poets

regardless of race or language.
- introduced the reversed consonance rhyme scheme,
- 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.
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 (August 5, 1908 –
July 7, 1997)
JOSE GARCIA
1973 VILLA
“Art is a miraculous flirtation with Nothing!
Aiming for nothing, and landing on the Sun.”
― Doveglion: Collected Poems

- used Doveglion (Dove, Eagle, Lion) as penname, the very characters he

attributed to himself,
- the same ones explored by e.e. cummings in the poem he wrote for Villa
(Doveglion, Adventures in Value).
- 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.
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 NICK (May 4, 19171976
– April 29, 2004)

JOAQUIN
“Before 1521 we could have been anything and
everything not Filipino; after 1565 we can be nothing but
Filipino.” ―Culture and History, 1988

- 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.
- 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 MISS
7/31/2017
of Melchizedek.
RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 6
 NICK (May 4, 19171976
– April 29, 2004)

JOAQUIN
“Before 1521 we could have been anything and
everything not Filipino; after 1565 we can be nothing but
Filipino.” ―Culture and History, 1988

- has written plays, novels, poems, short stories and essays including
reportage and journalism.
- as a journalist, he uses the nome 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,
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Cave and Shadows. MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 7
 (January 14, 1899 – December 15, 1985)
CARLOS P.
1982 ROMULO
- his 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.
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 (January 14, 1899 – December 15, 1985)
CARLOS P.
1982 ROMULO

- 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.
7/31/2017 MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 9
 FRANCISCO (September 6, 1916 –
August 1, 2002)

ARCELLANA 1990
- 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 has kept alive the experimental tradition in fiction, and has 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).

7/31/2017 MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 10

 FRANCISCO (September 6, 1916 –
August 1, 2002)

ARCELLANA 1990
- 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).
“The names which were with infinite slowness revealed, seemed strange and
stranger still; the colors not bright but deathly dull; the separate letters spelling out
the names of the dead among them, did not seem to glow or shine with a festive
sheen as did the other living names.”
(from “The Mats”, Philippine Contemporary Literature, 1963)

- 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.
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 (March 5, 1937 – July 7, 1997) ROLANDO S.
1997 TINIO
LITERATURE AND THEATER

- 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
7/31/2017
Pilipino.
MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 12
 (March 5, 1937 – July 7, 1997) ROLANDO S.
1997 TINIO
LITERATURE AND THEATER

- 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 treasure-house 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 andMilagros; sarswelas Ang Mestisa,
Ako, Ang Kiri, Ana Maria; the komedya Orosman at Zafira;
and Larawan, the musical. MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA
7/31/2017 13
 NESTOR VICENTE (September 8, 1915 –
November 28, 1999)
MADALI GONZALEZ 1997
"Literature is an affair of letters,"
 Gonzalez distinctively wrote of the Filipino life, of the Filipino
 in the world.
 Gonzalez is himself a Filipino in the world, traversing between the United
States and the Philippines and exploring Europe and Asia.
 The affair of letters Gonzalez created is more than literature. It is the story of
a Filipino in the world. It is his story.
- 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.
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 NESTOR VICENTE
(September 8, 1915 –
MADALI November 28, 1999)

GONZALEZ 1997

- 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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 (April 30, 1910 –
April 2, 2002) LEVI CELERIO
LITERATURE AND MUSIC
1997

- Known for being a good lyricist, his songs cherish life,

convey nationalistic sentiments and utter grand
philosophies.
- 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.
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 (April 30, 1910 –
April 2, 2002) LEVI CELERIO
LITERATURE AND MUSIC
1997

- He made it to the Guinness Book of World Records as the

only person able to make music using just a leaf.
"The only leaf player in the world is in the Philippines".
- 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.
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 CARLOS QUIRINO
HISTORICAL LITERATURE (January 14, 1910 –
May 20, 1999)
1997
- 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.
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 CARLOS QUIRINO
HISTORICAL LITERATURE (January 14, 1910 –
May 20, 1999)
1997

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

- poet, fictionist, teacher and literary critic 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.”
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 EDITH L. TIEMPO
(April 22, 1919 – August 21, 2011)
1999

- 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).
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 FRANCISCO SIONIL
JOSE
(December 2, 1924 - )
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.

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 FRANCISCO SIONIL
JOSE
(December 2, 1924 - )
2001
- 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 Fulbrighters Award for Literature in 1988; and
the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and
Creative Communication Arts in 1980.

7/31/2017 MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 23

 ALEJANDRO ROCES
(July 13, 1924 – May 23, 2011)
2003
“You cannot be a great writer; first, you
have to be a good person”

- 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 cultures, 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.
7/31/2017 MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 24
 ALEJANDRO ROCES
(July 13, 1924 – May 23, 2011)
2003
“You cannot be a great writer; first, you
have to be a good person”

- 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.
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 VIRGILIO ALMARIO
(March 9, 1944 - )
2003
- 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.
7/31/2017 MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 26
 VIRGILIO ALMARIO
(March 9, 1944 - )
2003
- 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
7/31/2017
sa Pilipinas (UMPIL).MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 27
 VIRGILIO ALMARIO
(March 9, 1944 - )
2003
- 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
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others. MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 28
 (April 11, 1932 - ) Bienvenido
2006 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.
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 (April 11, 1932 - ) Bienvenido
2006 lumbera

- 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.
7/31/2017 MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 30
 LAZARO (February 22, 1898 –
June 17, 1980)
FRANCISCO 2009
- 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.
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 LAZARO (February 22, 1898 –
June 17, 1980)
FRANCISCO 2009

- 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.”

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 LAZARO (February 22, 1898 –
June 17, 1980)
FRANCISCO 2009

- 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.

7/31/2017 MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 33

 LAZARO (February 22, 1898 –
June 17, 1980)
FRANCISCO 2009

- 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.”
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 CIRILO (July 1, 1941 - )

BAUTISTA 2014

- 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.

7/31/2017 MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 35

 CIRILO (July 1, 1941 - )

BAUTISTA 2014

- 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
ng7/31/2017
Asoge (2003). MISS RIZA O. VILLANUEVA 36
 http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-
philippines/

http://www.nvmgonzalez.org/

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