Canonical Authors and Works

of Philippine National Artists

in Literature
N.V.M. Gonzales
 Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez is an award-
winning Filipino poet, essayist, fictionist, journalist,
editor, and teacher of creative writing.
 He is the first president of the Philippine Writers’
Association.
 He was a recipient of the following awards: The
Republic Cultural Heritage Award, the Jose Rizal
Pro-Patria Award, the Carlos Palanca Memorial
Award for Literature, and the National Artist Award
for Literature in 1997.
 Some of his published works are Seven Hills
Away (1947), Children of the Ash-Covered
Loam and Other Stories (1954), and The
Bamboo Dancers (1949), which appeared in
Russian translation in 1965 and 1974.
 N.V.M. Gonzalez is known as a local colorist
writer. Local color is a literary technique that
features the unique regional traditions of
people and emphasizes the ordinary events
in their lives.
Edith L. Tiempo
 Edith L. Tiempo is a poet, fiction writer, and
literary critic known for using intricate and
witty representations to portray significant
human experiences.
 Some of her well known poems are "The
Return," a poem that describes the
characteristics of old age, "Lament for the
Littlest Fellow," a poem that presents a
metaphor to describe the plight of a
submissive wife under her domineering
husband.
 She also wrote the novel A Blade of
Fern, which depicts the problems of
Filipino miners of Nibucal in southern
Philippines.
 She was awarded as the National Artist
for Literature in 1999.
 She founded with her husband the
Silliman University National Writers
Workshop, which produced great
young writers of her time.
Francisco Sionil Jose
 Francisco Sionil Jose, widely known as F.
Sionil Jose, was born on December 3, 1924
in Rosales, Pangasinan.
 His life and most of his works are influenced
by Dr. Jose P. Rizal.
 He edited various literary and journalistic
publications, and he founded the Philippine
PEN, an organization of poets, playwrights,
and novelists.
 He opened Solidaridad Publishing House in 1965.
A year after, he founded Solidarity, a magazine that
produces content mainly focused on "current
affairs, ideas, and the arts."
 He was a recipient of numerous awards. Some of
which are the Ramon Magsaysay Award for
Journalism, Literature, and Creative
Communications in 1980, the Pablo Neruda
Centennial Award in 2004, and the Officer in the
French Order of Arts and Letters in 2014.
 He was conferred as National Artist for Literature in
2001.
Virgilio S. Almario
 Virgilio S. Almario, popularly known by his pen
name Rio Alma, is a Filipino artist known for his
poetry and literary criticism. He was proclaimed
National Artist for Literature in 2003.
 Almario pioneered the second modernist
movement in Filipino poetry. Among his poetry
collections are Makinasyon at Ilang Tula (1968), his
very first collection; Peregrinasyon at Iba Pang Tula
(1970), which won first prize in poetry in the Carlos
Palanca Memorial Awards; Doktrinang Anakpawis
(1979); Mga Retrato at Rekwerdo (1984); and Muli
Sa Kandungan ng Lupa (1994)
 Almario founded the Galian sa Arte at Tula (GAT)
- Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA), an
organization of poets who write in Filipino, in 1985.
- He served as chairman of the Unyon ng mga
Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL), considered to be the
biggest umbrella organization of writers.
- He served as executive director of the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
- In 2013 he became the chairman of the Komisyon
ng Wikang Filipino (KWF).
Alejandro R. Roces
 Alejandro R. Roces is a playwright, an
essayist, and a short story writer. He was
also a columnist at the Philippine Star, the
Manila Times, and the Manila Chronicle.
 Alejandro R. Roces was known for his short
story "We Filipinos Are Mild Drinkers," a story
about an American soldier in the Philippines
who brags about his drinking habits, but
becomes overly drunk after drinking
lambanog offered by a Filipino farmer.
 He served as the Secretary of Education
under the regime of former president
Diosdado Macapagal. He has also
served as chairman of the Movie and
Television Review and Classification
Board (MTRCB) in 2001.
 Alejandro R. Roces was conferred as
National Artist for Literature in 2003.
Bienvenido S. Lumbrera
 Lumbera, who was called Beny when he was a
young boy, was born in Lipa, Batangas on April 11,
1932.
 Lumbera took a degree in journalism at the
University of Santo Tomas and graduated cum
laude. A year before his graduation, his first
published work, the poem “Frigid Moon,” appeared
in the Sunday magazine of the Manila Chronicle.
 Lumbera is a strong advocate of the Filipino
language. According to him, the gap between the
well-educated Filipinos and the majority cannot be
bridged until Filipino becomes their true lingua
franca.
 Lumbera has received numerous awards for his
work. The most notable ones were the Special
Prize from the Palanca Awards for his poetry
collection Sunog sa Lipa at Iba Pang Tula in
1975, the Ramon Magsaysay Award for
Journalism, Literature, and Creative
Communication Arts in 1993, and the Philippine
Centennial Literary Prize for Drama in 1998.
 Lumbera received the title of National Artist for
Literature in 2006.