BICOLANO

LITERATURE
DID YOU KNOW?

Around 5 million people speak variations of Bikolano

dialect in the Bicol region. From Camarines Sur to Naga
to Albay Sorsogon –and every locality in between –
Bikolano literature has flourished, providing a lively
literary flavor unrivaled by any other literary tradition.
How the Diversity Unfolded:

Just like other local traditions and cultures in the country, Bikolano
literature has its roots in orally transmitted poems and mythical
narratives that reflect the history of the people. The transformation
of the literature can be traced by going through local and national
history.

Mariano Perfecto is the first Bikolano writer who published Bikola

Newspaper, he was also responsible for the development of the first
printing press named “Imprenta de Nuestra Senora de Penafrancia.”
While the latter development implied that Bikolano literature was dominated by
religious writing at that time.

Protest drama became a form of expressing the people’s growing resentment of

the Spanish rule.

“Comedia” writers such as Sabas Armenta, Juan Alvarez Guerra and Juan
Miraflor have protest plays credited to their names.

The dramatic genre of the “corridor,” which was popular among the Tagalog-
speaking folk, was adapted into the local ‘Bikolcorrido”, with “Magamang Pobre”
being a popular example).
BICOLANO AUTHORS AND

THEIR LITERARY PIECES:

LUIS GUEVARRA DATO
(4 July 1906 –29 January 1985)

He was a Filipino poet, writer, educator and politician

from Baao, Camarines Sur.

He was one of the first Filipinos to write and publish

works in English.

He was also considered as an “authority on the Bicol language and culture.”

He also worked as a newspaperman for the Bicol Star, Naga times, and other
Newspapers.
Other Famous Works:

Manila: A Collection of Verses (1926),

My Book of Verses, I (1936), II undated

The Land of Mai: A Philippine Epic, Volume I (1975).

 Day on the Farm
By Luis G. Dato
I’ve found you fruits of sweetest taste and found you
Bunches of Duhat growing by the hill,
I’ve bound your arms and hair with vine and bound you
With rare wildflowers but you are crying still.

I’ve brought you all the forest ferns and brought you
Wrapped in green leaves cicadas singing sweet,
I’ve caught you in my arms an hour and taught you
Love’s secret where the mountain spirits meet.

Your smiles have died and there is no replying

To all endearment and my gifts are vain;
Come with me, love, you are too old for crying,
The church bells ring and I hear drops of rain.
 MARNE L. KILATES
Born: November 5, 1952 (age 64 years), Daraga, Albay, Bicol

Marne L. Kilateshas published three books of poetry,

Children of the Snarl (Aklat Peskador, 1987), Poems en Route
(UST Publishing House, 1998), andMostly in Monsoon
Weather (UP Press, 2007), and nine books of translation of
Filipino poetry into English. His translations include works by
major Filipino poets, the latest of which are the University of
the Philippines Centennial Edition of Francisco Balagtas’
Florante at Laura , and National Artist Virgilio S. Almario’s
(or Rio Alma’s) Mga Biyahe, Mga Estasyon / Journeys,
Junctions (Anvil, 2008).
Kilates

is also an active user of the new medium of the Internet, and

publishes and edits the online poetry & art magazine called
Poet’s Picturebook, athttp://marnezine2.blogspot.com/ , and
his own website, All Our Nameable Days, at
http://nameabledays.jimdo.com/ where his new and past
works, and his translations, may be sampled.

Source: http://panitikan.ph/2014/06/06/marne-l-kilates/Retrieved July 13, 2020

 A Cloud Named Looking-for-You

By Marne L. Kilates
My heart aches like the heaving sea;
My tears riddle the face of the water; Note:
My pain comes in guests, emptying me. This poem is inspired by a Yunnan legend
in China. They say that it is the Princess
Cursed with wandering, thin as air,
How can I touch the bottom of this grief? Nhanzao forever drifting over the Sea of
How can I lift this shroud that covers Er, looking for her love who had been
My love’s grave? turned into stone and sunk into the depths –
from the song by Shi Zhi–You about the
My heart heaves like the aching sea;
My tears riddle the face of the water; Yunnan legend.
My pain comes in guest, emptying me.
The Mother of Philippine Folklore:

DAMIANA LIGON EUGENIO

(September 27, 1921 –October 10, 2014)

Occupation:

Was a Filipino female author and had several publications in the field of
Philippine folklore and a professor at the UP Dilimanat the Department
of English and Comparative Literature for the college of Arts.

Educational Attainment:

Graduated BSE from the University of the Philippines as Cum Laude.

Completed her M.A degree in English Literature and folklore.
BICOLANO FOLKLORE

"ANG DUWENDE"

By Damiana Ligon Eugenio

GROUP 2

CHANG, BIANCA

CALAMANAN, TRISHA

CASILLANO, NICOLE

DE GUZMAN, DENCEL

DICAR, BENJIELIN