NVM Gonzales Biography

Early Life

González was born on September 8th, 1915, in Romblon, Philippines. He was raised in Mansalay, a
southern town in the Oriental Mindoro region of the Philippines. González was the son of a teacher and
a school administrator. He delivered meat door-to-door across provincial villages and towns as a
teenager to assist his father. González was a musician as well. He created four guitars by hand and even
played the violin. From 1927 until 1930, González attended Mindoro High School, which is now Jose J.
Leido Jr. Memorial National High School. González attended National University (Manila) for his
undergraduate studies, but he was unable to complete them. González wrote for the Philippine Graphic
while he was living in Manila, and he later edited articles for the Evening News Magazine and the Manila
Chronicle. In 1934, his first poetry was published in Poetry, and his first article was published in the
Philippine Graphic.

Life works
Works

Novel/Poetry

• The Winds of April (1941)

• A Season of Grace (1956)
• The Bamboo Dancers (1988)
• The Land and the Rain
• The Happiest Boy in The World
• Bread of Salt

Short Fiction

• "The Tomato Game".1992

• A Grammar of Dreams and Other Stories. University of the Philippines Press, 1997
• The Bread of Salt and Other Stories. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993;
University of the Philippines Press, 1993
• Mindoro and Beyond: Twenty-one Stories. Quezon City: University of the Philippines
Press, 1981; New Day, 1989
• Selected Stories. Denver, Colorado: Alan Swallow, 1964
• Look, Stranger, on this Island Now. Manila: Benipayo, 1963
• Children of the Ash-Covered Loam and Other Stories. Manila: Benipayo, 1954;
Bookmark Filipino Literary Classic, 1992
• Seven Hills Away. Denver, Colorado: Alan Swallow, 1947
Essays

• A Novel of Justice: Selected Essays 1968–1994. Manila: National Commission for

Culture and the Arts and Anvil (popular edition), 1996
• Work on the Mountain (Includes The Father and the Maid, Essays on Filipino
Life and Letters and Kalutang: A Filipino in the World), University of the Philippines
Press, 1996
Analysis of their famous work
The Winds of April - NVM Gonzalez's autobiographical book The Winds of April won awards at the 1941
Commonwealth Literary Awards, although it did not initially enjoy the same level of success as his other
works. The start of World War II prevented many readers from fully appreciating the literary master's
debut since the wrath of the conflict destroyed most of its copies. Only a select group of libraries and
people had the good fortune to obtain and maintain for themselves the rare copies of Gonzalez's debut
novel. Augusto Espiritu, a scholar of Philippine studies, stated in the text's preface that "The book's
unavailability... has thus far prevented a more thorough examination of Gonzalez's intellectual
background and literary achievements.

Contribution to the Philippine Literature

Gonzalez, a fiction writer, essayist, poet, and teacher, captured the essence of the Filipino people in both
urban and rural settings. He received numerous honors, including the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining in 1990,
the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1960, and the First Commonwealth Literary Contest victory in
1940.