FILIPINO

CONTEMPORARY
WRITERS
1.Emmanuel Agapito Flores Lacaba
(December 10, 1948 – March 18, 1976),
popularly known as Eman Lacaba.
• a Filipino writer, poet, essayist,
playwright, fictionist, scriptwriter,
songwriter and activist
• he is considered as the only poet
warrior of the Philippines.
• Lacaba was killed on March 18, 1976 in Tucaan
Balaag, Asuncion, Davao de Norte .

• He was set to go back shortly to the city for a

new assignment that would have used his
writing skills, and had even agreed to write a
script for Lino Brocka once he got back there.

• He was 27 years old.[1]

Works

• He wrote the lyrics of "Awit ni Kuala", the

song sung by Lolita Rodriguez in the classic
Lino Brocka masterpiece 'Tinimbang Ka
Ngunit Kulang '.
• He composed new revolutionary lyrics in
Cebuano for some well-known folk songs.
2.FERNANDO M. MARAMAG(1893-1936)
Poet and Journalist
He died on October 23, 1936.
• Excellent poet and journalist in English.
• He had a rich style and deep understanding of
human nature – qualities which made his poetry
appealing to all readers.
• his editorial writings “exerted great influence on
the various phases
• of the Filipino way of life, particularly in its
government, economics, education and politics,”
 He was born on January 21, 1893 in Ilagan, Isabela,
to Rafael Maramag and Victoria Mamuri, a Spanish
mestiza.
 His parents were wealthy landowners.
 At UP he started writing for the school organ.
 A brilliant student, he later became its editor-in-
chief.
 Among his equally brilliant classmates, were Pilar
Hidalgo-Lim and Jose Hilario.
 Together, they managed the school newspaper.
 At age 21, he was named principal of the Instituto de
Manila, a prestigious school for gifted and well-off
students.
 He became an English professor at UP.
 He also taught at San Juan de Letran.
 During this time, he met and married Constancia
Ablaza, by whom he had six children.
 In 1917, he became the editor of Rising Philippines, a
daily read by almost every literate Filipino because of
its nationalistic contests.
With his credentials, he started to work in the
government as chief of the publications division of the
Department of Justice.
He became technical assistant to then Senate President
Manuel Luis Quezon.

He published countless poems which were devoured

and admired by the reading
public,
1“My Queen Tagala,” 2“The Atheist,” 3“A Christ

Without a Cross,” 4“Jose Rizal,” and

5“ThePresentation.”
3.Leona Florentino (April 19, 1849-October 4, 1884)
=Vigan, Ilocos Sur,
-a Filipino poet in the Spanish and Ilocano languages.
-considered as the "mother of Philippine women's
literature" and the "bridge from oral to literary
tradition".
-married a politician named Elias de los Reyes at the
age of 14.
-Their son Isabelo de los Reyes later became a Filipino
writer, activist and senator.
-She died at the age of 35.
Works
Lyrical poetry in Spanish, and especially that in
Ilocano, gained attention in various international
forums in Spain, Paris and St. Louis, Missouri.

Her literary contributions - particularly 22 preserved

poems - were recognized when she was included in the
Encyclopedia Internationale des Oeuvres des Femmes
(International Encyclopedia of Women’s Works) in
1889. She is believed to be the first Filipina to receive
this international recognition, an homage that
occurred after her death at a young age.
4. Alfred Yuson
Born on 23 February 1945 in Manila . (Also known as
Krip Yuson.) He has authored 23 books, including
novels, poetry collections, short fiction, essays, and
children's stories.
 a founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts
Council (PLAC)Creative Writing Foundation, Inc.
 Chairman of Writers Union of the Philippines .
His bibliography includes the potry collections:
 Sea Serpent, (Monsoon Press, 1980),
 Trading in Mermaids (Anvil Publishing, Inc., 1993),
 Mothers Like Elephants (Anvil Publishing, Inc.,
2000) Hairtrigger Loves:
 50 Poems on Woman (University of the Philippines
Press, 2002), and
 the translation, Love's A Vice/ Bisyo ang Pag-ibig:
Translations into English of 60 Poems by mike L.
Birgonia (National Commission for Culture at the
Arts, 2004).
• He also teaches fiction and poetry at Ateneo de
Manila University.
• His two novels, The Great Philippine Jungle Café
and Voyeurs and Savages are studies of Philippine
culture.
• He also teaches fiction and poetry at Ateneo de
Manila University.
• His two novels, The Great Philippine Jungle Café
and Voyeurs and Savages are studies of Philippine
culture.
5.Ado Vinuya (born in Manila in 1930).
 He studied in the University of Santo Tomas
and the Far Eastern University.
 He served as editor and public information
officer of the Manila Health Department.
 A versatile worker, he has also been a laborer,
sanitary inspector, laboratory technician,
clerk, and radio announcer.

He has a poetry collection, with preface written

by Carlos P. Romulo, entitled Pregnant Woman
and Other Poems (1968).
6.Norman Wilwayco
• aside from being a multiple Palanca award winner
(one being the prestigious Grand Prize for the novel
in 2002),
• plays bass for a rock and roll band and designs
multimedia web sites.
• He also writes for Filmless Films.
• He previously wrote for the popular television show
Batibot and has contributed articles to Liwayway,
Manila Times and Inquirer.
• He was a fellow of the UP Writers Workshop and won
the first prize in the Amado Hernandez Award for
Literature in 1999.
7.Gregorio Aglipay Cruz y Labayan (Latin:
Gregorius Aglipay; 5 May 1860 – 1 September
1940)

• a former Roman Catholic priest who became

the first Filipino Supreme Bishop of the
Philippine Independent Church.
• a Christian Protestant sect in the form of a
national church in the country.
• He was also a political activist who became
acquainted with Isabelo de los Reyes, who
would start a Protestant church named after
Aglipay in 1902.
• excommunicated by Archbishop of Manila
Bernardino Norzaleda y Villa on May 1899,
upon the epermission of Pope Leo XIII.
• married Pilar Jamias y Ver from Sarrat, Ilocos
Norte in 1939 and then died one year later.
Followers of Aglipay through the Philippine
Independent Church .
8.Naya S. Valdellon
• grew up in Manila, Philippines and has worked as a
magazine editorial assistant, freelance copy editor,
content writer for a website design company, and
literature and writing composition teacher.
• She graduated in 2002 with a BFA in Creative
Writing from the Ateneo de Manila University,
where she was Associate Editor of Heights -- the
university's official literary publication.
• She was a fellow for poetry in English in the 38th UP
National Writers Workshop (2001) and the 41st
Dumaguete National Writers Workshop (2002).
9. Ana Maria Villanueva-Lykes
• A BS computer science degree holder, discovered
the world of words only five years ago.
• she has been published in The Philippines Free
Press, Philippine Graphic, Reader's Digest, and
several collections and anthologies.
• She trained with the Philippine Daily Inquirer for
two years before she moved on to other
publications.
• She currently works as editor-in-chief for Asian
Traveler Magazine and La Salle 's Rektikano
Magazine.
• Her novel, Caracol, earned her an outstanding
thesis award for her MFA(Master of Fine Arts)
degree in Creative Writing at De La Salle
University in 2008.
• She is a fellow of the 7 th Iyas Creative Writing
Workshop and the 44 th U.P. National Writers
Workshop.