Naming the National Artists for Literature

Edith L. Tiempo, Bienvenido Lumbera, Jose Garcia Villa

Introduction
Overview of the Development of the Philippine
Short Stories in English
Philippine literature has evolved over time due to the
influence of the Americans. This was rooted in the
switch of the medium of instruction from Filipino to
English and the propagation of literary works, both
fiction and nonfiction, written in English. New forms
of literature were introduced, such as free verse,
critical essays, and short stories, which revealed the
writer's individuality and social consciousness. This
lesson will trace back the growth of Filipino short
stories written in English.
 The National Artist or Pambansang Alagad ng
Sining
 A distinction given to a Filipino who excellently contributed to the enrichment of national art
 Given by virtue of the President Proclamation No. 1001 on April 2, 1972
 Honored through a ceremony administered by the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA)
and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)
 The distinction is given as the nation’s expression of gratitude for the artist’s contribution to the
cultural heritage of the country.
 The categories for the field of literature are poetry, fiction, essay, playwriting, journalism, and/or
literary criticism.
 The fields of art include, but are not limited to, the following:

Music
Dance
Theater
Visual arts
Literature
 The benefits given to National Artists include:

 Collars symbolizing their status

 A citation by the incumbent president of the Philippines
 A monthly pension
 A future state funeral and burial
 Acknowledgement in cultural event
Philippine National Artists in Literature: Poetry

Jose Garcia Villa

 On August 5, 1908, Jose Garcia Villa was born in Malate, Manila.
 He is one of the six children of Dr. Simeon Villa and Guia Garcia.
 At the age of 15, Villa was able to publish his first story in the Manila
Times, the oldest existing newspaper in the country.
 Education
•In his second year of law school, he wrote Man Songs, a series of erotic poems, under his nom de plume O.
Sevilla. This work appeared in the Philippines Herald and caused him to be suspended from the UP Writers’
Club. Eventually, he was expelled.
•In 1929, he migrated to the United States. He enrolled at the University of New Mexico where he finished his
B.A. degree and then enrolled for postgraduate studies at Columbia University.

Achievements
•He spent the rest of his life in New York, where he produced poetry and worked as an associate editor, editor, and
lecturer.
•He held private poetry workshops at his Greenwich Village apartment where he was named “Pope of Greenwich
Village.”
•In 1973, he received an honorary doctorate in literature from the University of the Philippines.
•In 1973, he was named as National Artist for Literature.
Writing Style
•Villa is known and remembered as the man who transformed Philippine poetry.
•Reversed consonance rhyme scheme – In this rhyme scheme, the last sounded consonants of the last syllable are
reversed to form the corresponding rhyme.

•Comma poems – These are poems in which a comma is placed after every word.
 Literary Works:
● God Said, “I Made a Man”
● The Way My Ideas Think Me
● Lyric 17
● And If the Heart Can Not
Love
● Be Beautiful, Noble, Like
the Antique Ant
God Said, I Made A Man
God said, "I made a man
Out of clay—
But so bright he, he spun
Himself to brightest Day
Till he was all shining gold,
And oh,
He was lovely to behold!
But in his hands held he a bow
Aimed at me who created
Him. And I said,
‘Wouldst murder me
Who am thy Fountainhead! '
Then spoke he the man of gold:
‘I will not
Murder thee! I do but
Measure thee. Hold
Thy peace.' And this I did.
But I was curious
Of this so regal head.
‘Give thy name! '—‘Sir! Genius.'"
Bievenido Lumbera
 He was born in Lipa on April 11, 1932.
 His parents are Timoteo Lumbera, who was the pitcher of a
local baseball team, and Carmen Lumbera.
 By the age of five, he was an orphan. Eusebia Teru, his
paternal grandmother, took care of him and his older sister.
 After the Japanese occupation, his grandmother died,
making him an orphan again at fourteen.
 At an early age, his teachers discovered his potential in
writing.
Education

He graduated cum laude in 1954 then went back to Lipa and became an English high school
teacher. Later on, he left for an editing job in Olongapo but eventually got fired.
He went back to Manila to study education at the Far Eastern University.
Later on, he pursued further studies in the United States.
He returned to Manila and taught at Holy Ghost College.
 He eventually taught in Ateneo and joined his friend Tinio in the English Department.
Achievements

He was awarded the National Artist for Literature in 2006.

In 2002, the Varsitarian awarded him the Parangal Hagbong.
In 1998, he got the Gawad Cultural Center of the Philippines for the Arts.
Lumbera was a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Journalism, Literature, and Creative
Communications in 1993.
 In 1975, Lumbera’s work, Sunog sa Lipa at Iba Pang Tula, earned him a special prize in
the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.
Literary Works:

● A Eulogy of Roaches

● Agunyas sa Hacienda Luisita

● Ang Ating Bagong Panatang

Makabayan
● Paggunita sa Pamamaslang
● Ka Bel

● The Yaya’s Lullaby

Edith L. Tiempo

 She was born in Bayombong, Nueva

Vizcaya, on April 22, 1919.
 She grew up in various parts of the
Philippines and used these places in
her stories.
 She married Edilberto K. Tiempo, a
Philippine novelist. They have a
daughter and a son.
•She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Silliman University in Dumaguete
City in 1947.
•She received an international writing fellowship from the University of Iowa
and finished her master’s degree in the said university as well.
•In 1958, she earned her doctorate degree from the University of Denver.
•She was a recipient of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.

•usually characterized by a remarkable fusion of craftsmanship and insight, and

substance and style
•described as an intricate verbal transfiguration of significant experiences
•uses language that is “descriptive but unburdened by scrupulous detailing”
Literary Works:

● The Return
● Bonsai