Edith L.

Tiempo
Born
in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines
April 22, 1919

Biography
Edith L. Tiempo, poet, fiction writer, teacher and literary critic is one of the finest Filipino
Writers in English whose works are characterized by a remarkable fusion of style and substance,
of craftsmanship and insight. Her poems are intricate verbal transfigurations of significant
experiences as revealed, in two of her much anthologized pieces, "Lament for the Littlest
Fellow" and "Bonsai." As fictionist, Tiempo is as morally profound. Her language has been
marked as "descriptive but unburdened by scrupulous detailing." She is an influential tradition in
Philippine literature in English.
Works
 A Blade of Fern: A Novel About the  Abide, Joshua and Other Stories
Philippines
 The Builder  The Charmer’s Box: Poetry
 The Tracks of Babylon and Other  His Native Coast
Poems
 The Alien Corn  One, Tilting Leaves: A Novel
 Six Poetry Formats and the  Marginal Annotations and Other
Transforming Image: A Monograph Poems
on Free Verse
Awards
 National Artist Award for Literature in 1999.
Bienvenido L. Lumbera
Born
in Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines
April 11, 1932

Biography
Bienvenido L. Lumbera was born on April 11, 1932. He spent most of his youth in Batangas
until he entered the University of Santo Tomas in 1950 to pursue a degree in journalism. He
completed his M.A. and then his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at Indiana University in 1967.
Lumbera writes in English and Filipino, and has produced works in both languages.

Works
 Philippine Literature: A History and  Mula Tore Patungong Palengke:
Anthology Neoliberal Education in the
Philippines
 Writing the Nation/Pag-akda ng Bansa  Paano Magbasa ng Panitikang
Filipino: Mga Babasahing
Pangkolehiyo
 Filipinos Writing: Philippine  Sa Sariling Bayan: Apat na Dulang
Literature from the Regions May Musika
 Likhang Dila, Likhang Diwa  Revaluation 1997: Essays on
 Tagalog Poetry, 1570-1898: Tradition Philippine Literature, Cinema, and
and Influences in its Development Popular Culture
 Re-Viewing Filipino Cinema
Awards
 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism
 Literature and Creative Communication Arts in 1993
 the Gawad CCP, Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas
Virgilio S. Almario
Born
in Camias, San Miguel, Bulacan, Philippines
March 09, 1944

Biography
Virgilio Senadrin Almario (born March 9, 1944), better known by his pen name Rio Alma, is a
Filipino artist, author, poet, critic, translator, editor, teacher, and cultural manager. ... On January
5, 2017, Almario was also elected as the chairman of the National Commission for Culture and
the Arts (NCCA). Growing up in Bulacan among peasants, Almario sought his education in
Manila and completed his degree in A.B. Political Science at the University of the Philippines. A
prolific writer, he spearheaded the second successful modernist movement in Filipino poetry
together with Rogelio G. Mangahas and Lamberto E. Antonio. His earliest pieces of literary
criticism were collected in Ang Makata sa Panahon ng Makina (1972), now considered the first
book of literary criticism in Filipino. Later, in the years of martial law, he set aside modernism
and formalism and took interest in nationalism, politics and activist movement. As critic, his
critical works deal with the issue of national language.

Works

 Ibong Adarna  Ang Hukuman ni Sinukuan (A Book

in 2 Languages)
 Si Langgam at si Tipaklong  UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino:
Binagong Edisyon
 Si Pilandok sa Pulo ng Pawikan  Sentimental, mga tula ng pag-ibig,
lungkot at paglimot
 Si Pilandok At Ang Mga Buwaya  Panitikan ng Rebolusyon(g 1896):
 Sundalong Patpat Isang Paglingon at Katipunan ng mga
Akda nina Bonifacio at Jacinto
 Mga Biyahe, Mga Estasyon

Awards
 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Poetry in Filipino
 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Essay in Filipino
F. Sionil José
Born
in Rosales, Pangasinan, Philippines

Biography
Francisco Sionil José was born in 1924 in Pangasinan province and attended the public school in
his hometown. He attended the University of Santo Tomas after World War II and in 1949,
started his career in writing. Since then, his fiction has been published internationally and
translated into several languages including his native Ilokano. He has been involved with the
international cultural organizations, notably International P.E.N., the world association of poets,
playwrights, essayists and novelists whose Philippine Center he founded in 1958.
Works
 Dusk (Rosales Saga, #1)  Mass (Rosales Saga, #5)
 Ermita: A Filipino Novel  Gagamba: The Spider Man
 My Brother, My Executioner (Rosales  Ben Singkol
Saga, #3)
 The Pretenders (Rosales Saga, #4)  Viajero (A Filipino Novel)
 Tree (Rosales Saga, #2)  Three Filipino Women

Awards
 In 2001, Sionil José was named National Artist for Literature.
 In 2004, Sionil José received the Pablo Neruda Centennial Award.
Amado V. Hernandez
Born
in Hagonoy, Bulacan, Philippines
Died
March 24, 1970

Biography
Amado Vera Hernandez was born in Hagonoy, Bulacan but grew up Tondo, Manila, where he
studied at the Manila High School and at the American Correspondence School. While being a
reporter, columnist and editor of several newspaper and magazines including Watawat,
Mabuhay, Pilipino, Makabayan and Sampaguita, he also honed his poetic craft. He received the
Republic Cultural Heritage Award, a number of Palancas and an award from the National Press
Club for his journalistic achievements.
Works
 Mga Ibong Mandaragit  Bullets and Roses: The Poetry of
Amado V. Hernandez: A Bilingual
Edition
 Luha ng Buwaya  Amado V. Hernandez: Tudla at
Tudling : Katipunan ng mga
Nalathalang Tula 1921-1970
 Langaw sa Isang Basong Gatas at Iba  Rice Grains
Pang Kuwento
 Isang Dipang Langit: Katipunan ng  Fly in a Glass of Milk
mga tula ni Amado V. Hernandez
 Magkabilang Mukha ng Isang Bagol
at Iba Pang Akda: Koleksyon ng mga
Dula at Sanaysay

Awards
 National Artist of the Philippines for Literature
 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for One-act Play in Filipino
Alejandro R. Roces
Born
in Manila, Philippines
July 13, 1924
Died
May 23, 2011
Biography
Alejandro Reyes Roces was a Filipino author, essayist, dramatist and a National Artist of the
Philippines for literature. He served as Secretary of Education from 1961 to 1965, during the
term of Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal. Noted for his short stories, the Manila-born
Roces was married to Irene Yorston Viola (granddaughter of Maximo Viola), with whom he had
a daughter, Elizabeth Roces-Pedrosa. Anding attended elementary and high school at the Ateneo
de Manila University, before moving to the Arizona State University for his tertiary education.
He graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts and, not long after, attained his M.A. from Far Eastern
University back in the Philippines.
Works
 Something to Crow About: Short  Quezon: Paladin of Philippine
Stories Freedom
 Philippine PEN Anthology of Short  Art in the Philippines
Stories 1962
 Letters Between Rizal and Family  The Best Philippine Short Stories of
Members 1876 - 1896 the Twentieth Century
 Looking Back in Anger  Celebrations: A Culinary Feast From
the Roces-Reyes Table

Awards
 National Artist of the Philippines
Rolando S. Tinio
Born
in Tondo, Philippines
March 05, 1937
Died
July 07, 1997
Biography
Rolando Tinio is a Philippine National Artist for Theater and Literature. He was born in
Gagalangin, Tondo, Manila on March 5, 1937. As a child, Tinio was fond of organizing and
directing his playmates for costumed celebrations. He was an active participant in the Filipino
movie industry and enjoyed working with Philippine celebrities who he himself had admired in
his childhood. Tinio himself became a film actor and scriptwriter. He is often described as a
religious, well-behaved and gifted person. Tinio graduated with honors (a "magna cum laude"
achiever) with a degree in Philosophy from the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas
at age 18 in 1955 and an M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing:Poetry from the State University of
Iowa.
Works
 May Katwiran ang Katwiran at iba  Mga Tula 1965-1989
pang Dula
 A Trick of Mirrors: Selected Poems in  Soltero
English and Tagalog
 Kristal Na Uniberso  Ikalabindalawang Gabi
 A Matter Of Language: Where  Makbet
English Fails  Ang Trahedya nina Romeo at Julieta
 Poems of Rolando S. Tinio, Jose F.
Lacaba & Rio Alma

Awards
 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for One-act Play
 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Poetry
 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for One-act Play in Filipino
 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Poetry in Filipino
 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Essay in Filipino
 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Full-length Play
 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Screenplay in Filipino
Francisco Arcellana
Born
in Sta. Cruz, Manila, Philippines
September 06, 1916
Died
August 01, 2002

Biography
Francisco Arcellana (Zacarias Eugene Francisco Quino Arcellana) aka Frank V. Born on
September 6, 1916 in Sta. Cruz Manila, he is the fourth of 18 children of Jose Arcellana y
Cabaneiro and Epifanio Quino. He is married to Emerenciana Yuvienco with whom he has six
children, one of whom, Juaniyo is an essayist, poet and fictionist. He received his first schooling
in Tondo. The idea of writing occurred to him at the Tondo Intermediate School but it was at the
Manila West High School (later Torres High School) that he took up writing actively as staff
member of The Torres Torch, the school organ.
Works
 The Mats  The Essential Arcellana
 Philippine PEN Anthology of Short  Through A Glass, Darkly
Stories 1962
 Favorite Arcellana Stories  The mats
 The Francisco Arcellana Sampler  Children of the Ash-Covered Loam
(Philippine Writers Series)  My Favorite 11 Plays
 Selected Stories

Awards
 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Short Story
Carlos Quirino
Born
in Philippines
January 14, 1910
Died
May 20, 1999

Biography
Carlos Felix Lozada Quirino (January 14, 1910 - May 20, 1999) was a Filipino biographer,
historian and cultural administrator, has the distinction of having written one of the earliest
biographies of Jose Rizal titled The Great Malayan. Quirino's books and articles span the whole
gamut of Philippine history and culture--from Bonifacio's trial to Aguinaldo's biography, from
Philippine cartography to culinary arts, from cash crops to tycoons and president's lives, among
so many subjects. In 1997, President Fidel Ramos created historical literature as a new category
in the National Artist Awards and Quirino was its first recipient. He made a record earlier on
when he became the very first Filipino correspondent for the United Press Institute.

Works
 The Great Malayan  Manuel L. Quezon
 Old Manila  Juan Luna (Great Lives Series)
 Amang, The Life And Times Of  Quezon: Paladin of Philippine
Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr Freedom
 Philippine Cartography 1320-1899  Magsaysay of the Philippines
 Domingo Franco Patriot and Martyr of  The First Filipino
the Philippine Revolution

Awards
 National Artists of the Philippines
Jose Garcia Villa
Born
in Singalong, Manila, Philippines
August 05, 1908
Died
February 07, 1997

Biography
Jose Garcia Villa was a Filipino poet, literary critic, short story writer, and painter. He was
awarded the National Artist of the Philippines title for literature in 1973, as well as the
Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by Conrad Aiken. He is known to have introduced
the "reversed consonance rime scheme" in writing poetry, as well as the extensive use of
punctuation marks—especially commas, which made him known as the Comma Poet. He used
the penname Doveglion (derived from "Dove, Eagle, Lion"), based on the characters he derived
from himself. These animals were also explored by another poet e.e. cummings in Doveglion,
Adventures in Value, a poem dedicated to Villa.

Works
 Doveglion: Collected Poems  Mir-i-nisa 
 Footnote to Youth: Tales of the  Selected Poems and New 
Philippines and Others
 the emperor's new sonnet  55 Poems 
 The Anchored Angel: Selected  The Parlement of Giraffes: Poems for 
Writings by Jose Garcia Villa Children - Eight to Eighty 
 55 Poems: Selected and translated into  The Critical Villa: Essays in Literary
Tagalog by Hilario S. Francia Criticism

Awards
 National Artist of the Philippines for Literatur
 Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada
Francisco Arcellana
Born
September 6, 1916, Manila

Died
September 6, 1916

Biography
Francisco "Franz" Arcellana (September 6, 1916 – August 1, 2002) was a Filipino writer, poet,
essayist, critic, journalist and teacher. He was born on September 6, 1916. Arcellana already had
ambitions of becoming a writer early in his childhood. His actual writing, however, started when
he became a member of The Torres Torch Organization during his high school years. Arcellana
continued writing in various school papers at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Later on
he received a Rockefeller Grant and became a fellow in Creative Writing at the University of
Iowa and at the Breadloaf Writers' Conference from 1956– 1957.
Works
 Selected Stories (1963)
 Poetry and Politics: The State of Original Writing in English in the Philippines
Today (1979)
 The Francisco Arcellana Sampler (1991).

Awards
 National Artist of the Philippines
Cirilo Bautista
Born
July 9, 1941
Manila, Commonwealth of the Philippines

Died
May 6, 2018 (aged 76)

Biography
Bautista was born in Manila on July 9, 1941 and spent his childhood in Balic-Balic, Sampaloc
He received his basic education from Legarda Elementary School (1st Honorable Mention, 1954)
and Victorino Mapa High School (Valedictorian, 1959). He received his degrees in
AB Literature from the University of Santo Tomas (magna cum laude, 1963),
MA Literature from St. Louis University, Baguio (magna cum laude, 1968), and Doctor of Arts
in Language and Literature from De La Salle University-Manila (1990). He received a
fellowship to attend the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa (1968–1969)
Bautista taught creative writing and literature at St. Louis University (1963–1968) and
the University of Santo Tomas (1969–1970) before moving to De La Salle University-Manila in
1970. He is also a co-founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council (PLAC) and a
member of the Manila Critics Circle, Philippine Center of International PEN and the Philippine
Writers Academy.
Works
 Summer suns (with Albert Casuga,  Words And Battlefields: A Theoria
1963) On The Poem (1998)
 The Cave and Other Poems (1968)  The Estrella D. Alfon Anthology Vol.
I – Short Stories (2000)
 Stories (1990)  Kirot Ng Kataga (1995),
 Galaw ng Asoge (2004)  Sunlight On Broken Stones (2000)
 Breaking Signs (1990)  The Trilogy Of Saint Lazarus (2001)

Awards
 Hall of Fame of the Palanca Awards Foundation for achievements in the field of
literature, 1995. This is given to Filipino writers who have distinguished themselves
by winning at least five First Prizes in the Palanca Literary Contests.
 Included in The Traveller’s Guide to Asian Literature, 1993.
 Gawad Balagtas in 1997 by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas for Bautista's
achievements as a poet, fictionist, and critic.
Nick Joaquin
Born
May 4, 1917
Paco, Manila, Philippines

Died
April 29, 2004 (aged 86)
San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines

Biography
Nicomedes "Nick" Márquez Joaquín (May 4, 1917 – April 29, 2004) was a Filipino writer and
journalist best known for his short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote
using the pen name Quijano de Manila. Joaquín was conferred the rank and title of National
Artist of the Philippines for Literature. He has been considered one of the most important
Filipino writers, along with José Rizal and Claro M. Recto. Unlike Rizal and Recto, whose
works were written in Spanish, Joaquin's major works were written in English despite being a
native Spanish speaker.
Works
 The House On Zapote Street (1960)  Reportage on Lovers (1977)
 Prose and Poems (1952)  Reportage on the Marcoses (1979)
 Tropical Gothic (1972)  Cave and Shadows (1983)
 Ronnie Poe & Other Silhouettes (1977)  The Woman Who had Two
 Reportage on Crime (1977) Navels (1961)
 A Portrait of the Artist as
Filipino (1966)

Awards

 José García Villa's Honor Roll (1940)

 Philippines Free Press Short Story Contest (1949)
 Ten Most Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM), Awardee for Literature
(1955)
 , U.S.) writing fellowshipDon Carlos Palanca Memorial Literary Awards (1957–1958;
1965; 1976)
 Harper Publishing Company (New Y
 Republic Cultural Heritage Award (1961)
 ork Stonehill Award for the Novel (1960
Miguel Syjuco
Born
Manila, Philippines

Biography
Miguel Syjuco earned a master’s degree from Columbia University and is completing his PhD at
the University of Adelaide, Australia. He received the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize and the
Philippines’ highest literary honor, the Palanca Award, for the unpublished manuscript of
Ilustrado. Born in 1976 into a political family in Manila, Syjuco left the Philippines to become a
writer. He currently lives in Montreal with his girlfriend and their two cats.
Works
 lustrado
 The Picador Book of 40: 40 Writers Inspired by a Number
 Here
 Finding the Words: Writers on Inspiration, Desire, War, Celebrity, Exile, and Breaking
the Rules
 Histoire et Mémoire (Jentayu, #7)

Awards

 Man Asian Literary Prize

 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Novel in English