Philippine literature in English

Philippine literature in English has its roots in the efforts of the United States, then engaged in a war with Filipino nationalist forces at the end of the 19th century.
By 1901, public education was institutionalized in the
Philippines, with English serving as the medium of instruction. That year, around 600 educators in the S.S.
Thomas (the "Thomasites") were tasked to replace the
soldiers who had been serving as the rst teachers. Outside the academe, the wide availability of reading materials, such as books and newspapers in English, helped
Filipinos assimilate the language quickly. Today, 78.53%
of the population can understand or speak English (see
List of countries by English-speaking population).

conscious writers, intensifying their debate with those in

the art for arts sake school of Villa.
Among the signicant publications of this fertile period
were:
Filipino Poetry (1924) by Rodolfo Dato;
English-German Anthology of Filipino Poets (1934)
by Pablo Laslo;
Jose Garcia Villas Many Voices (1939) and Poems
of Doveglion (1941);
Poems (1940) by Angela Manalang-Gloria;
Chorus for America: Six Philippine Poets (1942) by
Carlos Bulosan;

The Commonwealth Period

Zoilo Galangs A Child of Sorrow (1921), the rst

Filipino novel in English, and Box of Ashes and
Other Stories (1925), the rst collection of stories
in book form;

The founding of Silliman University by Presbyterian missionaries and the Philippine Normal School (PNS) in
1901 and the University of the Philippines (U.P.) in 1908,
as well as of English newspapers like the Daily Bulletin
1900, The Cablenews 1902, and the Philippines Free Press
1905, helped boost English usage. The rst ten years of
the century witnessed the rst verse and prose eorts of
Filipinos in student publications such as The Filipino Students Magazine rst issue, 1905, a short-lived quarterly
published in Berkeley, California, by Filipino pensionados (or government scholars); the U.P. College Folio (rst
issue, 1910); The Coconut of the Manila High School
(rst issue, 1912); and The Torch of the PNS (rst issue,
1913).

Villas Footnote to Youth: Tales of the Philippines

and Others (1933);
The Wound and the Scar (1937) by Arturo Rotor,
a collection of stories;
Winds of April (1940) by N. V. M. Gonzalez;
His Native Soil (1941) by Juan C. Laya;
Manuel Arguillas How My Brother Leon Brought
Home a Wife and Other Stories (1941);

However, the beginnings of anything resembling a professional market for writing in English would not be realized
until the 1920s with the founding of other newspapers
and magazines like the Philippines Herald in 1920, the
Philippine Education Magazine in 1924 (renamed Philippine Magazine in 1928), and later the Manila Tribune,
the Graphic, Womans Outlook, and Womans Home Journal. The publications helped introduce the reading public to the works of Paz Marquez Benitez, Jose Garcia
Villa, Loreto Paras, and Casiano Calalang, among others. Cash incentives were given to writers in 1921 when
the Free Press started to pay for published contributions
and awarded P1,000 for the best stories. The organization in 1925 of the Philippine Writers Association and
in 1927 of the University of the Philippines National
Writers Workshop, which put out the Literary Apprentice, also helped encourage literary production. In 1939,
the Philippine Writers League was put up by politically

Galangs Life and Success (1921), the rst volume

of essays in English; and
the inuential Literature and Society (1940) by
Salvador P. Lpez.
Dramatic writing took a backseat due to the popularity
of Filipino vaudeville (bodabil) and Tagalog movies, although it was kept alive by the playwright Wilfredo Ma.
Guerrero.

2 The Post-war period

During the Japanese occupation, when Tagalog was favored by the Japanese military authority, writing in English was consigned to limbo, since most of the English
1

writers were forced to write in Tagalog or joined in the

underground and wrote English stories based on the battles to serve as propaganda pieces in boosting the morale
of the guerrillas. It picked up after the war, however,
with a fervor and drive for excellence that continue to
this day. Stevan Javellanas Without Seeing the Dawn
(1947), the rst postwar novel in English, was published
in the United States. In 1946, the Barangay Writers
Project was founded to help publish books in English..

CONTEMPORARY WRITERS

3 Literary awards and competitions

In 1940, the rst Commonwealth Literary Awards were

given by President Manuel L. Quezon to Salvador P.
Lopez for Literature and Society (essay), Manuel Arguilla for How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife
and Other Stories (short story), R. Zulueta da Costa for
Like the Molave (poetry), and Juan C. Laya for His NaAgainst a background marked by political unrest and gov- tive Soil (novel).
ernment battles with Hukbalahap guerrillas, writers in
English in the postwar period honed their sense of craft Government recognition of literary merit came in the
and techniques. Among the writers who came into their form of the Republic Cultural Heritage Awards (1960),
the Pro Patria Awards for Literature (1961), and the
own during this time were, among many others:
National Artist Awards (1973). Only the last of these
three awards survives today. Writers in English who have
Carlos Bulosan
received the National Artist award include: Jose Garcia Villa (1973), Nick Joaquin (1976), Carlos P. Romulo
Linda Ty Casper
(1982), Francisco Arcellana (1990), N. V. M. Gonzalez,
Gilda Cordero-Fernando
Rolando Tinio (1997), Edith L. Tiempo, (2000), F. Sionil
Jos (2003), and Bienvenido Lumbera (2006).
Amador Daguio
Ricaredo Serrano
N. V. M. Gonzalez

A select group of local writers have also received the

international Magsaysay Award, namely, F. Sionil Jos,
Nick Joaquin and Bienvenido Lumbera.

Sinai C. Hamada
Alejandrino Hufana
Dominador Ilio
Nick Joaquin
F. Sionil Jos
Virginia Moreno
Peter Solis Nery
Vicente Rivera Jr.
Alejandro R. Roces
Bienvenido Santos
Abelardo and Tarrosa Subido
Edilberto K. Tiempo
Kerima Polotan Tuvera
Manuel A. Viray
Raul Rafael R. Ingles
Oscar de Zuiga
Fresh from studies in American universities, usually as
Fulbright or Rockefeller scholars, a number of these writers introduced New Criticism to the country and applied
its tenets in literature classes and writing workshops. In
this way were born the Silliman National Writers Workshop.

4 Contemporary Writers
Despite the lack of a professional writers market, poetry
and ction in English continue to thrive and be written
with sophistication and insight. Among the ctionists of
recent years are:
Dean Francis Alfar
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Linda Ty Casper
Ian Casocot
Erwin Castillo
Jose Dalisay, Jr.
Buenaventura S. Medina Jr.
Antonio Enriquez
Eric Gamalinda
Vicente Garcia Groyon
Amadis Ma. Guerrero
F. Sionil Jos
Luis Joaquin Katigbak
Ma. Francezca Kwe
Angelo Rodriguez Lacuesta

3
Susan Lara

J. Neil C. Garcia

Jaime An Lim

Ramil Digal Gulle

Issh Gajo

Ma. Luisa Igloria

Carmelo S.J. Juinio

Mookie Katigbak

Rosario Cruz Lucero

Marne Kilates

Renato Madrid

Emmanuel Lacaba

Jesus Q. Cruz

Paolo Manalo

Resil Mojares

Peter Solis Nery

Timothy Montes

Danton Remoto

Peter Solis Nery

Angelo Suarez

Wilfredo Nolledo
Charlson Ong
Ninotchka Rosca
Menchu Aquino Sarmiento
Lakambini Sitoy
Katrina Tuvera
Alfred A. Yuson
Jessica Zafra
Poets include:

Ramon Sunico
Juaniyo Arcellana
Anthony Tan
Joel Toledo
Emmanuel Torres
Naya Valdellon
Edwin Cordevilla
Clovis Nazareno

5 See also

Jolico Cuadra

Literature of the Philippines

Luis Francia

Philippine literature in Spanish

Gemino Abad

Philippine Literature in Filipino and/or other

Philippine languages

Alexis Abola
Merlie Alunan

Philippine English

Cirilo Bautista

List of countries where English is an ocial language

Salvador Bernal

List of countries by English-speaking population

Hilario Francia
Jos Wendell Capili
Elsa Coscoluella
Ricardo de Ungria
Lourd Ernest De Veyra
Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta
Simeon Dumdum, Jr.
Federico Licsi Espino Jr.
Marjorie Evasco

6 References
De Ungria, Ricardo M. Philippine Literature in English
Quindoza-Santiago, Dr. Lilia. Philippine Literature during the American Period Retrieved August
26, 2005.
Enriquez, Amee R. The Writers Life : The Chick
Who Writes Chick Lit Patron Ida Yap, Interactive
Reading- Responding to and Writing about Philippine Literature

External links
Summit Books home page
Linh Dinh interviewing Marianne Villanueva about
*contemporary Philippine poetry

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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