MODULE 6: THE NATIONAL ARTISTS OF

THE PHILIPPINES FOR LITERATURE

•Philippine Literature is a rich group of

literary works that has developed along
with the country’s history.
It is a diverse, although some of the most
famous literary works focus on the
country’s postcolonial heritage, politics,
and modern traditions.
It is composed not only of works written
in and Filipino but also of works in
different regional languages.
•The Philippine has a rich collection of fables,
legends and myths from the different regions.
•The babaylan,the early healers, used chants
to please the supernatural beings or spirits to
bestow good health and fortune in the home
and the fields.
•When the Spaniards came in the 16 th

century, they introduced Christianity to the

islands and used literature to colonize the
country.
•During the time of the Americans, English
was introduced and Filipinos have grown
adept in the usage of the language. Today,
contemporary writers are expending the
horizon of reality and imagination in their
works to reflect the Filipino spirit.
NATIONAL ARTISTS
FOR LITERATURE
FRANCISCO ARCELLANA

1916- 2002
YEAR OF
CONFERMENT
: 1990
•He is one of the greatest Filipino poets in
his generation.
•He studied in Tondo Intermediate School.
However, it was at the Manila West High
School (which was later named the
Florentino Torres High School) that he
took up his writing seriously and became a
staff ,ember of The Torres Torch, the school
organ. While still a student at Florentino
Torres High School, he wrote his first story,
“The Man Who Would Be Poe.”
•Arcellana is considered as one of the
pioneers of modern Filipino short story in
English. His short stories are written in
lyrical prose-poetic form.
•Arcellana’s exceptional works in fiction
include “Death in a Factory, ”A Clown
Remembers,” and “Divided by Two”
•Some of his poems include “The Other
Woman, “To Touch You,” and “I Touched
Her,” which are among others are now part
of the secondary and tertiary-level syllabi
in the country.
NESTOR VICENTE MADALI GONZALES

• 1915-1999

• YEAR OF
CONFERMENT:
1997
•He was born on September 08, 1915 in the
beautiful province on Romblon.
•In 1948, N.V.M. Gonzales received a
Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, which
allowed him to study in Stanford University
and Columbia University.
•He is famed poet, short story writer,
essayist, professor, and recipient of
numerous recognitions.
•Two years before hos death, he was
proclaimed as a National Artist for
Literature.
•Some of his famous works are the
following: The Winds on April (1941), A
Season of Grace (1956), and The
Bamboo Dancers (1988).
•His exemplary works have been
published in several languages
including Filipino, English, Chinese,
German, Russian and Indonesian.
NICK JOAQUIN

• 1917-2004

• YEAR OF
CONFERMENT
: 1976
•Nick Joaquin’s worked are prolific and
unparalleled.
•He is considered by many as the people’s
writer because his passion for writing
embraced the manifold being of Filipinos.
•Nick Joaquin’s first short story dealt with the
vaudeville of Manila, “The Sorrows of
Vaudeville,” published in 1937 by the
Sunday Tribune Magazine.
•He worked as a journalist for most of his
life, pioneering literary journalism.
•Literary journalism is the reportage of
actual events that employs literary
techniques.
• he became national artist in 1976.
•Some of his renowned works are The Woman
Who Had Two Navels, A Portrait of the Artist
as Filipino: An Elegy in three Scenes, Manila,
My Manila: A History of the Young, The
Ballad of the Five Battles, Rizal in Saga: A
life for the Students Fans, Almanac for
Manileňos, and Cave and Shadows.
•Nick Joaquin used the pen name
Quijano de Manila for some of his
works.
FRANCISCO SIONÍL JOSÉ

• 1924-

• YEAR OF
CONFERMENT:
2001
•He is a Filipino writer whose works have
ben translated in more than 20 languages.
•His literary works represent the social
underpinnings of class struggles and
colonialism in the society.
•One of his popular novels, The
Pretenders, is the story of one man’s
separation from his poor background and
the dissipation of his wife’s prosperous
family.
•Perhaps his most famous work is the
Rosales Saga that includes The
pretenders, Tree, My Brother, My
Executioner, Mass and Po-on.
•The Rosales Saga “captures the sweep of
Philippine history while simultaneously
narrating the lives of generations of the
Samsons whose personal lives intertwine
with the social struggles of the nation.”
•José was the founder of the Philippine
chapter of the international organization
PEN. In 1999, he was awarded the CCP
Centennial Honors for the Arts.
JOSÉ GARCÍA VILLA

• 1908-1997

• YEAR OF
CONFERMENT
: 1973
•In the20 th century, José García Villa is
considered as a powerful powerful literary
influence in the country. Many people
think that his personality and writing style
are eccentric.
•If you will study Villa’s work, you will
notice his in use in comma in every word.
Villa described this style as similar to
Seurat’s architectonic and measured
pointillism.
•Pointillism is a painting technique in
which the artist uses small, distinct
dots of pure color to create an image.
•Villa’s first collection of short stories
was published under the title Footnote
to Youth: Tales of the Philippines and
Others in 1944.
•His poetry collections include Doveglion:
Collected Poems, Poems 55, and poems in
Praise of Love: The Best Love Poems of
Jose Garcia Villa.
•Doveglion is José García Villa’s
pseudonym.
EDITH L. TIEMPO
*1919-2011 *YEAR OF CONFERMENT: 1999
•Her literary works are often described as a
remarkable fusion of style and substance.
This brilliant writer received several
awards during her lifetime.
•She received the greatest honor as a
National Artist for Literature in 1999 and
a recipient of the Carlos Palanca
Memorial Awards for Literature for the
short story “The Black Monkey” in 1951.
•Her works include the following novels: A
Blade Of Fern (1978), The Native Coast
(1979), and The Alien Corn (1992).
•Her poetry collections include The Tracks of
Babylon and Other Poems (1966) and The
Charmer’s Box and Other Poems (1993).
•Together with her husband, fictionist and
novelist Edilberto K. Tiempo, she founded
the Silliman University National Writers
Workshop which was modeled after the
Iowa Writers Workshop in the University
of Iowa.
•The Silliman University Writers Workshop
is Asia’s longest running writer’s workshop
held in the city of Dumaguete.
•A writer’s workshop is devoted to helping
emerging writers cultivate their craft.
VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO

• 1944-

• YEAR OF
CONFERMENT:
2003
•Also known as Rio Alma, Virgilio s,
Almario is a Filipino poet and historian.
•He was born on March 9, 1944 in San
Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan.
•He has translated for theater production
some of the famous plays Nick Joaquin
and international literary artists such as
Bertolt Brecht and Maxim Gorki.
.
•His translations of Jose Rizal’s Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo were
considered by the Manila Critics Circle
as the best version.
•His poetry include Makinasyon,
Peregrinasyon, the trilogy Doktrinang
Anakpawis, Mga Retrato at Rekwerdo,
and Muli, sa Kandungan ng Lupa.
AMADO V. HERNÁNDEZ

• 1903-1970

• YEAR OF
CONFERMENT:
1973
•This courageous Filipino writer was well-
known for his disapproval of social
injustices in the country.
•He was later imprisoned for his
participation in the communist movement.
•He firmly believed that writers plays an
important role in society, acting “as the
conscience of society and to affirm the
greatness of the human spirit in the face of
inequity and oppression”
•He wrote his novel Mga Ibong Mandaragit
while in prison. Other notable works by Amado
V. Hernández include the following: Bayang
Malaya, Isang Dipang Langit, Luha ng Buwaya,
Tudla at Tudling: Katipunan ng mga
Nalathalang Tula 1921-1970, Langaw sa Isang
Basong
CARLOS P. RÓMULO

• 1898-1985

• Year of
conferment:
1982
•He was an envoy, statesman, soldier,
correspondent, writer and founder the Boy
Scouts of the Philippines.
•He was already a reporter by the young age
of 16, and became a publisher at 32.
•He was the only Asian to be awarded a
Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for a series
of articles forecasting the outbreak of the
World War II.
•His body of work includes the following:
The United (a novel), I Walked with Heroes
(an autobiography), I Saw the Fall of the
Philippines, Mother America, and I Seethe
Philippines Rise (war-time memoirs).
•With countless years of service in the
United Nations (UN) and the Philippine
government, he was able to write Forty
Years: A Third World Soldier at the UN and
The Philippine President, his record of hos
encounters with the country’s leaders.
CARLOS L. QUIRINO

• 1910-1999

• Year of
Conferment:
1997
•Carlos L. Quirino is one of the most talented
biographers of his time. He was the first Filipino
to be recognized as the National Artist in
Historical Literature in 1997.
•Quirino obtained his journalism degree from the
University of Wisconsin at Madison in in 1931.
•He wrote Man of Destiny (1935), a biography
about second president of the Philippines,
Manuel L. Quezon.. This book is a valuable
addition to Philippine literature, as its subject
was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant
leaders of the country.
•Quirino then spent some of his years
working as an assistant to President Elpidio
Quirino, who helped him study law until he
passed the bar in 1940. most of Quirino’s
topics covered war, politics, art, business
and agriculture.
ALEJÁNDRO R. ROCES

• 1924-2011

• Year of
Conferment:
2003
•Alejandro R, Roces was an exceptional
writer of comic short stories.
•One of his finest literary works is “My
Brother’s Peculiar Chicken”. It is a short
story that reveals how much people
perceive things around them.
•This particular story have won an
award in the University of Arizona and
was listed in Martha Foley’s Best
American Short Stories.
•Roces also wrote several newspaper
columns. He has always focused on the
derelict aspects of the country’s cultural
heritage. His works have been published in
a variety of international publications.
•Roces is also a multi-awarded writer,
receiving honors and recognitions
including the Rizal Pro Patria Award and
the Gawad CCP para sa Sining.
LÁZARO FRANCISCO
*1898-1980 *YEAR OF CONFERMENT: 2009
•Lázaro Francisco is considered to be an
icon in Tagalog writing through his
nationalist and social criticisms.
•In 1958, he founded the Kapatiran ng mga
Alagad ng Wikang Pilipino (KAWIKA).
•His works include the novels Binhi at
Bunga, Cesar, Ama, Bayang
Nagpatiwakal, Sa Paanan ng Krus, Ang
Pamana ng Pulubi, and Bago Lumubog
ang Araw.
•He also wrote short stories including
“Deo,” “Ang Beterano,” “Ang Idolo,” and
“Kapulungan ng mga Pinagpala”.
•In 1979, the Ateneo de Manila University
awarded Francisco the Tanglaw ng Lahi
Award for his works.
BIENVENIDO LUMBERA
*1932- *YEAR OF CONFERMENT: 2006
•Bienvenido Lumbera is an award-winning poet,
librettist, and scholar. He published numerous
literary and creative works including Likhang Dila,
Likhang Diwa(1993); Bayabay: Mga Tulang Lunot
at Manibalang (2002); Sa Sariling Bayan: Apat na
Dulang May Musika (2004); and “Agunyas sa
Hacienda Luisita,” Pakikiramay (2004).
•His scholarly work in the field of literary history
and criticism are foundational texts in Philippine
colleges and universities: Tagalog Poetry, 1570-
1898: Tradition and Influences in its Development;
Philippine Literature: A History and Anthology,
Revaluation: Essays on Philippine Literature; and
Writing the Nation/Pag-akda ng Bansa.
CIRILO F. BAUTISTA

• 1941-2018

• Year of
Conferment:
2014
•Cirilo Bautista was highly praised poet,
fictionist, and essayist.
•He was also a Palanca Hall of Farmer,
winning countless awards and honors,
including the National Book Awards,
Gawad Jose Corazon de Jesus, and Gawad
CCP para sa Sining.
•In 1998, Bautista was named winner of the
Philippine Centennial Prize for Epic Poetry.
•His works include The Trilogy of Saint
Lazarus (2001); Believe and Betray: New
and Collected Poems (2006); Galaw ng
Asoge (2004); The House of True Desire:
•Essays about Life and Literature, (2011);
and Things Happen: Poems 2012 (2014).
•Bautista is also an academician and a
scholar, and has taught for more than 30
years.
THAT’S ALL!
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