LUZON

Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez (September 08, 1915 – November

28, 1999), better known as N.V.M. Gonzalez, fictionist, essayist,
poet, and teacher, articulated the Filipino spirit in rural, urban
landscapes. Among the many recognitions, he won the First
Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940, received the Republic
Cultural Heritage Award in 1960 and the Gawad CCP Para sa
Sining in 1990. The awards attest to his triumph in appropriating
the English language to express, reflect and shape Philippine culture
and Philippine sensibility. He became U.P.’s International-Writer-
In-Residence and a member of the Board of Advisers of the U.P.
Creative Writing Center. In 1987, U.P. conferred on him the Doctor
of Humane Letters, honoris causa, its highest academic recognition.

Major works of N.V.M Gonzalez include the following: The Winds of April, Seven Hills Away, Children of
the Ash-Covered Loam and Other Stories, The Bamboo Dancers, Look Stranger, on this Island Now,
Mindoro and Beyond: Twenty -One Stories, The Bread of Salt and Other Stories, Work on the Mountain,
The Novel of Justice: Selected Essays 1968-1994, A Grammar of Dreams and Other Stories.

Nick Joaquin (May 04, 1917 – April 29, 2004), is regarded by many as
the most distinguished Filipino writer in English writing so variedly
and so well about so many aspects of the Filipino. Nick Joaquin has
also enriched the English language with critics coining “Joaquinesque”
to describe his baroque Spanish-flavored English or his reinventions of
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Amado V. Hernandez ( September 13, 1903 – March 24, 1970),

While still a teenager, he began writing in Tagalog for the newspaper
Watawat (Flag). He would later write a column for the Tagalog
publication Pagkakaisa (Unity) and become editor of Mabuhay (Long
Live). His writings gained the attention of Tagalog literaty and some
of his stories and poems were included in anthologies, such as
Clodaulo Del Mundo’s Parolang Ginto and Allejandro Abadilla’s
Talaang Bughaw. In 1922, at the age of 19, Hernandez became a
member of the literary society Aklatang Bayan which included noted
Tagalog writers Lope K. Santos and Jose Corazon de Jesus. In 1932,
he married the Filipino actress Atang De la Rama. Both of them
would later be recognized as National Artists: Hernandez for
Literature, de la Rama for Theater, Dance and Music.
His socio-political novels were based on his experiences as a guerrilla, as a labor leader and as a political
detainee. Mga Ibong Mandaragit (Birds of Prey), 1969, Luha Ng Buwaya (Crocodile’s Tears), 1972, Isang
Dipang Langit, Panata sa Kalayaan, Ang Mga Kayamanan ng Tao, Ang Dalaw Kay Silaw, Bartolina, Kung
Tuyo Na ang Luha Mo Aking Bayan, Bayang Malaya.
 Jose Garcia Villa (1908-1997) was a renowned Filipino poet,
literary critic, and short story writer, widely regarded as one of the
finest literary minds of the 20th century. Born in Manila,
Philippines, Villa moved to the United States in his early twenties
to pursue higher education. He attended the University of New
Mexico and later graduated from the University of Mexico.
Villa’s literary career took off in the 1930s and 1940s when he
gained recognition for his unique style, characterized by the use of
punctuation marks to control the rhythm and flow of his poetry, a
technique he called “comma poems.” His poetry often delved into
complex themes of love, death, and the human condition,
showcasing his mastery of language and form.
Villa’s works have been celebrated for their lyrical beauty and intellectual depth, earning him numerous
awards and accolades throughout his lifetime. His notable works include The Anchored Angel, The
Emperor’s New Sonnet, and Footnote to Youth.

Carlos P. Romulo (1899-1985) was a distinguished Filipino

diplomat, statesman, soldier, journalist, and author, best known
for his significant contributions to Philippine diplomacy and
international relations. Born in Camiling, Tarlac, Romulo
embarked on a remarkable career that spanned several decades.
He served in the Philippine Scouts during World War II and
played a crucial role in the liberation of the Philippines from
Japanese occupation. Romulo later became the Philippines’
Secretary of Foreign Affairs and subsequently represented his
country at the United Nations, where he served as the President of
the fourth session of the General Assembly. His eloquence and
diplomacy made him a respected figure on the international stage.
In 1980, he was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize for his work
as President of the UN General Assembly in its 1949 session.

Carlos P. Romulo (1899-1985) was a distinguished Filipino diplomat, statesman, soldier, journalist, and
author, best known for his significant contributions to Philippine diplomacy and international relations. Born
in Camiling, Tarlac, Romulo embarked on a remarkable career that spanned several decades. He served in
the Philippine Scouts during World War II and played a crucial role in the liberation of the Philippines from
Japanese occupation. Romulo later became the Philippines’ Secretary of Foreign Affairs and subsequently
represented his country at the United Nations, where he served as the President of the fourth session of the
General Assembly. His eloquence and diplomacy made him a respected figure on the international stage. In
1980, he was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as President of the UN General Assembly in
its 1949 session.
 VISAYAS
Resil B. Mojares is a distinguished Filipino historian, cultural critic,
and writer, celebrated for his significant contributions to Philippine
historiography and cultural studies. Born on February 14, 1943, in
Cebu City, Philippines, Mojares earned his Ph.D. in Southeast
Asian History from the University of the Philippines Diliman.
Throughout his career, he has been a pioneering force in exploring
the cultural history of the Philippines, focusing particularly on the
Visayan region. His scholarly works delve into various aspects of
Philippine culture, identity, and colonial history, providing valuable
insights into the nation’s past. Mojares’ meticulous research and
insightful analysis have earned him numerous awards and
accolades, establishing him as a leading authority in the field of
Philippine cultural studies.
Some of Resil B. Mojares’ notable works include “The War Against the Americans: Resistance and
Collaboration in Cebu, 1899-1906,” a comprehensive study on the Philippine-American War, and “Brains of
the Nation: Pedro Paterno, T.H. Pardo de Tavera, Isabelo de los Reyes, and the Production of Modern
Knowledge,” a critical examination of key figures in the Philippine intellectual landscape. Additionally, his
book “Waiting for Mariang Makiling: Essays in Philippine Cultural History” showcases his wide-ranging
expertise in Philippine culture and history. Mojares’ works continue to be influential, shaping the discourse
on Philippine cultural identity and heritage.

Ramon L. Muzones (1913-1992) was a prolific Filipino writer

renowned for his significant contributions to Philippine literature.
Born in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, Muzones displayed an early
passion for storytelling and poetry. He pursued his studies in law
and became a member of the Philippine Bar, all while nurturing
his literary talents. Muzones was a prominent figure in the
Kinaray-a literary scene, writing in his native language, and his
works often reflected the rich cultural heritage of his region. His
writing style was characterized by vivid imagery, emotional depth,
and a keen understanding of human nature, making his works
resonate with readers across generations.
Some of Muzones’ notable works include “Margosatubig: The Story of Salagunting,” a historical novel that
delves into the struggles and triumphs of the Filipino people during the Spanish colonial period. Another
significant piece is “Ang Bag-ong Maria Clara,” a novel that critiques the societal expectations imposed on
women. His literary contributions extended to poetry and short stories, where he continued to captivate
audiences with his eloquence and insight. Muzones’ works have left an indelible mark on Philippine
literature, earning him recognition as one of the country’s literary treasures.

Peter Solis Nery, born on January 16, 1970, in Iloilo City,

Philippines, is a prolific Filipino writer, poet, playwright, and
filmmaker. Known for his captivating storytelling and poetic
prowess, Nery has made significant contributions to the Philippine
literary scene. He earned his Bachelor of Laws degree from the
University of the Philippines College of Law and later pursued a
Master of Laws degree at Harvard Law School. Despite his legal
background, Nery’s true passion lies in literature and the arts. He
has written numerous poems, essays, and plays that reflect the rich
cultural heritage and social issues of the Philippines. Nery’s works
often explore themes of identity, love, and the complexities of
human relationships, drawing readers into his world through vivid
imagery and profound emotions.
Some of Peter Solis Nery’s notable works include poetry collections such as “Heartland,” “Dagayday,” and
“Balaan nga Kasaysayan sang Ating Banwa: The Sacred History of Our Town,” which won the National
Book Award for Poetry in 2000. He has also penned acclaimed plays like “Larawan,” a play based on Nick
Joaquin’s “Portrait of the Artist as Filipino.” Nery’s literary achievements have earned him recognition both
locally and internationally, making him a respected figure in the Philippine literary community. His
dedication to preserving the cultural heritage of his homeland through literature continues to inspire readers
and fellow writers alike.
Merlie M. Alunan (born December 14, 1943, in Dingle, Iloilo)
is a Filipina poet.Alunan graduated from Silliman University
with an MA in Creative Writing in 1974. She teaches at the
Creative Writing Center, University of the Philippines Visayas
Tacloban College. She lives in Tacloban City.spent time in
different places in the Visayas and Mindanao at different times
in her life and thus acquired a level of fluency in the major
Visayan languages. She finished the Bachelor’s Degree in
Education at the University of the Visayas, major in English
and her Master’s Degree at Silliman University as a Fellow for
Literature. She taught in several schools all over the Visayas:
Silliman University itself as part of her Fellowship deal; Divine
Word College in Tagbilaran City (now Holy Name University);
and finally as faculty of UPV Tacloban College where she
initiated creative writing workshops and intensified her
advocacy to encourage the young to write in the native
While doing her workshops with its specific language.
advocacy, she became sharply aware of the lack of models for
the aspiring Waray writer and the literal absence of any reading materials in the language. She has since
published a collection of oral narratives entitled Susumaton issued by Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Tinalunay joins the sparse titles on Waray literature authored by Fr. Raymond Quetchenbach, SVD,
Gregorio Luangco, and Victor Sugbo. Aside from the works of young writers, she would like to see the
publication of pioneers of Waray writing. Merlie M. Alunan is the author of the following poetry
collections: Hearthstone, Sacred Tree (Anvil, 1993); Amina Among the Angels (UP Press, 1998); Selected
Poems (UP Press 2004); Tales of the Spider Woman (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2010);
Pagdakop sa Bulalakaw ug uban pang mga Balak (Ateneo Press, 2013); and Running with Ghosts and Other
Poems (Ateneo de Naga University Press, 2017), which won the 37 th National Book Award for poetry in
2017.
Alice Tan Gonzales was born on June 24, 1954 in Bacolod
City. She finished AB English at University of St.La Salle-
Bacolod, MA in Literature at Ateneo de Manila University,
and Ph.D. in English Studies atUniversity of the
Philippines-Diliman. Currently, she is a full Professor in
English and Literature in UPVisayas, Iloilo.She has
received the Cultural Center of the Philippines Literature
Grants four times: Short Story (1990), Novel (1991), Play
(1994), and Children’s Play (1995). She has won the
Palanca Awards for Short Story inHiligaynon several times:
“Isa Ka Pungpong nga Rosas” (A Bunch of Roses, 1997);
“Mga Luha para kayTatay Jose” (Tears for Tatay Jose,
1997); “Ang Likum sang Isla San Miguel” (The Secret of
Isla San Miguel,1999); “Sa Taguangkan sang Duta” (In the
Womb of the Earth, 2002); at “Dawata Anak” (Receive, My
Child, 2008).
Some of the plays she had written which were performed onstage were the sarswela “Pinustahan nga
Gugma” (Betted Love) and the musical “Juanita Cruz.” In 2009 her collection of Hiligaynon short stories Sa
Taguangkan sang Duta kag iban pa nga Sugilanon (In the Womb of the Earthand Other Stories) was
published, and in 2015 her binalaybay (poetry) collection Ilongga: Madamo ngaGuya (Ilongga: Her Many
Faces) was published.
 MINDANAO

Egmidio Alvarez Enriquez is an author from Zamboanga

City in the Philippines, his most famous work includes The
Devil Flowers, released in 1959, and The Doll he written in
1953. "The Doll" by Egmidio Enriquez is a simple, very
beautifully written story with a powerful message for the
parents of the world. It also exposes the shallowness of the
culture of machismo fostered on the people of the area by
their colonial masters. Emigdio Enriquez was born in the
year 1925. He is a Filipino by birth. He started writing at the
age of 20. He is a novelist, story writer, and playing with.
Among his famous literary works are Blood on the Moon, A
tale of Two Houses, Cachil Kudarat (Sultan of Mindanao) or
Cachil Corrala, and Labaw, Donggon. All of this short
stories won palangca awards in the year.
He went at Ateneo de Zamboanga for his elementary and secondary. Gained his A.B. at Arellano University,
went on to study and gain a "Master of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing" at the state University of lawa
though an International Scholarship and a Fulbright Grant. Earned a Guggenheim Tlowship which he used to
travel around Europe. He then studied in the Universidad Central de Madrid on a Zobel de Ayala Grant. His
short stories began to appear in countless publication as early as 1939. When he came back to the
Philippines, he taught and directed at the University of the East for some years, then went on to teach at De
La Salle University.

Atty. Mehol K. Sadain, a resident of Jolo, Sulu, graduated in

1986 from the University of the Philippines College of Law. a
peace and reformer among the Tausug Muslims. Atty. In addition
to serving as Secretary of the National Commission on Muslim
Filipinos (NCMF) and Commissioner of the Commission on
Elections (COMELEC), Sadain also participated in negotiations
with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as a member of
the government's peace panel. He works as a Senior Professorial
Lecturer at the University of the Philippines in Diliman's Institute
of Islamic Studies. He works as a lawyer and shari'ah adviser.
He presently serves as the PCID's convenor, the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy. Additionally,
he serves as vice chairman and a board member of First Asia Financial & Productivity, Inc. Consequently,
in 2008, he created An Act Providing for the Issuance of Securities by the Regional Autonomous
Government in Muslim Mindanao and submitted it to the office of the Regional Governor of ARMM. He is a
published poet in addition to authoring numerous books and essays about Islam in the context of the
Philippines.
Ricardo M. de Ungria earned his A.B. Literature from the De La
Salle University, and later obtained an M.F.A. in the Creative
Arts from the Washington University in Missouri, U.S.A in
1990. He is a founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts
Council (PLAC) and the Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas
(UMPIL). For his poetry, he has received recognition from all
over the world. Not only has he been a Fellow at Fulbright,
Hawthornden Castle International Retreat for Writers, Bellagio
Study & Conference Center, and Washington University, but he
has also gathered awards like the Academy of American Poets
Prize.
Similar achievements include nods from the Saint Louis Poetry Annual Contest, Florida State University's
State Street Poetry Contest, Manila Critics' Circle, Palanca, CCP Verse-Writing Contest, and the Free
Press.
He has six books of poetry, including R+A+D+I+O (1986), Decimal Places (1991), and the most recent,
Pidgin Levitations (UP Press, 2004), a luxurious, refreshingly unabashed collection of the poet's earlier
work. He has also edited a number of anthologies, three of which are Passionate Patience: Ten Filipino Poets
on the Writing of Their Poems (1995), Catfish Surviving in Little Schools (1996) and The Likhaan
Anthology of Poetry and Fiction (1996). Ricardo de Ungria used to hold positions as an associate of the U.P.
Institute of Creative Writing, Chancellor of the U.P. Mindanao, and Head of the Committee on Literary Arts
under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Anthony L. Tan, was born in Siasi, Sulu, on 26 August

1947 to Utoh Hotiong Tan and Kimchu Lu, both of
Chinese Sama descent. He is the fifth of ten children. He
earned his BA English from the Ateneo de Zamboanga in
1968 and went on to Silliman University in Dumaguete
City for both his MA Creative Writing (1975) and PHD.
British Literature (1982). For more than a decade he taught
at the English Department of Silliman University and was
a regular member of the panel of critics at the Silliman
National Summer Writers Workshop. In 1983, he joined
the faculty of the English Department at MSU-Iligan
Institute of Technology and became one of its chairpersons
in 1984-85. Together with Jaime An Lim and Christine
Godinez Ortega, he helped organize the first Iligan
National Writers Workshop/Literature Teachers
He retired from teaching in 2012. He has won a number of awards for his writings, among them the Focus
Philippines award for poetry, the Palanca 1st prize for “Poems for Muddas” (1993) and another Palanca for
the essay. His poems and stories have been published locally and abroad, more prominently in the
prestigious Atlanta Review and Manoa, the literary journal at the University of Hawaii. Interview With
Anthony L Tan Ricardo M de Ungria. He is the author of two books of poems titled The Badjao Cemetery
and Other Poems (1985) and Poems for Muddas (1996).

Myrna Pena-Reyes and a twin sister were born to

school teacher parents in Cagayan de Oro, Misamis
Oriental. Her family spent the World War II year in
the jungles of Mindanao where her mother passed
away when Pena-Reyes was four years old. After the
war, her family (including a younger brother) moved
to Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental where her
father joned the faculty of the Biology Department
of Silliman University. She completed her
elementary, high school, and college education at
Silliman. Pena-Reyes, who has published in the
Philippines and United states, holds a Masters in
Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of
Oregon. While there, she met her husband William
T.
ForSweet,
severalalso a poet.
years, she was on the faculty of the Department of English and Literature at Silliman University
and the National Summer Writers Workshop. In the U.S., Pena-Reyes has taught college classes; was co-
owner of a grocery store and a bookstore; worked in an office supply shop; and is presently a book buyer for
a bookstore in Eugene, Oregon where she and her husband reside.
CANONICAL AUTHORS
IN THE
PHILIPPINES
(LUZON, VISAYAS,
MINDANAO)

BEA ANGELINE C. OCZON

STUDENT
WENDEL JOY DELA TORRE
TEACHER