National Artist

Poyaoan, John Jonas V Philippine Literature Assignment (National Artist of Literature) 1. Francisco Arcellana Francisco "Franz" Arcellana (September 6, 1916 – August 1, 2002) was a Filipino writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist and teacher. He was born on September 16, 1916. Arcellana already had ambitions of becoming a writer during his years in the elementary. 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. He later on received a Rockfeller Grant and became a fellow in creative writing the University of Iowa and Breadloaf's writers conference from 1956- 1957. He is considered an important progenitor of the modern Filipino short story in English. Arcellana pioneered the development of the short story as a lyrical prose-poetic form within Filipino literature. His works are now often taught in tertiary-level-syllabi in the Philippines. Many of his works were translated into Tagalog, Malaysian, Russian, Italian, and German. Arcellana won 2nd place in 1951 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, with his short story, "The Flowers of May." 14 of his short stories were also included in Jose Garcia Villa's Honor Roll from 1928 to 1939. His major achievements included the first award in art criticism from the Art Association of the Philippines in 1954, the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan award from the city government of Manila in 1981, and the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for English fiction from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipino (UMPIL) in 1988. Francisco Arcellana was proclaimed National Artist of the Philippines in Literature in 1990. Arcellana is buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Arcellana died in 2002. As a National Artist, he received a state funeral at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. His grandson Liam Hertzsprung performed a piano concert in 2006 dedicated to him. Arcellana's published books include:   

Selected Stories (1962) Poetry and Politics: The State of Original Writing in English in the Philippines Today (1977) The Francisco Arcellana Sampler (1990).

2. Virgilio S. Almario Virgilio Senadren Almario, better known by his pen name, Rio Alma, is a Filipino artist, poet, critic, translator, editor, teacher, and cultural manager. He is a National Artist of the Philippines. 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. Aside from being a critic, Almario engaged in translating and editing. He has translated the best contemporary poets of the world. He has also translated for theater production the plays of Nick Joaquin, Bertolt Brecht, Euripedes and Maxim Gorki. Other important translations include the famous works of the Philippines' national hero, José Rizal, namely Noli Me Tangere and El filibusterismo. It was deemed as the best translation by the Manila Critics Circle. Almario has been a recipient of numerous awards such as several Palanca Awards, two grand prizes from the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Makata ng Taon of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, the TOYM for literature, and the Southeast Asia Write Award of Bangkok. He was an instructor at the Ateneo de Manila University from 1969-1972. He only took his M.A. in Filipino in 1974 in the University of the Philippines. In 2003, he was appointed Dean of the College of Arts and Letters in the said university. On June 25 of the same year, he was proclaimed National Artist for Literature. Almario is also the founder and workshop director of the Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA), an organization of poets who write in Filipino. Award-winning writers and poets such as Roberto and Rebecca Añonuevo, Romulo Baquiran Jr., Michael Coroza, Jerry Gracio, and Vim Nadera are but some of the products of the LIRA workshop. Works Poetry Collections           

Taludtod at Talinghaga. (1991) (A)lamat (H)istorya. (1985) Palipad-Hangin. (1985) Katon Para sa Limang Pandama. (1987) Ang Hayop na Ito. (2004) Sentimental. (2004) Sari-Sari. (2004) Estremelenggoles. (2004) Memo Mulang Gimokudan. (2005) Dust Devils. (2005) Sonetos Postumos, book of poems with translation by Marne Kilates and paintings by National Artist Ang Kiukok. (2006)

Tatlong Pasyon sa Ating Panahon, poems for children with illustrations by Mark Justiniani, Neil Doloricon, Ferdinand D 3. N. V. M. Gonzalez He was born on 8 September 1915 in Romblon, Philippines. González, however, was raised in Mansalay, a southern town of the Philippine province of Oriental Mindoro. González was a son of a school supervisor and a teacher. As a teenager, he helped his father by delivering meat door-to-door across provincial villages and municipalities. González was also a musician. He played the violin and even made four guitars by hand. He earned his first peso by playing the violin during a Chinese funeral in Romblon. González attended Mindoro High School (now Jose J. Leido Jr. Memorial National High School) from 1927 to 1930. González attended college at

National University (Manila) but he was unable to finish his undergraduate degree. While in Manila, González wrote for the Philippine Graphic and later edited for the Evening News Magazine and Manila Chronicle. His first published essay appeared in the Philippine Graphic and his first poem in Poetry in 1934. González made his mark in the Philippine writing community as a member of the Board of Advisers of Likhaan: the University of the Philippines Creative Writing Center, founding editor of The Diliman Review and as the first president of the Philippine Writers' Association. González attended creative writing classes under Wallace Stegner and Katherine Anne Porter at Stanford University. In 1950, González returned to the Philippines and taught at the University of Santo Tomas, the Philippine Women's University and the University of the Philippines (U.P.). At U.P., González was only one of two faculty members accepted to teach in the university without holding a degree. On the basis of his literary publications and distinctions, González later taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara, California State University, Hayward, the University of Washington, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of California, Berkeley. On 14 April 1987, the University of the Philippines conferred on N.V.M. González the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, "For his creative genius in shaping the Philippine short story and novel, and making a new clearing within the English idiom and tradition on which he established an authentic vocabulary, ...For his insightful criticism by which he advanced the literary tradition of the Filipino and enriched the vocation for all writers of the present generation...For his visions and auguries by which he gave the Filipino sense and sensibility a profound and unmistakable script read and reread throughout the international community of letters..." N.V.M. González was proclaimed National Artist of the Philippines in 1997. He died on 28 November 1999 in Quezon City, Philippines at the age of 84. As a National Artist, Gonzalez was honored with a state funeral at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Works Novels   

The Winds of April (1941) A Season of Grace (1956) The Bamboo Dancers (1988)

Short fiction        Essays

A Grammar of Dreams and Other Stories. University of the Philippines Press, 1997 The Bread of Salt and Other Stories. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993; University of the Philippines Press, 1993 Mindoro and Beyond: Twenty-one Stories. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1981; New Day, 1989 Selected Stories. Denver, Colorado: Alan Swallow, 1964 Look, Stranger, on this Island Now. Manila: Benipayo, 1963 Children of the Ash-Covered Loam and Other Stories. Manila: Benipayo, 1954; Bookmark Filipino Literary Classic, 1992 Seven Hills Away. Denver, Colorado: Alan Swallow, 1947

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A Novel of Justice: Selected Essays 1968-1994. Manila: National Commission for Culture and the Arts and Anvil (popular edition), 1996

Work on the Mountain (Includes The Father and the Maid, Essays on Filipino Life and Letters and Kalutang: A Filipino in the World), University of the Philippines Press, 1996

4. Amado V. Hernandez Amado Vera Hernandez, commonly known as Amado V. Hernandez (September 13, 1903– March 24, 1970), was a Filipino writer and labor leader who was known for his criticism of social injustices in the Philippines and was later imprisoned for his involvement in the communist movement. He was the central figure in a landmark legal case that took 13 years to settle. He 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 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 literati and some of his stories and poems were included in anthologies, such as Clodualdo del Mundo's Parolang Ginto and Alejandro 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. Works Novels   

His socio-political novels were based on his experiences as a guerilla, as a labor leader and as a political detainee. Mga Ibong Mandaragit (Birds of Prey),1969 Luha Ng Buwaya (Crocodile's Tears), 1972

Poems     

Isang Dipang Langit (A Stretch of Heaven) Panata sa Kalayaan (Oath to Freedom) Ang Dalaw (The Visit) Bartolina (Solitary Confinement) Kung Tuyo Na ang Luha Mo Aking Bayan (When Your Tears Dry Up, My Country)

Plays 

His plays are mostly based on his experiences in prison.

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Muntinglupa , 1957 Hagdan sa Bahaghari (Stairway to the Rainbow), 1958 Ang Mga Kagalang-galang (The Venerables), 1959 Magkabilang Mukha ng Isang Bagol (Two Sides of A Coin), 1960

Essays  

Si Atang at ang Dulaan (Atang and the Theater) Si Jose Corazon de Jesus at ang Ating Panulaan (Jose Corazon de Jesus and Our Poetry)

5. Nick Joaquin Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín (May 4, 1917–April 29, 2004) was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila. Joaquin was conferred the rank and title of National Artist of the Philippines for Literature. He is considered the most important Filipino writer in English, and the third most important overall, after José Rizal and Claro M. Recto, both of whom wrote in the Spanish language. After returning to the Philippines, Joaquín joined the Philippines Free Press, starting as a proofreader. Soon he attracted notice for his poems, stories and plays, as well as his journalism under the pen name Quijano de Manila. His journalism was both intellectual and provocative, an unknown genre in the Philippines at that time, and he raised the level of reportage in the country. Joaquín deeply admired José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. Joaquín paid tribute to him in books such as The Storyteller's New Medium - Rizal in Saga, The Complete Poems and Plays of Jose Rizal, and A Question of Heroes: Essays in Criticism on Ten Key Figures of Philippine History. He translated the hero's valedictory poem, in the original Spanish Mi Ultimo Adios, as "Land That I Love, Farewell!" Joaquín was appointed as a member of the Motion Pictures commission under presidents Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand E. Marcos. After being honored as National Artist, Joaquin used his position to work for intellectual freedom in society. He secured the release of imprisoned writer José F. Lacaba. At a ceremony on Mount Makiling attended by First Lady Imelda Marcos, Joaquín delivered an invocation to Mariang Makiling, the mountain's mythical maiden. Joaquín touched on the importance of freedom and the artist. After that, Joaquín was excluded by the Marcos regime as a speaker from important cultural events. Joaquín died of cardiac arrest in the early morning of April 29, 2004, at his home in San Juan, Metro Manila. He was then editor of Philippine Graphic magazine and publisher of its sister publication, Mirror Weekly, a women’s magazine. He also wrote the column (―Small Beer‖) for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Isyu, an opinion tabloid. Works

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May Day Eve (1947) Prose and Poems (1952) The Woman Who had Two Navels (1961) La Naval de Manila and Other Essays (1964) A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1966) Tropical Gothic (1972) A Question of Heroes (1977) Jeseph Estrada and Other Sketches (1977) Nora Aunor & Other Profiles (1977) Ronnie Poe & Other Silhouettes (1977) Reportage on Lovers (1977) Reportage on Crime (1977) Amalia Fuentes & Other Etchings (1977) Gloria Diaz & Other Delineations (1977) Doveglion & Other Cameos (1977) Language of the Streets and Other Essays (1977)

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Manila: Sin City and Other Chronicles (1977) Tropical Baroque (1979), Stories for Groovy Kids (1979) Language of the Street and Other Essays (1980) The Ballad of the Five Battles (1981) The Aquinos of Tarlac: An Essay on History as Three Generations (1983) Almanac for Manileños Cave and Shadows (1983) The Quartet of the Tiger Moon: Scenes from the People Power Apocalypse (1986) Collected Verse (1987) Culture and History: Occasional Notes on the Process of Philippine Becoming (1988) Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young (1990), The D.M. Guevara Story (1993), Mr. F.E.U., the Culture Hero That Was Nicanor Reyes (1995).

Rizal in Saga (1996)

6. F. Sionil José F. Sionil José or in full Francisco Sionil José (born December 3, 1924) is one of the most widelyread Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society. José's works - written in English - have been translated into 22 languages, including Korean, Indonesian, Russian, Latvian, Ukrainian and Dutch. José attended the University of Santo Tomas after World War II, but dropped out and plunged into writing and journalism in Manila. In subsequent years, he edited various literary and journalistic publications, started a publishing house, and founded the Philippine branch of PEN, an international organization for writers. José received numerous awards for his work. The Pretenders is his most popular novel, which is the story of one man's alienation from his poor background and the decadence of his wife's wealthy family. Jose Rizal's life and writings profoundly influenced José's work. The five volume Rosales Saga, in particular, employs and interrogates themes and characters from Rizal's work. Throughout his career, José's writings espouse social justice and change to better the lives of average Filipino families. He is one of the most critically acclaimed Filipino authors

internationally, although much underrated in his own country because of his authentic Filipino English and his anti-elite views. Works           

Rosales Saga novels A five-novel series that spans three centuries of Philippine history, widely read around the world and translated into 22 languages Po-on (Dusk) (1984) ISBN 9718845100 The Pretenders (1962) ISBN 9718845003 My Brother, My Executioner (1973) ISBN 971884516X Mass (December 31, 1974) ISBN 0868615722 Tree (1978) ISBN 9718845143 Original novels containing the Rosales Saga Dusk (Po-on) (1993) ISBN 0375751440 Don Vicente (1980) ISBN 0375752439 - Tree and My Brother, My Executioner combined in one book The Samsons ISBN 0375752447- The Pretenders and Mass combined in one book

Other novels         

Gagamba (The Spider Man) (1991) ISBN 971536105645 Viajero (1993) ISBN 971884504689 Sin (1994) ISBN 0517284464 Ben Singkol (2001) ISBN 9718845321 Ermita ISBN 9718845127 Vibora! (2007) Sherds (2008) Muse and Balikbayan: Two Plays (2008) Short Stories (with Introduction and Teaching Guide by Thelma B. Kintanar) (2008)

Short story collection       

The God Stealer and Other Short Stories (2001) ISBN 9718845356 Puppy Love and Other Short Stories (March 15, 1998) ISBN 9718845267 and ISBN 9789718845264 Olvidon and Other Stories (1988) ISBN 9718845186 Platinum: Ten Filipino Stories (1983) ISBN 9718845224 (now out of print, its stories are added to the new version of Olvidon and Other Stories) Waywaya: Eleven Filipino Short Stories (1980) ISBN 999228840X Asian PEN Anthology (as editor) (1966) Short Story International (SSI): Tales by the World's Great Contemporary Writers (Unabridged, Volume 13, Number 75) (co-author, 1989) ISBN 1555730426

Children's books 

The Molave and The Orchid (November 2004)

Verses 

Questions (1988)

Essays and non-fiction      

In Search of the Word (De La Salle University Press, March 15, 1998) ISBN 9715552641 and ISBN 978-9715552646 We Filipinos: Our Moral Malaise, Our Heroic Heritage Soba, Senbei and Shibuya: A Memoir of Post-War Japan ISBN 9718845313 and ISBN 978-9718845318 Heroes in the Attic, Termites in the Sala: Why We are Poor (2005) This I Believe: Gleanings from a Life in Literature (2006) Literature and Liberation (co-author) (1988)

In translation  

Po-on (Tagalog language, De La Salle University Press, 1998) ISBN 9715552676 and ISBN 978-9715552677 Anochecer (Littera) (Spanish language, Maeva, October 2003) ISBN 8495354950 and ISBN 978-8495354952

In anthologies 

Tong (a short story from Brown River, White Ocean: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Philippine Literature in English by Luis Francia, Rutgers University Press, August 1993) ISBN 0813519993 and ISBN 978-0813519999

In film documentaries 

Francisco Sionil José - A Filipino Odyssey by Art Makosinski, 1996

7. Bienvenido Lumbera Bienvenido Lumbera is a prizewinning poet, critic and dramatist from the Philippines. He is a National Artist of the Philippines and a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communications. He won numerous literary awards, including the National Book Awards from the National Book Foundation, and the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards. Lumbera is now widely acknowledged as one of the pillars of contemporary Philippine literature, cultural studies and film, having written and edited numerous books on literary history, literary criticism, and film. He also received several awards citing his contribution to Philippine letters, most notably the 1975 Palanca Award for Literature; the 1993 Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts; several National Book Awards from the Manila Critics Circle; the 1998 Philippine Centennial Literary Prize for Drama; and the 1999 Cultural Center of the Philippines Centennial Honors for the Arts. He is currently the editor of Sanghaya (National Commission on Culture and the Arts), Professor at the Department of English in the School of Humanities of the Ateneo de Manila University, Emeritus Professor at the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature, College of Arts and Letters, U.P. Diliman, and Professor of Literature at De La Salle University. For a time, he also served as president of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), a national organization of more than 40,000 teachers and employees in the education sector.

The launching of Bayan at Lipunan: Ang Kritisismo ni Bienvenido Lumbera, edited by Rosario Torres-Yu and published by the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, was celebrated by the University of the Philippines in January 2006. Bienvenido Lumbera was proclaimed National Artist in April 2006. Works Poetry   

Likhang Dila, Likhang Diwa, 1993 Poetika/Pulitika, 2008 Ka Bel

Literary Criticism   

Revaluation: Essays on Literature, Cinema, and Popular Culture, 1984 Tagalog Poetry, 1570-1898: Tradition and Influences on Its Development, 1986 Abot-Tanaw: Sulyap at Suri sa Nagbabagong Kultura at Lipunan, 1987

Textbooks     

Pedagogy Philippine Literature: A History and Anthology Rediscovery: Essays in Philippine Life and Culture Filipinos Writing: Philippine Literature from the Regions Paano Magbasa ng Panitikang Filipino: Mga Babasahing Pangkolehiyo

Librettos     

Tales of the Manuvu Rama, Hari Nasa Puso ang Amerika Bayani Noli Me Tangere

Hibik at Himagsik Nina Victoria Laktaw

8. Alejandro Roces Alejandro Reyes Roces (13 July 1924 - 23 May 2011) 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 Viola, with whom he has a daughter named Elizabeth Roces-Pedrosa. Anding attended elementary and high school at the Ateneo de Manila University, before moving to the Arizona State Universityfor 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. He has since received honorary doctorates from Tokyo University, Baguio's St. Louis University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and the Ateneo de Manila University. Roces was a captain in the Marking’s Guerilla during World

War II and a columnist in Philippine dailies such as the Manila Chronicle and the Manila Times. He was previously President of the Manila Bulletin and of the CAP College Foundation. In 2001, Roces was appointed as Chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). Roces also became a member of the Board of Trustees of GSIS (Government Service Insurance System) and maintained a column in the Philippine Star called Roses and Thorns. Literary works During his freshman year in the University of Arizona, Roces won Best Short Story for We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers. Another of his stories, My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken, was listed as Martha Foley’s Best American Stories among the most distinctive for years 1948 and 1951. Roces did not only focus on short stories alone, as he also published books such as Of Cocks and Kites (1959), Fiesta (1980), and Something to Crow About (2005). Of Cocks and Kites earned him the reputation as the country's best writer of humorous stories. It also contained the widely anthologized piece ―My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken‖. Fiesta, is a book of essays, featuring folk festivals such as Ermita's Bota Flores, Aklan's Ati-atihan, and Naga's Peñafrancia. Something to Crow About, on the other hand, is a collection of Roces’ short stories. The book has been recently brought to life by a critically acclaimed play of the same title; the staged version of Something to Crow About is the first Filipino zarzuela in English. This modern zarzuela tells the story of a poor cockfighter named Kiko who, to his wife's chagrin, pays more attention to the roosters than to her. Later in the story, a conflict ensues between Kiko’s brother Leandro and Golem, the son of a wealthy and powerful man, over the affections of a beautiful woman named Luningning. The resolution? A cockfight, of course. Something to Crow About won the Aliw Award for Best Musical and Best Director for a Musical Production. Through the years, Roces has won numerous awards, including the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, the Diwa ng Lahi Award, the Tanging Parangal of the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining, and the Rizal Pro Patria Award. He was finally bestowed the honor as National Artist of Literature on the 25th of June 2003. When once asked for a piece of advice on becoming a famous literary figure Roces said, "You cannot be a great writer; first, you have to be a good person". Carlos P. Romulo Carlos Peña Rómulo (14 January 1899, Camiling, Tarlac, Philippines – 15 December 1985, Manila, Philippines) was a Filipino diplomat, politician, soldier, journalist and author. He was a reporter at 16, a newspaper editor by the age of 20, and a publisher at 32. He is the co-founder of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. Books      

I Saw the Fall of The Philippines Mother America My Brother Americans I See The Philippines Rise The United Crusade in Asia (The John Day Company, 1955; about the 1953 presidential election campaign of Ramon Magsaysay)

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The Meaning of Bandung The Magsaysay Story (with Marvin M. Gray, The John Day Company 1956, updated reedition by Pocket Books, Special Student Edition, SP-18, December 1957; biography of Ramon Magsaysay, Pocket Books edition updated with an additional chapter on Magsaysay's death) I Walked with Heroes (autobiography) Last Man off Bataan (Romulo's experience during the Japanese Plane bombings.)

9. Edith Tiempo Edith L. Tiempo (born April 22, 1919 in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya), 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. Together with her late husband, writer and critic Edilberto K. Tiempo, they founded (in 1962) and directed the Silliman National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete City, which has produced some of the Philippines' best writers. She was conferred the National Artist Award for Literature in 1999. Works Novels      

A Blade of Fern (1978) His Native Coast (1979) One, Tilting Leaves The Alien Corn (1992) The Builder (2004) The Jumong (2006)

Short stories 

Abide, Joshua, and Other Stories (1964)

Poetry      

The Tracks of Babylon and Other Poems (1966) The Charmer’s Box and Other Poet (1993) Beyond, Extensions Marginal Annotations and Other Poems Bibliophile The Return

10. Rolando Tinio

Rolando Tinio was the 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. In Iowa, Tinio was known as a great writer that used English as the medium of the Filipino writer. He wrote his poetic collection: Rage and Ritual which won an award from the University of the Philippines. Bienvenido Lumbera, also an alumnus of the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, describes this collection as elegant and with a truly contemporary tone if taken from the European literary critical view. At this point in time, Tinio believed that only English can hone the themes that he wanted to communicate in his works. Once, in a conference, an author delivered his belief in the value of the Tagalog dialect in Creative Writing. In response to this, Tinio published an article in the scholarly journal Philippine Studies, which contained parts of English poems translated into Tagalog. The article’s purpose was to prove the inadequacy of Tagalog as the writer’s medium. (Lumbera) In the mid-1960s, however, Tinio decided to try writing in Tagalog and the product of this trial was the collection of poems now called Bagay. Rolando Tinio was the sole inventor of ―Taglish‖ in Philippine poetry. Through this, he gave an authentic tone to the poetry of the native middleclass Filipino. In 1972, Tinio wrote another poetry collection: Sitsit sa Kuliglig and this showed the great contrast between his old and new advocacy. If in Rage and Ritual, portrayals of art and the artist that are not closely associated with the Filipino lifestyle are communicated, Sitsit sa Kuliglig clearly portrays the everyday experiences of a Tondo-grown individual now living in Loyola heights. Heaven and earth; the gap between Tinio’s works in English and those in Tagalog.(Lumbera) Tinio was also an actor, director, and a set and costume designer. He served all these roles during his stay with the Ateneo Experimental Theater. Tinio chooses the plays, designs the stage, directs, creates the costumes and determines the musical score and other sounds. Productions of the Ateneo Experimental Theater are completely his vision. In his production of Oedipus Rex, he replaced the Greek costumes with modern renditions made primarily of metal pipes supposedly to express the thought of industrial 20th century. (Lumbera) His work with the Ateneo Experimental Theater expresses the concept of the actor being merely one of the director’s tools in shaping the stage; communicate his vision through all aspects of the production. The last production of Tinio’s ―personal‖ theater company was entitled . The production was performed in a classroom rather than an auditorium and Tinio made the actors mingle freely with the audience. There is no real ―meaning‖ in the action and there is no definite storyline. The ―meaning‖ is hidden in the intentional actions of the actors and the unexpected reply of the audience (Lumbera) He published four seminal books of poems between 1972 and 1993, in which, along with his longtime friend, Bienvenido Lumbera, helped modernize the traditionally sentimental Filipino style. He had also worked on his own projects such as the Ateneo Experimental Theater productions and other serious dramas in Filipino. His contribution to Philippine literature and theater is immense.

Circa 1976, Tinio also wrote the lyrics for the six hymns of the "Misa ng Alay-Kapwa" the music for which was composed by Fr. Eduardo P. Hontiveros, SJ. (The most popular of these hymns still sung in Churches throughout the Philippines is "Buksan ang Aming Puso.) These hymns were published in the now out of print, -Mga Awiting Pansamba-. Rolando Santos Tinio was directing a musical when he suffered a heart attack in Manila on July 7, 1997. He died on July 8, 1997 at age 60. His wife, theatre and film actress, Ella Luansing had died some years before. He was survived by his two children, Antonio and Victoria. Works Poetry Collections     

"Sitsit sa Kulilig" (Whistling at Cicadas) or (Shusshing Cicadas) (1972) "Dunung-Dunungan" (Pedantry) (1975) "Kristal na Uniberso" (Crystal Universe) (1989) "Trick of Mirrors" (1993) "Ang Burgis sa Kanyang Almusal"(1970)

Translated Plays    

"Laruang Kristal" (The Glass Menagerie) (1966) "Pahimakas sa Isang Ahente" (Death of a Salesman) (1966) "Paghihintay Kay Godo" (Waiting for Godot) (1967) "Miss Julie" (1967)

Essay Collections 

"A Matter of Language, Where English Fails" (1990)

Newspaper Columns   

"Touchstones" for Metro Manila (1977) "Totally Tinio" for Manila Chronicle (1986–1987, 1990) "In Black and White" for Philippine Daily Globe (1987–1989)

11. Jose Garcia Villa Jose Garcia Villa (August 5, 1908 – February 7, 1997) 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. Villa was considered the leader of Filipino "artsakists", a group of writers who believe that art should be "for art's sake" hence the term. He once pronounced that "art is never a means; it is an end in itself."Jose Garcia Villa - Finest Filipino Poet in English.Villa's tart poetic style was considered too aggressive at that time. In 1929 he published Man Songs, a series of erotic

poems, which the administrators in UP found too bold and was even fined Philippine peso for obscenity by the Manila Court of First Instance. In that same year, Villa won Best Story of the Year from Philippine Free Press magazine for Mir-I-Nisa. He also received P1,000,000 prize money, which he used to migrate for the United States. He enrolled at the University of New Mexico, wherein he was one of the founders of Clay, a mimeograph literary magazine.He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and pursued postgraduate work at Columbia University.Villa had gradually caught the attention of the country's literary circles, one of the few Asians to do so at that time. After the publication of Footnote to Youth in 1933, Villa switched from writing prose to poetry, and published only a handful of works until 1942. During the release of Have Come, Am Here in 1942, he introduced a new rhyming scheme called "reversed consonance" wherein, according to Villa: "The last sounded consonants of the last syllable, or the last principal consonant of a word, are reversed for the corresponding rhyme. Thus, a rhyme for near would be run; or rain, green, reign." In 1949, Villa presented a poetic style he called "comma poems", wherein commas are placed after every word. In the preface of Volume Two, he wrote: "The commas are an integral and essential part of the medium: regulating the poem's verbal density and time movement: enabling each word to attain a fuller tonal value, and the line movement to become more measures." Villa worked as an associate editor for New Directions Publishing in New York City between 1949 to 1951, and then became director of poetry workshop at City College of New York from 1952 to 1960. He then left the literary scene and concentrated on teaching, first lecturing in The New School|The New School for Social Research from 1964 to 1973, as well as conducting poetry workshops in his apartment. Villa was also a cultural attaché to the Philippine Mission to the United Nations from 1952 to 1963, and an adviser on cultural affairs to the President of the Philippines beginning 1968. Works As an editor, Villa first published Philippine Short Stories: Best 25 Short Stories of 1928 in 1929, an anthology of Filipino short stories written in English literature English that were mostly published in the literary magazine Philippine Free Press for that year. It is the second anthology to have been published in the Philippines, after Philippine Love Stories by editor Paz MárquezBenítez in 1927. His first collection of short stories that he has written were published under the title Footnote to Youth: Tales of the Philippines and Others in 1933; while in 1939, Villa published Many Voices, his first collection poems, followed by Poems by Doveglion in 1941. Other collections of poems include Have Come, Am Here (1942), Volume Two (1949), and Selected Poems and New (1958). Several reprints of Villa's past works were done, including Appasionata: Poems in Praise of Love in 1979, A Parliament of Giraffes (a collection of Villa's poems for young readers, with Tagalog language Tagalog translation provided by Larry Francia), and The Anchored Angel: Selected Writings by Villa that was edited by Eileen Tabios with a foreword provided by Hagedorn (both in 1999). Among his popular poems include When I Was No Bigger Than A Huge, an example of his "comma poems", and The Emperor's New Sonnet (a part of Have Come, Am Here) which is basically a blank sheet of paper.