Lesson 2.

Canonical authors
and works of
Philippine National
Artists in Literature
 CANONICAL AUTHORS
a. Who is Jose Garcia Villa?
 A Filipino literary critic, poet, painter, and short
story writer.
 born on August 5, 1908 in Manila.

 he gained both local and international

recognition for his works.
 he was named as the National Artist for Literature
in 1973, and he was also a recipient of the
Guggenheim Fellowship.
 some of his well-known literary works are "Mir-i-
nisa" (won in the Philippines Free Press in 1929),
and "Footnote to Youth" (published in 1933).
 he died on July 7, 1997.
b. Who is Carlos P. Romulo?
 A Filipino diplomat, statesman, journalist, and soldier.
 was born on January 14, 1898 in Intramuros, Manila and
grew up in Camiling, Tarlac.
 first Filipino journalist who was awarded with the Pulitzer
Prize in Journalism.
 also, first Asian who served as the president of the United
Nations General Assembly.
 "I am a Filipino" is one of the many essayswritten by Carlos
P. Romulo. It was published in The Philippines Herald in
August 1941.
 wrote the book entitled I Saw the Fall of the Philippines, in
which he narrated his personal experiences as an aide-de-camp to
General Douglas MacArthur in Corregidor.
 followed by a sequel, I See the Philippines Rise, a
journalistic account of the Philippine War in 1944.
 conferred as National Artist for Literature in 1982.
 died on December 15, 1985.
c. Who is Francisco Arcellana?
 A Filipino teacher and a contemporary writer.
 one of the prominent Filipino fictionists in English.
 known for innovating and exploring new literary forms and
experimenting with different techniques in short story writing.
 a member of the group “The Veronicans”, which was
composed of influential Filipino writers who aimed to use
sensible
 literature in order to create a greater impact on the
Philippines.
 also the first director of the University of the Philippines
Creative Writing Center.
 Some of his well-known literary works are the short stories
"The Man Who Would Be Poe," "Death in a Factory," "A
Clown Remembers," "The Mats," and "Lina."
 was awarded as the National Artist for Literature in 1990.
 his short stories "Flowers of May," "Christmas Gift," and "The
Mats," were adapted as screenplays.
d. Who is N.V.M. Gonzalez (Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez)?
•An award-winning Filipino poet, essayist, fictionist, journalist, editor,
and teacher of creative writing.
•first president of the Philippine Writers’ Association.
•honored as one of the great Filipino writers who advanced literary traditions
and culture.
•arecipient of the following awards: The Republic Cultural Heritage Award,
the Jose Rizal Pro-Patria Award, the Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for
Literature, and the National Artist Award for Literature in 1997.
•Some of his published works are Seven Hills Away (1947), Children of the
Ash-Covered Loam and Other Stories (1954), and The Bamboo
Dancers (1949), which appeared in Russian translation in 1965 and 1974.
•Seven Hills Away is a collection of short stories that sketch the daily lives of
the Filipino kaingeros in his hometown province, Mindoro.
•The Bamboo Dancers is a diasporic novel that features the challenges faced
by Filipinos in America.
e. Who is Edith L. Tiempo?
 A Filipino writer in English.
 She was a poet, fiction writer, and literary critic.
 known for using intricate and witty representations to portray
significant human experiences.
 Some of her well known poems are "The Return," a poem that
describes the characteristics of old age, "Lament for the Littlest
Fellow," a poem that presents a metaphor to describe the plight of
a submissive wife under her domineering husband, and "Bonsai,"
a poem that gives a look at how tangible objects could be keepers
of memories and emotions.
 known for her moral profoundness.
 One of her remarkable short stories, "The Black Monkey," won
third prize in the Carlos Palanca Memorial Award.
 is set during the time when guerrillas were fighting against the
Japanese during World War II, narrates the tormenting encounter
of a woman with a monkey.
 wrote the novel A Blade of Fern, which depicts the problems of
Filipino miners of Nibucal in southern Philippines.
 awarded as the National Artist for Literature in 1999.
 She founded with her husband the Silliman University National
Writers Workshop, which produced great young writers of her
time.
f. Who is F. Sionil Jose (Francisco Sionil Jose)?
 widely known as F. Sionil Jose, was born on December 3, 1924 in
Rosales, Pangasinan.
 his life and most of his works are influenced by Dr. Jose P. Rizal.
 edited various literary and journalistic publications, and he
founded the Philippine PEN, an organization of poets,
playwrights, and novelists.
 Opened Solidaridad Publishing House in 1965. A year after, he
founded Solidarity, a magazine that produces content mainly
focused on "current affairs, ideas, and the arts."
 was a recipient of numerous awards. Some of which are the
Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and
Creative Communications in 1980, the Pablo Neruda Centennial
Award in 2004, and the Officer in the French Order of Arts and
Letters in 2014.
 conferred as National Artist for Literature in 2001.
 Sionil Jose's Literary Works
 generally written in English and are translated to more than
twenty languages and produced worldwide.
 among his most celebrated works is the Rosales Saga. It
is a series of novels that are set from the Spanish
colonial period to the proclamation of Martial Law in
the 1970s. This saga includes the following novels: Po-
on, Tree, The Pretenders, Mass, and My Brother, My
Executioner.
 written several short stories, including the notable:
 "The God Stealer".
 a story about the friendship of Philip Latak, an Ifugao,
and Sam Christie, an American who wanted to buy
a bulol, a sculpture of an Ifugao god. The story depicts
the relationship and truths about the colonizer and the
colony.
 Waywaya: Eleven Filipino Short Stories
 a compilation of short stories about pre-Hispanic
Philippine society.
 In 2004, he published the children’s book The Molave
and Other Children’s Stories.
g. Who is Virgilio S. Almario?
 popularly known by his pen nameRio Alma, is a Filipino
artist known for his poetry and literary criticism.
 proclaimedNational Artist for Literature in 2003.

 Among his poetry collections are Makinasyon at Ilang

Tula (1968), his very first collection; Peregrinasyon at Iba
Pang Tula (1970), which won first prize in poetry in the
Carlos Palanca Memorial
Awards; DoktrinangAnakpawis (1979); MgaRetrato at
Rekwerdo (1984); and Muli Sa KandunganngLupa (1994).
 AngMakatasaPanahonngMakina (1982), now considered as
the first book of literary criticism in Filipino.
 His other critical works include Taludtod at
Talinghaga (1965), which tackles the traditional Tagalog
prosody; and Balagtasismo Versus Modernismo (1984), in
which he presents the two main directions of the Tagalog
Poetry.
 Founded the Galiansa Arte at Tula (GAT)
with the other poets Teo Antonio and Mike
Bigornia in 1970; and the Linangan saImahen,
Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA), an organization of
poets who write in Filipino, in 1985. From 1986
to 1992, he served as chairman of the Unyon ng
mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL),
considered to be the biggest umbrella
organization of writers. From 1998 to 2001, he
served as executive director of the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts
(NCCA). -- In 2013 he became the chairman of
the KomisyonngWikang Filipino (KWF).
h. Who is Alejandro R. Roces?
 a Filipino literary writer.
 born on July 13, 1924.
 a playwright, an essayist, and a short story writer.
 also a columnist at the Philippine Star, the Manila Times, and
the Manila Chronicle.
 known for his short story "We Filipinos Are Mild Drinkers," a
story about an American soldier in the Philippines who brags
about his drinking habits, but becomes overly drunk after
drinking lambanog offered by a Filipino farmer.
 From 1961 to 1965, he served as the Secretary of Education under
the regime of former president Diosdado Macapagal.
 servedas chairman of the Movie and Television Review and
Classification Board (MTRCB) in 2001.
 His other literary works are "My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken," a
story which talks about two brothers who were arguing whether
the chicken they caught was a hen or a rooster; Something to
Crow About, the first Filipino zarzuela in English about a man
named Kikowho earns a living by means of cockfighting;
and Fiesta, a collection of essays about various Philippine
festivals.
 conferred as National Artist for Literature in 2003.
 died on May 23, 2011.
i. Who is Bienvenido S. Lumbera?
 calledBeny when he was a young boy, was born in Lipa, Batangas on April 11,
1932. His parents had passed away before he turned five. Beny and his older
sister were raised by EusebiaTeru, their paternal grandmother.WhenEusebia
died, Beny came to live with his godparents, Enrique and Amanda Lumbera.
 Benyshowed natural aptitude for English.
 In sixth grade, his writing impressed his teacher so much that she once asked
him, in an accusatory tone, if he did write his composition himself. In his third
year in high school, his teacher gave him difficult works of literature to read.
 A year before his graduation, his first published work, the poem “Frigid
Moon,” appeared in the Sunday magazine of the Manila Chronicle. On a full
scholarship granted by the Fulbright Committee, Lumbera obtained his
masters and doctorate degrees at Indiana University.
 astrong advocate of the Filipino language. According to him, the gap
between the well-educated Filipinos and the majority cannot be bridged until
Filipino becomes their true lingua franca.
 received numerous awards for his work.
 The most notable ones were the Special Prize from the Palanca Awards for his
poetry collection SunogsaLipa at Iba Pang Tula in 1975, the Ramon
Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication
Arts in 1993, and the Philippine Centennial Literary Prize for Drama in 1998.
 received the title of National Artists for Literature in 2006.
Exercises: DO YOUR BEST!!!

Literary Genres
I. Reading Comprehension
FOLKTALE ;
Juan Pusong and His Father’s Cows (A Visayan Folktale)
One day Juan Pusong's father put his cows out to pasture. Juan slipped
away from home and took the cows into the forest and tied them there.
When his father found out that the cows were missing, he looked around
for them. While looking, he ran into his son.
“Where did you come from?” he asked.
“I just came from school, Father. Where are you going?”
“I am looking for our cows.”
“Don’t tell me the cows were missing, Father!" said Juan.
By that time, everybody knew about Juan’s power as a seer (manghuhula).
So, he took a little book from his pocket and looked into it. He said, “Our
cows are tied together in the forest.” So, his father went to the forest and
found the cows.
Later on, people would discover that Juan could not read even his own name.
Consequently, his father beat him for the trick he had played on him.
Question:
1. If you are the son in the story, would you do the same trick to
your father/ mother? Why?
2. What does folktale tells the reader?

FABLE(example);
NOTE: The monkey is a common animal character in Philippine
fables. It is often depicted as a cunning(clever) animal.
The Monkey and the Crocodile (A Tagalog Fable)
One day, a monkey saw a tall macopa tree laden with ripe fruits, which
stood by a wide river. It was hungry, so it climbed the tree and ate all of
the fruits. When it climbed down, it could find no means by which to
cross the river. Then it saw a young crocodile who had just woken up
from its siesta. It said to the crocodile in a friendly way, “My dear
crocodile, will you do me a favor?”
The crocodile was greatly surprised by the monkey’s amicable
salutation. So, it answered humbly, “Oh, yes! If there is anything I can
do for you, I shall be glad to do it.” The monkey then told the crocodile
that it wanted to get to the other side of the river. Then the crocodile said,
“I’ll take you there with all my heart. Just sit on my back, and we’ll go at
once.”
The monkey sat firmly on the crocodile’s back, and they
began to move. In a short while they reached the middle
of the stream. Then the crocodile began to laugh aloud.
“You foolish monkey!” it said, “I’ll eat your liver and
kidneys, for I’m very hungry.” The monkey became
nervous. Trying to conceal its anxiety, it said, “I’m very
glad that you mentioned the matter. I thought myself
that you might be hungry, so I have prepared my liver
and kidneys for your dinner. Unfortunately, in our
haste to depart, I left them hanging on the macopa tree.
Let us return, and I’ll get them for you.”
Convinced that the monkey was telling the truth, the
crocodile turned around and swam back to the direction
of the macopa tree. When they got near the riverbank,
the monkey nimbly jumped up onto the land and
scampered up the tree. The crocodile came to realize
what happened and said, “I am a fool.”
 Question:
1. In what scene do you like the story most?Why?
2. What does fable tells the reader?

LEGEND(example);
NOTE: There are different Filipino legends of the great flood. The
story of Bukidnon, for instance, tells that a huge crab caused the
water to rise by going into the sea. On the other hand, the Igorot
story tells that the sons of Lumawig the Great Spirit caused the
flood.

The Flood Story (A Legend of Bukidnon)

A long time ago there was a very big crab which crawled into the sea.
When it went in, it crowded the water out so that it ran all over the earth
and covered all the land.
Now about one moon before the flood happened, a wise man had told the
people that they must build a large raft. They did as he commanded and
cut many large trees until they had enough to make three layers. These
they bound tightly together; when it was done, they fastened the raft with
a long rattan cord to a big pole in the earth.
 Soon after the raft was done, the flood came. White water poured
out of the hills, and the sea rose and covered even the highest
mountains. The people and animals on the raft were safe, but all the
others drowned.
Soon the waters went down, and the raft was again on the ground.
It was near their old home, for the rattan cord had held.
The people on the raft together with the animals were the only ones
left on the whole earth.
Question:
1. What are some legends do you know in your place?
2. What does Legend tells the reader?

MYTH (example);
NOTE: There are Philippine versions of the creation myth. The
Igorot’s story tells that Lumawig the Great Spirit created people.
On the other hand, the Tagalog story tells that the first man and
woman came from a bamboo.
The Creation (An Igorot Myth)
 In the beginning, there were no people on the earth. Lumawig, the Great Spirit, came down
from the sky and cut many reeds. He divided the reeds into pairs which he placed in
different parts of the world, and then he said to them, “You must speak.” Immediately the
reeds became people, and in each place was a man and a woman who could talk. However,
the language of each couple differed from that of the others.
 Then Lumawig commanded each man and woman to marry, which they did. By and by
there were many children, all speaking the same language as their parents. The children
married and had many children of their own. In this way, there came to be many people on
the earth.
 Now Lumawig saw that there were several things which the people on the earth needed to
use, so he set to work to supply them. He created salt and told the inhabitants of one place
to boil it down and sell it to their neighbors. However, the people could not understand the
directions. The next time he visited them, they had not touched the salt. So, he took the salt
away from them and gave it to the people of a place called Mayinit.
 The people of Mayinit did as Lumawig directed. Because of their obedience, he told them
that they should always be owners of the salt and that the other peoples must buy of them.
 Then Lumawig went to the people of Bontoc and told them to get clay and make pots. They
got the clay, but they did not understand the molding; the jars were not well shaped.
Because of their failure, Lumawig told them that they would always have to buy their jars,
and he removed the pottery to Samoki.
 Lumawig told the people of Samoki what to do, and they did just as he said. Their jars were
well shaped and beautiful. Then Lumawig saw that they were fit owners of the pottery, and
he told them that they should always make many jars to sell.
 In this way, Lumawig taught the people and brought to them all the things which they now
have.