LUALHATI BAUTISTA

Lualhati Bautista is one of the foremost Filipino female novelists in the history of
contemporary Philippine Literature. Her novels include, “Dekada ’70 (Decade ’70)”, “Bata,
Bata, Pa’no Ka Ginawa? (Child, Child… How were you made?”, and “‘GAPÔ (short name for
Olongapo, Philippines)”.
In addition to being a novelist, Lualhati Bautista is also a movie and television
screenwriter and a short story writer. Her first screenplay was Sakada (Seasonal Sugarcane
Workers), a story written in 1975 that exposed the plight of Filipino peasants. Bautista has
received recognition from the Philippines’ Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature
and the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa in 1987. Her award-winning screenplays include Bulaklak
sa City Jail (A Flower in City Jail) (1984), Kung Mahawi Man ang Ulap (If The Clouds are
Parted) (1984), Sex Object (1985). For screenplay writing, she has received recognition from
the Metro Manila Film Festival (best story-best screenplay), Film Academy Awards (best story-
best screenplay), Star Awards (best screenplay), FAMAS (finalist for best screenplay), and
URIAN awards. Two of her short stories have also won the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards
for Literature, Tatlong Kuwento ng Buhay ni Julian Candelabra (Three Stories in the Life of
Julian Candelabra), first prize, 1982; and Buwan, Buwan, Hulugan mo Ako ng Sundang (Moon,
Moon, Drop Me a Sword), third prize, 1983. Bautista also authored the television dramas Daga
sa Timba ng Tubig (The Mouse in the Bucket of Water) (1975) and Isang Kabanata sa Libro ng
Buhay ni Leilani Cruzaldo (A Chapter in the Book of Life of Leilani Cruzaldo) (1987). The
latter won best drama story for television from the Catholic Mass Media Awards.
Bautista was honored by the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings on March 10, 2004
during the 8th Annual Lecture on Vernacular Literature by Women. In 2005, the Feminist
Centennial Film Festival presented her with a recognition award for her outstanding
achievement in screenplay writing. In 2006, she was recipient of the Diwata Award for best
writer by the 16th International Women’s Film Festival of the UP Film Center.
She is also the only Filipino included in a book on foremost International Women Writers
published in Japan, 1991.