LITERATURE

VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO

National Artist for Literature (2003)

Virgilio Senadrin Almario

Born March 9, 1944 (age 74)
San Miguel, Bulacan, Philippine Commonwealth

Pen name Rio Alma

Occupation Poet, literary critic, lecturer, editor

Nationality Filipino

Alma mater University of the Philippines

Literary movement Philippine Modernism

National Artist of the Philippines, University of the

Notable awards Philippines Centennial Award, Amado V. Hernandez
Award, Balagtas Award for Poetry and Essay

Spouse Emelina B. Soriano

Children Asa Victoria, Ani Rosa, Agno Virgilio

 Virgilio S. 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 and currently serves as the chairman of the Komisyon sa
Wikang Filipino (KWF), the government agency mandated to promote and
 standardize the use of the Filipino language. On January 5, 2017, Almario was
also elected as the chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
 Growing up in Bulacan among peasants, Almario sought his education at Manila
and completed his degree in A.B. Political Science at the University of the
Philippines.
 His life as a poet started when he took master’s course in education at the
University of the East where he became associated with Rogelio G. Mangahas
and Lamberto E. Antonio.
 A prolific writer, he spearheaded the second successful modernist movement in
Filipino poetry together with Rogelio Mangahas and Teo 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, Euripides and
Maxim Gorki. Other important translations include the famous works of the
Philippines' national hero, José Rizal, namely Noli Me Tangere and El
filibusterismo. For these two, he was awarded the 1999 award for 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 Lagao Central Elementary School 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.
 He was a founding member of the Gallan sa Arte at Tula (GAT), along with
fellow poets Teo Antonio and Mike Bigornia.

WORKS

POETRY COLLECTIONS:

* Palipad-Hangin. (1985) * Ikatlong Bagting

 *Sentimental. (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 Doctolero. (2006)

*Buwan, Buwang, Bulawan. (2009) *UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino

 * Doktrinang Anak Pawis

CIRILIO F. BAUSTISTA
 National Artist for Literature (2014)

Cirilo F. Bautista
Born
July 9, 1941 (age 76)

University of Santo Tomas

Education St. Louis University
De La Salle University-Manila

Notable awards National Artist of the Philippines

 Cirilo F. Bautista (born July 9, 1941) is a Filipino poet, fictionist, critic and
writer of nonfiction. He was conferred with the National Artist of the Philippines
award in 2014.

EDUCATION

 He received his basic education from Legarda Elementary School (1st Honorable
Mention, 1954) and Mapa High School (Valedictorian, 1959). He received his
degrees in AB Literature from the University of Santo Tomas (magna cum laude,
1963), MA Literature from St. Louis University, Baguio City (magna cum laude,
1968), and Doctor of Arts in Language and Literature from De La Salle
University-Manila (1990). He received a fellowship to attend the International
Writing Program at the University of Iowa (1968–1969) and was awarded an
honorary degree—the only Filipino to have been so honored there.

CAREER
 Bautista taught creative writing and literature at St. Louis University (1963–1968)
and the University of Santo Tomas (1969–1970) before moving to De La Salle
University-Manila in 1970. He is also a co-founding member of the Philippine
Literary Arts Council (PLAC) and a member of the Manila Critics Circle,
Philippine Center of International PEN and the Philippine Writers Academy.
 Bautista has also received Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards (for poetry, fiction
and essay in English and Filipino) as well as Philippines Free Press Awards for
Fiction, Manila Critics' Circle National Book Awards, Gawad Balagtas from the
Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas, the Pablo Roman Prize for the Novel, and
the highest accolades from the City of Manila, Quezon City and Iligan City.
Bautista was hailed in 1993 as Makata ng Taon by the Komisyon ng mga Wika ng
Pilipinas for winning the poetry contest sponsored by the government. The last
part of his epic trilogy The Trilogy of Saint Lazarus, entitled Sunlight on Broken
Stones, won the Centennial Prize for the epic in 1998. He was an exchange
professor in Waseda University and Ohio University. He became an Honorary
Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Iowa in 1969, and was the first
recipient of a British Council fellowship as a creative writer at Trinity College,
Cambridge in 1987.
 Bautista works include Boneyard Breaking, Sugat ng Salita, The Archipelago,
Telex Moon, Summer Suns, Charts, The Cave and Other Poems, Kirot ng Kataga,
and Bullets and Roses: The Poetry of Amado V. Hernandez. His novel Galaw ng
Asoge was published by the University of Santo Tomas Press in 2004. His latest
book, Believe and Betray: New and Collected Poems, appeared in 2006,
published by De La Salle University Press.
 His poems have appeared in major literary journals, papers, and magazines in the
Philippines and in anthologies published in the United States, Japan, the
Netherlands, China, Romania, Hong Kong, Germany and Malaysia. These
include: excerpts from Sunlight on Broken Stones, published in World Literature
Today, USA, Spring 2000; What Rizal Told Me (poem), published in Manoa,
University of Hawaii, 1997; She of the Quick Hands: My Daughter and The
Seagull (poems), published in English Teacher’s Portfolio of Multicultural
Activities, edited by John Cowen (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996).
 Aside from his teaching, creative and research activities as a Professor Emeritus
of Literature at the College of Liberal Arts, De La Salle University-Manila,
Bautista is also a columnist and literary editor of the Philippine Panorama, the
Sunday Supplement of the Manila Bulletin. He is also a member of the Board of
Advisers and Associate, Bienvenido Santos Creative Writing Center of De La
Salle University-Manila and Senior Associate, The Center for Creative Writing
and Studies of the University of Santo Tomas.

AWARDS

He is a recipient of many awards and fellowships, including:

1 Palanca Hall of Fame Award

2.Gawad Manuel L. Quezon,

3. Gawad Balagtas National Book Awards

4. Knight Commander of Rizal

5. Centennial Literary Award

6.Parangal Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan

7. Gawad Gatpuno Antonio Villegas from the City of Manila

8.Honorary fellowship in creative writing from the State University of Iowa,

9. Visiting writer fellowship from Cambridge University in England

10.Exchange professorship in Waseda University of Tokyo

11.Exchange professorship in Ohio University in Ohio, USA

12.He was cited in The Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992)

WORKS

POETRY

* Summer Suns (with Albert Casuga, 1963)

* The Cave and Other Poems (1968)

* The Archipelago (1970)

* Charts (1973)

* Telex Moon (1981)

* Sugat ng Salita (1985)

* Kirot Ng Kataga (1995),

* Sunlight On Broken Stones (2000)

* Tinik Sa Dila: Isang Katipunan Ng Mga Tula (2003)

* The Trilogy Of Saint Lazarus (2001)

* Believe and Betray: New and Collected Poems (2007)

* Third World Geography

FICTION

* Stories (1990)

*Galaw ng Asoge (2004)

LITERARY THEORY AND CULTURAL STUDIES

* Breaking Signs (1990)

* Words And Battlefields: A Theoria On The Poem (1998)

* The Estrella D. Alfon Anthology Vol. I – Short Stories (2000)

* Bullets And Roses: The Poetry Of Amado V. Hernandez / A Bilingual Edition
(translated Into English And With A Critical Introduction) (2002)

MAJOR WORKS

* Summer Suns (1963) * Words and Battlefields (1998)

* The Trilogy of Saint Lazarus (2001) * Galaw ng Asoge (2003)