Aida Rivera Ford

Last Name: Ford

First Name: Aida

Middle Name: Rivera

Hometown: Jolo, Sulu (stays in Davao)

Date of Birth: January 22, 1929

Place of Birth: Jolo, Sulu

Brief Biography

Aida Rivera Ford was born on January 22, 1929 in Jolo, Sulu. She finished a degree in
Bachelor of Arts, Major in English at the Silliman University and graduated as Cum Laude.
She became the first editor of Sands and Coral, the literary publication and magazine of the
aforementioned university. Having the Fulbright grant, she went to University of Michigan
last 1954 to pursue MA in English Language and Literature. While studying at the University
of Michigan, in 1954, she won and received the prestigious Jules and Avery Hopwood for her
five short stories and fictions.

In 1993, she named the University of the Philippines Institute of Writing as National
Fellow for Fiction. After that, she became the director of two NCCA Mindanao-wide Creative
Writing Workshops and two UP National Writers Workshops. Aside from short stories, she
also writes essays for different publications about culture. She also have taught at the
University of Mindanao and Maryland Armed Forces School in Korea before transferring to
Ateneo de Davao University last 1969. She remained in the Ateneo de Davao University until
1980, and served as the Humanities Department Chairperson for 11 years. In 1980, she
founded the first fine arts school in Mindanao, the Ford Academy of the Arts (formerly
Learning Center of the Arts). The following are the awards she received through years:

1982 – Datu Bago Award (culture and the arts)

1984 – Philippine Government Parangal for Writers
1991 – Gawad CCP Award (essay in English)
1993 – Silliminian Award (literary arts and culture)
Major Influences

“You write how you see the world,” Aida Rivera Ford quoted. Most of the time, she
drew inspiration from the real events that’s happening and her perspective of the world.The
literary couple Edilberto and Edith Tiempo, writers Ricaredo Demetillo and Rodrigo Feria. A
great influence was Dolores Stephens Feria, her professor in Silliman University whose
criticism class introduced her to naturalism and objectivity in writing.

Common Subjects/Themes of Works

Love/Romance

Abandonment/Betrayal

Seduction

Feminism

Culturalism

List of Works

Love in the Cornhusks

Love in the Cornhusks arrays the illusions of love which are really shaken by the mess
which is often the by-product of love in the form ofdepicting a young woman in this story
with so much assurance brought by love. Thus, this story highlights the labeled physical
dissimilarity in Tinangbefore and after her marriage.

Oyanguren: Forgotten Founder of Davao

Presently, Dabawenyos only associate his name with the old name of a part of the
city’s main thoroughfare where the memory of the man and what he accomplished is nearly
vanished and forgotten. Oyanguren: Forgotten Founder of Davaoaims to restore Don Jose
Oyanguren in his proper place in Davao history.

Heroes in Love: Four Plays

Heroes in Love: Four Plays features events on the love lives of Jose Rizal, Gregorio Del
Pilar, Manuel L. Quezon, and the fictional Crisostomo Ibarra.Drama was a springboard for life
itself where we internalized, we interacted, and we communicated in a dynamic way; and
hopefully, entertained as well.
Collected Works

Collected Worksmanifests a wild queue of stories from the heartland of Mindanao to

the hurts of Bacolod in the war, to the fire-gutted hacienda in Central Luzon, to a most
dichotomous funeral in Manila and to heartbreak in Korea. Through all these, the discovery
of self emerges.

References

Bagazin, J.,(2016). Aida Rivera-Ford. Retrievedfrom https://prezi.com/rvjwl2tocl_l/aida-

rivera-ford/

Mary Martin Booksellers.,(n.d.). Oyanguren: Forgotten Founder of Davao. Retrieved from

http://www.marymartin.com/web/selectedIndex?mEntry=123813

Goodreads Incorporation.,(n.d.). Heroes in Love: Four Plays. Retrieved from

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16299581-heroes-in-love

Goodreads Incorporation.,(n.d.).Aida Rivera Ford: Collected Works. Retrieved from

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17734184-aida-rivera-ford

Conejos, A.,(2012). (Short Story) Love in the Cornhusks. Retrieved from

http://www.litreact.com/reactions/love-in-the-cornhusks_ford_conejos.html

Cimafranca, D. G.,(2009). Poetry Night 2. Retrieved from http://dagmay.kom.ph/2009/01/25

/poetry-night-2/

Panitikan : Philippine Literature Portal.,(2014). Aida Rivera Ford. Retrieved from http://
panitikan.com.ph/2014/06/07/aida-rivera-ford/

Ford, Aida (2016). Interloping the real and surreal in creating fiction. Retrieved from
http://mindanaotimes.net/life-and-times-of-aida-rivera-ford/