Philippine National Artists

in Literature
EM GONGORA JR.
What Is a Filipino National Artist in Literature?

The form and content of their writings created a sens

e of nationhood or instilled nationalism
Pioneered a unique style of creative expression in th
e literary arts that inspired younger generations of
writers
Displayed consistent excellence in the quality of the
ir works
Gained recognitions and awards from prestigious natio
Who Selects the Filipino National Artist in Literature?

 Panel of literary experts

Commissioners of the National Commission on Cul
ture and the Arts (NCCA)
Board of Governors of the Cultural Center of th
e Philippines (CCP)
President of the Republic of the Philippines
National Artists of the Philippines in Literature

1.Amado V. Hernandez (1973)

He was born in Hagonoy, Bulac
an but grew up in Tondo, Mani
la. His poems and novels writ
ten purely in the Filipino mo
ther tongue tackle the issues
of the poor and the working c
lass.
While still a teenager, he began writing in Ta
galog for the newspaper Watawat (Flag). He
would later write a column for the Tagalog p
ublication Pagkakaisa (Unity) and become e
ditor of Mabuhay (Long Live). His writings g
ained the attention of Tagalog literati and so
me of his stories and poems were included i
n anthologies, such as Clodualdo del Mund
o's Parolang Ginto and Alejandro Abadilla's
Talaang Bughaw.
Hernandez joined the resistance movem
ent when the Japanese invaded in the P
hilippines in 1941. He was an intelligenc
e operative of the guerilla outfit of Markin
g and Anderson, whose operations cove
red Bulacan and the Sierra Madre mount
ains, throughout the Second World War.
While he was a guerilla, Hernandez came in
contact with guerillas of the Hukbo ng Baya
n Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap) which was
founded by Luis Taruc and other communist
ideologues continued by the Philippine Com
monwealth troops entered in Bulacan. It is b
elieved that this was when Hernandez devel
oped sympathies, if not belief, with the com
munist movement.
National Artists of the Philippines in Literature

2. Jose Garcia Villa (1973)

Also a Manileño, from Malate’s Singalong St., he was
known here and abroad as the “master of the comma
poem”, a unique style he created.
 Jose Garcia Villa (August 5, 1908 – February 7,
1997) was a Filipino poet, literary critic, short sto
ry writer, and painter. He was awarded the Natio
nal Artist of the Philippines title for literature in 19
73, as well as the Guggenheim Fellowship in cre
ative writing by Conrad Aiken. He is known to ha
ve introduced the "reversed consonance rhyme s
cheme" 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 h
e derived from himself. These animals were also
explored by another poet E. E. Cummings in Dov
eglion, Adventures in Value, a poem dedicated to
Villa. Writing style Villa described his use of com
mas after every word as similar to "Seurat's archi
tectonic and measured pointillism—where the po
ints of color are themselves the medium as well
as the technique of statement".
Literary Reflections
First, A Poem Must Be Magical
by Jose Garcia Villa
First, a poem must be magical,
Then musical as a seagull.
It must be a brightness moving
And hold secret a bird’s flowe
ring
It must be slender as a bell,
And it must hold fire as well.
It must have the wisdom of bows
And it must kneel like a rose.
On the left is an excerpt
of verses from one example o
f Jose Garcia Villa’s comma
poem.
What can you say about how h
e uses commas to emphasize a
nd separate ideas ?
Is his poem more prose or st
ill a lyrical one or both?
Villa stood out for the ascetic brilliance of his poe
try and for his national origin." He was conferred
with a honoris causa doctorate degree for literatu
re by Far Eastern University in Manila on 1959
(and later by University of the Philippines), and t
he National Artist Award for Literature in 1973. H
e was one of three Filipinos, along with novelist J
ose Rizal and translator Nick Joaquin, included i
n World Poetry:
National Artists of the Philippines in Literature

3. Nick Joaquin (1976)

This versatile Filipino fro
m San Juan was a journalist
, poet, novelist, historian
, playwright, scriptwriter,
and biographer. But it was
his mystery- and suspense-
filled novels that became h
is trademark style like the
featured book on the left.
Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín (May 4, 19
17 – April 29, 2004) was a Filipino writer,
historian and journalist, best known for h
is short stories and novels in the English
language. He also wrote using the pen n
ame Quijano de Manila.
Joaquín was conferred the rank and title of Natio
nal Artist of the Philippines for Literature. He has
been considered one of the most important Filipi
no writers in English, along with José Rizal and
Claro M. Recto. After being honored as National
Artist, Joaquin used his position to work for intell
ectual freedom in society. He secured the releas
e of imprisoned writer José F. Lacaba.
At a ceremony on Mount Makiling attended by Fi
rst Lady Imelda Marcos, Joaquín delivered an in
vocation to Mariang Makiling, the mountain's myt
hical maiden. Joaquín touched on the importanc
e of freedom and the artist. After that, Joaquín w
as excluded by the Marcos regime as a speaker
at important cultural events.
National Artists of the Philippines in Literature

4. Carlos P. Romulo (1982)

This diminutive (only 4’ 11” in heig
ht) son of Camiling, Tarlac was a WW2
soldier, UN diplomat, and foreign affa
irs secretary to eight presidents. He
wrote 18 books mostly memoirs about hi
m, Douglas McArthur, Pres. Quezon, and
especially the Russian Andre Vishinky
who he silenced with this quote in a U
N Assembly: “It is the duty of the l
ittle Davids of this world to fling th
e pebbles of truth in the eyes of the
Carlos Peña Romulo, QSC PLH (14 January 1898 – 1
5 December 1985) was a Filipino diplomat, statesman
, soldier, journalist and author. He was a reporter at 16
, a newspaper editor by the age of 20, and a publisher
at 32. He was a co-founder of the Boy Scouts of the P
hilippines, a general in the US Army and the Philippine
Army, university president, President of the UN Gener
al Assembly, was eventually named one of the Philippi
nes' National Artists in Literature, and was the recipien
t of many other honors and honorary degrees.
Romulo served eight Philippine presidents, from Manu
el L. Quezon to Ferdinand Marcos, as the Secretary of
Foreign Affairs of the Philippines and as the country’s
representative to the United States and to the United
Nations. He also served as the Resident Commission
er to the U.S. House of Representatives during the Co
mmonwealth era. In addition, he served also as the S
ecretary of Education in President Diosdado P. Macap
agal’s and President Ferdinand E. Marcos’s Cabinet t
hrough 1962 to 1968.
National Artists of the Philippines in Literature

5. NVM Gonzales (1997)

A native of Romblon island, he was a
poet, an essayist, a novelist, and a
teacher who depicted with his pen th
e Filipino spirit in rural and urban
settings. Besides the book featured
on the left, his other works also fo
cus on nature like The Bamboo Dancer
s, The Winds of April, Seven Hills
Away, and Work in the Mountains.
 Néstor Vicente Madali González (September 8, 1915
– November 28, 1999) was a Filipino novelist, short st
ory writer, essayist and poet. Conferred as the Nation
al Artist of the Philippines for Literature in 1997. 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 sha
ping the Philippine short story and novel, and making
a new clearing within the English idiom and tradition o
n which he established an authentic vocabulary, ...
For his insightful criticism by which he advanced
the literary tradition of the Filipino and enriched t
he vocation for all writers of the present generati
on...For his visions and auguries by which he ga
ve the Filipino sense and sensibility a profound a
nd unmistakable script read and reread througho
ut the international community of letters..." N.V.M
. González was proclaimed National Artist of the
Philippines in 1997. He died on 28 November 19
99 in Philippines at the age of 84.
National Artists of the Philippines in Literature

6. Edith Tiempo (1999)

The only female awardee who hails f
rom Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya is a p
oet, novelist, literary critic, and
teacher. Her masterpieces are famou
s for her use of vivid metaphors an
d vibrant description that are flui
d and not burdened with trite detai
ls.
Edith L. Tiempo (April 22, 1919 – August 21, 201
1), poet, fiction writer, teacher and literary critic w
as a Filipino writer in the English language. Tiem
po was born in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, but
later became a resident of Dumaguete City, Negr
os Oriental. Her poems are intricate verbal transf
igurations 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. He
r language has been marked as "descriptive but
unburdened by scrupulous detailing." She is an i
nfluential tradition in Philippine Literature in Engli
sh. Together with her late husband, writer and cri
tic Edilberto K. Tiempo, they founded (in 1962) a
nd directed the Silliman National Writers Worksh
op in Dumaguete City, which has produced some
of the Philippines' best writers. She was conferre
d the National Artist Award for Literature in 1999.
National Artists of the Philippines in Literature

7. F. Sionil Jose (2001)

A native of Rosales, Pangasinan, h
e often gleans local legends and e
pics from his hometown as well as
from the Ilocos region to include
in his short stories and novels. H
is works are also consistent in de
picting the themes of class strugg
le, colonialism, social justice, a
nd national sovereignty.
 These include the Cultural Center of the Philippi
nes Centennial Award in 1999, the prestigious C
hevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 2000,
and the Order of Sacred Treasure (Kun Santo Zu
iho Sho) in 2001. In that same year, the Philippin
e government bestowed upon him the prestigiou
s title of National Artist for Literature for his outst
anding contributions to Philippine literature. In 20
04, José was garnered the coveted Pablo Nerud
a Centennial Award in Chile.
His novels and short stories depict the social und
erpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in
Filipino society. José's works—written in English
—have been translated into 28 languages, includ
ing Korean, Indonesian, Czech, Russian, Latvian
, Ukrainian and Dutch. By the turn of the century,
José continued to receive recognition from sever
al award-giving bodies.
 Performance Task #

Critique Paper Project

Choose one among the seven Filipino National Ar
tists in Literature tackled in this presentatio
n. From their body of literary works, choose on
e of any genre and do a critique of it. The cr
itique should address if the work met the Natio
nal Artist criteria of creating a sense of nati
onhood, unique style of creativity, profound im
pact on society and excellence and should also
THANKS