Canonical Authors and

Works of Philippine
National Artists in Literature
Carlos P. Romulo
• His multifaceted career spanned 50 years of
public service as educator, soldier, university
president, journalist and diplomat.
• First Asian president of the United Nations
General Assembly
• Philippine Ambassador to Washington D.C,
and minister of foreign affairs.
• The only Asian who win coveted America’s
Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for a series of
articles predicting the outbreak of World War
II.
• Romulo wrote and published 18 books, a
range of literary works which include The
United (novel), I Walked with Heroes
(autobiography), I saw the Fall of the
Philippines, Mother America, I see the
Philippines Rise (war-time memoirs).
• Major Works: Forty Years: A Third World
Soldier at the UN, and The Philippine
Presidents,
Jose Garcia Villa
• He is considered as one of the finest
contemporary poets regardless of race or
language.
• He introduced the reversed consonance rime
scheme, including the comma poems that
made full use of the punctuation mark in an
innovative, poetic way.
• He used Doveglion (Dove, Eagle, and Lion) as
pen name.
• Works: Footnote to Youth, Many Voices,
Poems by Doveglion, Poems 55, Poems in
Praise of Love: The Best Love Poems of Jose
Garcia Villa as Chosen By Himself
Francisco Arcellana
• He is a writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist
and teacher, is one of the most important
progenitors of the modern Filipino short
story in English.
• He pioneered the development of the short
story as a lyrical prose-poetic form.
• Short Story Works: Frankie, The Man Who
Would Be Poe, Death in a Factory, Lina, A
Clown Remembers, Divided by Two, The Mats
• Poem Works: The Other Woman, This Being
the Third Poem, This Poem is for Mathilda, To
Touch You and I Touched Her.
Nick Joaquin
• He is regarded by many as the most
distinguished Filipino writer in English writing
so variedly and so well about so many
aspects of the Filipino.
• He was a novelist, poet, playwright and
essayist.
• He used the pen name Quijano de Manila.
• Major Works: Manila, The Woman Who Had
Two Navels, Rizal in Saga, and Almanac for
Manilenos, A Portrait of an Artist as a Filipino
and May Day Eve
NVM Gonzalez
• A fictionist, essayist, poet, and teacher,
articulated the Filipino spirit in rural, urban
landscapes.
• He received numerous awards including the
City of Manila Medal of Honor in 1971, the
CCP awards in 1990 and the role of Regents
professor at the University of California at
Los Angeles in 1988-1989.
• Major Works: The Winds of April, Seven Hills
Away, The Bamboo Dancers, Children of the
Ash-Covered Loam and Other Stories, Look
Stranger, On this Island Now, Mindoro and
Beyond: Twenty-One Stories, The Bread of
Salt and Other Stories, Work on the
Mountain, The Novel of Justice: Selected
Essays 1968 – 1994,
Cirilo F. Bautista
• He is a poet, fictionist and essayist with
exceptional achievements and significant
contributions to the development of the
country’s literary arts.
• As a writer, through his significant body of
works;
• As a teacher, through his discovery and
encouragement of young writers in workshops
and lectures; and
• As a critic, through his essays that provide
insights into the craft of writing and
correctives to misconception of arts.
• He received Carlos Palanca Memorial
Awards, Philippines Free Press Awards for
Fiction and Pablo Roman Prize for Novel.
• He was hailed in 1993 as Makata ngTaon.
• Major works: Summer Suns (1963), Words
and Battlefields (1998), The Trilogy of Saint
Lazarus (2001), Galaw ng Asoge (2003)
Edith L. Tiempo
• She is a poet, fictionist, teacher and literary
critic is one of the finest literary Filipino
writers in English.
• Her poems are intricate verbal
transfigurations of significant experiences.
• Her language has been marked as
“descriptive but unburdened by scrupulous
detailing”.
• Novel Works: A Blade of Fern (1978), The
Native Coast (1979), and The Alien Corn
(1992)
• Short Story Works: Abide, Joshua and Other
Stories (1964)
• Poetry Collections: The Tracks of Babylon and
Other Poems (1966), and
• The Charmer’s Box and Other Poems (1993)
Amado V. Hernandez
• He is a poet, playwright, and novelist, is among
the Filipino writers who practiced “committed
art”.
• He stripped Tagalog of its ornate character and
wrote in prose closer to the colloquial than the
“official” style permitted.
• His novel Mga Ibong Mandaragit, first written
by Hernandez while in prison, is the first Filipino
socio-political novel that exposes the ills of the
society as evident in the agrarian problems of
the 50s.
• Works: Bayang Malaya, Isang Dipang Langit,
Luha ng Buwaya, Amado V. Hernandez:Tudla
at Tudling: Katipunan ng mga Nalathalang
Tula 192 – 1970, Langaw sa Isang Basong
Gatas at Iba Pang Kuwento ni Amado V.
Hernandez, Magkabilang Mukha ng Isang
Bagol at Iba Pang Akda ni Amado V.
Hernandez
Virgilio S. Almario
• He is a poet, literary historian and critic, who
has revived and reinvented traditional
Filipino poetic forms.
• He has published 12 books of poetry.
• He redefined how the Filipino poetry is
viewed and paved the way for the discussion
of his 10 books of criticisms and anthologies.
• Works: 12 Books of Poetry which include the
seminal Makinasyon and Peregrinasyon, and
the landmark trilogy Doktrinang Anakpawis,
Mga Retrato at Rekerdo and Muli, Sa
Kandungan ng Lupa.
• 10 Books of Criticism and Anthologies which
are Ang MAKATA SA Panahon ng Makina,
Balagtasismo versus Modernismo, Walong
Dekada ng Makabagong Tula Pilipino,
• Mutyang Dilim and Barlaan at Josaphat
Lazaro Francisco
• He is a Filipino novelist, essayist and
playwright.
• He started writing in 1925, with five of his
novels took him to fame.
• He won separate awards from
Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940 and
1946.
• Major Works: Novels: Binhi at Bunga (Seed
and Fruit) 1925, Cesar1926, Short Stories: Deo
1927, Ang Beterano (The Veteran) 1931 and
Ang Idolo (The Idol) 1932
F. Sionil Jose
• He is a publisher, lecturer on cultural issues,
and the founder of the Philippine chapter of
the international organization PEN.
• He received the CCP Centennial Honors for
the Arts in 1999; the Outstanding
Fulbrighters Award for Literature in 1988;
and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for
Journalism, Literature, and Creative
Communication Arts in 1980.
• Major Works: The Rosales Saga,
Consisting of The Pretenders, Tree, My
Brother, My Executioner, Mass,
and Po-on
• As a poet, he introduced to Tagalog literature
what is now known as Bagay poetry, a landmark
aesthetic tendency that has helped to change the
vernacular poetic tradition. His works: Likhang
Dila, Likhang Diwa (poems in Filipino and
English),
• As a librettist for the Tales of the Manuvu and
Rama Hari, he pioneered the creative fusion of
fine arts and popular imagination.
• As a scholar, his major books include the
following: Tagalog Poetry, 1570-1898: Tradition
and Influences in its Development; Philippine
Literature: A History and Anthology,
Revaluation: Essays on Philippine Literature,
Writing the Nation/Pag-akda ng Bansa.
Alejandro Roces
• He is a short story writer and essayist, and
considered as the country’s best writer of
comic short stories.
• He is known for his widely anthologized
“My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken.”
• He is the instrument in popularizing
several local fiestas, notably, Moriones
and Ati-atihan.
• He led the campaign to change the country’s
Independence Day from July 4 to June 12 and
recovered Jose Rizal’s manuscripts when they
were stolen from the National Archives.
• His works have been published in various
international magazines and has received
national and international awards.
Rolando S. Tinio
• He is a playwright, thespian, poet, teacher,
critic, and translator that marked his career
with prolific artistic productions.
• He worked on reviving traditional Filipino
drama by re-staging old theater forms like
Sarswela and opening a treasure-house of
contemporary Western drama.
• Aside from his collections of poetry
(Sitsit sa Kuliglig, Dunung – Dunungan,
Kristal na Uniberso, A Trick of Mirrors)
• Among his works were the following:
film scripts for Now and Forever, Gamitin
Mo Ako, Bayad Puri and Milagros;
sarswelas Ang Mestisa, Ako, Ang Kiri,
Ana Maria; the komedya Orosman at
Zafira; and Larawan, the musical.
Levi Celerio
• He is a prolific lyricist and composer
for decades.
• He enriched the Philippine music for no
less than two generations with a
treasury of more than 4,000 songs.
• He made it to the Guinness Book of
World Records as the only person able
to make music using just a leaf.
• He effortlessly translated/wrote anew the
lyrics to traditional melodies: “O
Maliwanag Na Buwan” (Iloko), “Ako ay
May Singsing” (Pampango),
“Alibangbang” (Visaya) among others.
 Activity # 3
• Directions: Follow the instructions and deliver.
Step 1: Choose a specific National Artist in Literature.
Step 2: Research on his life and times.
Step 3: Analyze at least one of his/her masterpiece.
Step 4: Answer the following questions.
 
• Questions:
1. Why is he/she deserves the title as one of the National Artist?
2. What makes him/her unique and standout among others?
3. Describe his/her masterpiece.
4. Do you think he/she can be an inspiration to other Filipinos?
Why and in what manner?