REGION VII
1. Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
=Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is an award-winning author and editor of nineteen books.
She co-founded PAWWA or Philippine
American Women Writers and Artists; she also founded Philippine American
Literary House. Brainard's works include the World War II novel, When the
Rainbow Goddess Wept, Magdalena, and Woman With Horns and Other Stories. She edited
several anthologies including Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary
Fiction by Filipinos in America, and two volumes of Growing Up Filipino
I and II, books used by educators.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Biography
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard (born 1947) grew up Cebu City,
Philippines, the youngest of four children to Concepcion Cuenco Manguerra and
Mariano F. Manguerra. The death of her father when she was nine prompted her to
start writing, first in journals, then essays and fiction. She attended St.
Theresa's College and Maryknoll College in the Philippines; and she did
graduate work at UCLA.[2][7][8]
Brainard has worked with Asian American youths for which
she received a Special Recognition Award from the Los Angeles Board of
Education. She has also received awards from the California State Senate, 21st
District, several USIS Grants, a California Arts Council Fellowship, an
Outstanding Individual Award from the City of Cebu, Philippines, Brody Arts
Fund Award, a City of Los Angeles Cultural grant, and many more. The books she
has written and edited have also won awards, the Gintong Aklat Award and the
International Gourmand Award among them. Her work has been translated into
Finnish and Turkish.
Brainard's second novel, Magdalena inspired the
playwright Jocelyn Deona de Leon to write a stage play, Gabriela's Monologue,
which was produced in 2011 by the Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco as part
of Stories XII! annual production showcasing original works for the stage by
Pilipino/Filipino American Artists.
Brainard's writings can be found in periodicals such as Town
and Country, Zee Lifestyle Magazine, Focus Philippines, Philippine
Graphic, Amerasia Journal, Bamboo Ridge among others. Her
stories have been anthologized in books such as Making Waves (1989), Songs
of Ourselves (1994), On a Bed of Rice (1995), "Pinay:
Autobiographical Narratives by Women Writers, 1926-1998" (Ateneo 2000),
"Asian American Literature" (Glencoe McGraw-Hill 2001),Cherished
(New World Library, 2011), and other.
When the
Rainbow Goddess Wept.
- Acapulco at
Sunset and other Stories (short story collection, Anvil, 1995)
- Angelica's
Daughters, a Dugtungan Novel (a collaborative novel co-authored by Brainard, Cuizon, Evangelista,
Montes, and Sarreal, Anvil, 2010)
- "Gokkusagi
Tanricasi Agladginda" (Turkish edition of "When the
Rainbow Goddess Wept" Bilge Kultur Sanat, translated by Fusun
Talay, 2001)
- Magdalena (novel, Plain View Press, 2002)
- Vigan and other
Stories (short story
collection, Anvil, 2011)
- When the Rainbow
Goddess Wept (novel,
Dutton, 1994), which first appeared as Song of Yvonne, (New Day
Publishers, 1991) (Plume paperback, 1995), (University of Michigan Press,
1999)
- Woman With Horns and Other Stories (short story collection, New Day Publishers, 1988)[1][2][3]
- Magnificat: Mama
Mary's Pilgrim Sites (Edited by Brainard, Anvil, 2012)
- Philippine Woman
in America (New Day
Publishers, 1991)[1][2][3]
.2. Antonio
Abad
One of the most famous Filipino writers is Antonio Abad
who was born in 1894 and died in 1970. He hailed from Cebu, Philippines and was
known as an essayist, playwright, fictionist and poet. Among the novels that
Antonio Abad had written were El Ultimo Romantico, La Oveja de Nathan, Dagohoy,
El Campeon, and La Vida Secreta de Daniel Espeña. The first two novels
mentioned were awarded the Premio Zobel award in 1928 and 1929. This Filipino
writer extended his contribution in the literary field by becoming a professor
in such universities as the University of the Philippines and Far Eastern
University. As a matter of fact, Antonio Abad was one of the founders of the
Department of Spanish of the University of the Philippines. The son of Antonio
Abad, Gemino H. Abad, was also a poet.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2853742
3. Martin Abellana
Another Filipino writer who contributed a lot in the Philippine literary
industry was Martin Abellana, born in 1904 and died in 1989. Martin Abellana
was a Filipino writer who hailed from the Visayan region of the Philippines.
Aside from being a writer, he was also a teacher and was even elected president
of an organization of Cebuano writers known as LUDABI. He served as LUDABI
president from 1956 to 1958. Among his novels are Kinabuhi, Awit sa Gugma,
Basuni sa Katingala, Tulisok sa Tanlag, Ang Kalayo sa Sulad, and Kaulit sa
Kalipay.
Antonio Martinez Abad known as the “el gran novelista de la literatura
Filipino hispana despues de Rizal”. He was born on May 10, 1894 in Barili, Cebu
and studied at Colegio de San Carlos. He was a poet, fictionist, playwright,
and essayist who wrote in Spanish; a master of a master of costumbrismo (local color), in a personal form of
anecdote known as instantánea or ráfaga. He became a professor at Far Eastern University
and the University of the Philippines, where he taught Spanish and co-founded
the Department of Spanish (now European Languages). One of his novels, La Oveja de Nathan, is widely discussed in the
following article in Spanish, by Professor Manuel Garcia Castellon, from
University of New Orleans.
Some of his novels include El Último Romántico
(1929), La Oveja de Nathán (1929), Dagohoy (1939), El Campeón (1939), and La Vida Secreta de Daniel
Espeña (1960; one of the last Filipino novels written in Spanish).
He won the Premio Zobel for his El Último Romántico
and La Oveja de Nathán (with Flaviano Zaragoza), and Premio Concurso Literario de la Mancomunidad Filipina for novels
Dagohoy and El Campeón. He was also one of the recipients of the Commonwealth
Literary Awards.
Abad was
also the editor of La Revolution, El Precursor, El Espectador, The Cebu
Advertiser, and El Debate; and in 1926, he became the president of La Opinion.
He is the father of poet and critic Gemino Abad.
He died on
April 10, 1970.
Consolacion R. Alaras wants to be remembered as the proponent of
restoring the ancestral role of language, literature, arts, history and
spirituality as the heart and soul of national development, transformation and
unity. She is a professor of UP Department of English and Comparative
Literature. She has served as chair of the DECL and NCAA Committee on Cultural
Information and Special Events, both for two terms; NCAA Representative to the
Pamitinan Protected Area Management Board of the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources; chairperson, Corruption Prevention Working Group in the
Ombudsman Multisectoral Anticorruption Council for United Nations Convention
Against Corruption (UNCAC); head, Academe Sector of the Good Citizenship
Council, and; chairperson, Moral Recovery Officers Foundation, Inc.
She completed her
Ph.D Philippine Studies at the University of thePhilippines, Diliman. She
received several grants such as UP Fellowship, Ford Rockefeller, RPUS Faculty
Development and European Union Study Visit
in Franceand Germany for Intellectual Copyright.
Her published books
include “Pamitinan: Ang Pagbubukas ng Tipanan ng Mahal na Ina” (1988); “Kuweba
Pamitinan” (1996); “Rizal and the Katipunan Pilgrimage for Sacred Prophetic
Politics in the Philippines for the World” (2001), and; “The Filipino
Earth Charter Pamatalaan Dambana ng Bayan” (2005).
Her column
“Pamatalaan Column” in Balitang- Balita stresses the values and spirituality in
the Philippines and the world. Her workshop abroad was “The
Multisectoral English Plus Project of the University of
the Philippines and the Commission on Higher Education for Filipino
Earth Charter Classroom and Communities.
Alaras was born
in Cebu City on September 1, 1941 to Mr. Felipe and Mrs.
Guillerma Alaras.
Born in Carcar on May 18, 1909, Diosdado Alesna studied
at the Carcar Institute, Cebu Provincial High School, University of the
Visayas. He taught in the public schools; served in other civil positions and
retired in 1972 as administrative officer of the Cebu District Engineer’s
Office. He started writing in 1920. Alesna created the verse form, siniloy. His
best poems are "Ang Gahum sa Awit," "Kalimti ug Biyai," and
"Si Kristo sa Balabag," all LUDABI prize winners. He was honored in
1966 as LUDABI’s Most Outstanding Poet for the last ten years. His many pen
names are: Diody Mangloy, Tancredo Rigor, Reynaldo Lap. Buntia, Melendres La
Roca and Flordeliz Makaluluoy
Estrella Alfon, who hailed from Cebu, was born on 1917. She is a
well-known storywriter, playwright and journalist; and though a Cebuana, she
wrote almost exclusively in English. Unlike other writers of her time, she did
not come from the intelligensia. She attended college, and studied medicine;
however, when she was mistakenly diagnosed with tuberculosis and sent to a
sanitarium, she resigned from her pre-medical education, and left with an
Associate of Arts degree from the University of the Philippines. In spite
of having only an A.A. degree, she was eventually appointed as a professor of
Creative Writing at the University of thePhilippines, Manila. She was a
member of the U.P. Writers Club, she held the National Fellowship in Fiction
post at the U.P. Creative Writing Center in 1979.
She
became a member of the U. P. Writers Club and was given the privileged post of
National Fellowship in Fiction post at the U. P. Creative Writing Center. Her
first story, Grey Confetti, was published in graphic in 1935.
She
was the only female member of the Veronicans, an avant garde group of writers
in the 1930s led by Francisco Arcellana and H.R. Ocampo, she was also regarded
as their muse. The Veronicans are recognized as the first group of Filipino
writers to write almost exclusively in English and were formed prior to the
World War II. She is also reportedly the most prolific Filipina writer prior to
World War II. She was a regular contributor to Manila-based national magazines;
she had several stories cited in Jose Garcia Villa’s annual honor rolls. She
also served on the Philippine Board of Tourism in the 1970s.
Some
of her achievements are:
§ 1940: A collection
of her early short stories, “Dear Esmeralda,” won Honorable Mention in the Commonwealth
Literary Award.
·
1961-1962: Four of her
one-act plays won all the prizes in the Arena Theater Play Writing Contest:
“Losers Keepers” (first prize), “Strangers” (second prize), “Rice” (third
prize), and “Beggar” (fourth prize).
·
1961-1962: Won top prize
in the Palanca Contest for “With Patches of Many Hues.”
·
1974: Second place
Palanca Award for her short story, "The White Dress".
·
1979: National
Fellowship in Fiction post at the U.P. Creative WritingCenter.
Palanca Awards
§ Forever Witches, One-act Play (Third place, 1960)
§ With Patches of Many Hues, One-act Play (First place,
1962)
§ Tubig, One-act Play (Second place, 1963)
§ The Knitting Straw, One-act Play, (Third place, 1968)
§ The White Dress, Short Story (Second place, 1974)
8. Diosdado G.
Alesna
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Diosdado G. Alesna
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Born
in Carcar on May 18, 1909, Diosdado Alesna studied at the Carcar
Institute, Cebu Provincial High School, University of the Visayas. He taught
in the public schools; served in other civil positions and retired in 1972 as
administrative officer of the Cebu District Engineer’s Office. He started
writing in 1920. Alesna created the verse form, siniloy. His best poems are
"Ang Gahum sa Awit," "Kalimti ug Biyai," and "Si
Kristo sa Balabag," all LUDABI prize winners. He was honored in 1966 as
LUDABI’s Most Outstanding Poet for the last ten years. His many pen names
are: Diody Mangloy, Tancredo Rigor, Reynaldo Lap. Buntia, Melendres La Roca and
Flordeliz Makaluluoy.
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REGION VII
