🥗[21CLPW]🔋| 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World—

Lesson 5 (NT)
Canonical Philippine National Artists in Literature

 Amado V. Hernandez – 1973

- Labor leader. Known for his criticism of social injustices. Imprisoned for his involvement in
the communist movement. Luha ng Buwaya, Mga Ibong Mandaragit, Bullets & Roses: The
Poetry of Amado V. Hernandez
 Jose Garcia Villa- 1973
- Poet, literary critic, short story writer, painter. Finest contemporary poets. Regardless of race
or language. Guggenhei Fellowship in Creative Writing (Conrad Aiken). The Anchored Angel,
Doveglion
 Carlos P. Romula-1982
- Diplomat, statesman, soldier, journalist, author. Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence “might
have been lived in a different country and a different age”. I Walked With Heroes, I am a
Filipino
 Francisco Arcellana -1990
- Writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist, teacher. Master of words, and master of storytelling.
From a family of many children. The Mats
 N. V. M. Gonzalez -1997
- Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez. Novelist, short story writer, essayist, poet. Articulated the
Filipino spirit in rural, urban landscapes. Children of the Ash-covered Loam, The Tomato
Game, On the Ferry, Lupo and the River
 Edith L. Tiempo -1999
- Fiction writer, poet, teacher, literary critic. Wrote Philippine literatures in English. Works are
characterized by a remarkable fusion of style and substance, of craftsmanship and insight
Bonsai, Lament for the Littlest Fellow
 F. Sioníl José – 2001
- Novelist, short story writer. One of the most widely read Filipino writers in English. His novels
and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in the
society. The God Stealer
 Virgilio S. Almario – 2003
- RIO ALMA. Artist, poet, critic, translator, editor, teacher, cultural manager. Revived and
reinvented traditional poetic forms to modernism. Wielding a pen into untruths, hypocrisy,
injustice, etc. UP Diksyunaryong Pilipino, Doktrinang Anakpawis.
 Alejandro R. Roces – 2003
- Author, essayist, dramatist, Secretary of Education (1961 -1965). The country’s best writer of
comic short stories. My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken
 Bienvenido Lumbera – 2006
- Poet, critic, dramatist. Introduced “Bagay” poetry, a landmark aesthetic tendency that has
helped to change the vernacular poetic tradition. Pioneered the creative fusion of fine arts
and popular. Imagination Tales of the Manuvu and Rama Hari.
 Lazaro Francisco – 2009
- Novelist. Master of the Tagalog Novel. Developed the social realist tradition in Philippine
fiction, embodied in his works his commitment to nationalism. Ama, Bayang Nagpatiwakal,
Maganda pa ang Daigdig, Daluyong.
 Cirilo F. Bautista – 2014
- Poet, fictionist, essayist Discovery of encouragements of the young, provide insights into the
craft of writing and correctives to misconception. About art. Summer Suns, Words and
Battlefields, The Trilogy of Saint Lazarus, Galaw ng Asoge
🥗[21CLPW]🔋| 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World—
Lesson 5 (NT)

Philippine National Artists from the Regions

Literature is one of the disciplines in which the National Artist Award is given to The fist National Artist for
Literature was Amado V. Hemandez (September 13, 1903-May 24, 1970). One of his best works, Mga
Ibong Mandaragit, was written in prison to expose the problems in the society. This recognizes the power of
literature as a storytelling medium that unites people across time and space.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) stated that being ordered as the National
Artist for Literature aims to recognize the following:

1. Country: Filipino artists who have made signif cant contributions to the cultural heritage of the
2. Filipino artistic accomplishment at its highest level and to promote creative expression as significant
to the development of a national cultural identity; and
3. Filipino artists who have dedicated their lives to their works to forge new paths and directions for
future generations of Filipino artists.
4.
Since the establishment of the National Artists Award, the following artists from other regions (aside from
Metropolitan Manila) have already received this honorable recognition in the field of literature:

1. Edith Tiempo (April 22, 1919-August 21, 2011)

Born in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Tiempo was ordered as a national artist in 1999. Together with her
late husband (Edilberto K. Tiempo), Edith Tiempo founded the annual creative writing workshop called
Silliman National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete City. Tiempo’s most important works include the
following: A Blade of Fern (1978), His Native Coast (1979), The Alien Corn (1992), “The Tracks of Babylon
and Other Poems” (1966), and “The Charmer’s Box and Other Poems” (1993), and “Abide, Joshua, and
Other Stories” (1964). Some of her famous works are The Marmoset and Bonsai,

2. Bienvenido Lumbera (April 11, 1932-present)

Bom in the town of Lipa, Batangas, Lumbera was ordered as a national artist in 2006. He introduced an
additional aesthetic to traditional Tagalog literature known as Bagay Poetry, where it talks about
experiences using colloquial language. Lumbera’s most important works include the following: “Likhang
Dila,” “Likhang Diwa: Poems in Filipino and English” (1993), “Balaybay,” “Mga Tulang Lunot at Manibalang”
(2002), “Sa Sariling Bayan,” “Apat na Dulang May Musika (2004), “Agunyas sa Hacienda Luisita,” and
“Pakikiramay,” (2004).

3. N. V. M. Gonzales (September 8, 1915-November 28, 1999)

Born in Romblon, Gonzales was ordered as a national artist in 1997. His works highlighted the Filipino
identity in the rural and urban landscapes. He is known as the recipient of the First Commonwealth Literary
Contest Award in 1940. Gonzales famous works are the following:
o The Winds of April, Seven Hills Away, Children of the Ash-Covered Loam and Other Stories, The
o Bamboo Dancers, Look Stranger, On This Island Now, Mindoro and Beyond: Twenty-One Stories,
o The Bread of Salt and Other Stories, Work on the Mountain, The Novel of Justice: Selected Essays
o 1968-1994, and A Grammar of Dreams and Other Stories.

4. Lazaro Francisco (February 22, 1898-June 17, 1980)

Born in Orani, Bataan, Francisco was ordered as a national artist in 2009. He was known to develop the
social realism in Philippine f iction. He established the Kapatiran ng mga Alagad ng Wikang Pilipino
(KAWIKA) in 1995 for the enrichment of Filipino language and literature. He is known as the Master of th
Tagalog Novel because of his famous works such as Ama, Bayang Nagpatiwakal, Maganda Pa ang
Daigdig, and Daluyong.
5. Ramon L. Muzones (March 20, 1913-17 August 1992)
REN. Born in Iloilo City, Muzones was ordered as a national artist in 2018. He was known as the founder of
Sumakwelan, an organization for Hiligaynon writers. Some of his famous works are the following: Ang Bag-
ong Maria Clara, Maambong Nga Sapat (Magnificent Brute, 1940), Si Tamblot (1946), Si Tamb/ot
Kandidato Man (Tamblot is Also a Candidate, 1949), and Dama de Noche (1982-1994).
6. Resil B. Mojares (September 4, 1943-present)
Born in Zamboanga del Norte, Mojares was ordered as a national artist in 2018. He is known as the
founding director of the Cebuano Studies Center. As a leading figure in literary and cultural history, his
famous works are the following: Origins and Rise of the Filipino Novel: A Generic Study of the Novel Until
1940 (1983), Waiting for Mariang Makiling: Essays on Philippine Cultural History (2002), and Theater in
Society, Society in Theater: Social History of a Cebuano Village

Among the other national artists who are from Metropolitan Manila who received the prestigious order are
the following: Francisco Arcellana (September 6, 1916-August 1, 2002); F. Sionil Jose (December 3, 1924-
present); Virgilio Almario (March 9, 1944-present); Cirilo F. Bautista (July 9, 1941-May 6, 2018): Nick
Joaquin (May 4, 1917-April 29, 2004); Amado V. Hernandez (September 13, 1903-May 24, 1970); Carlos P.
Romulo (January 14, 1898-December 15, 1985); Jose Garcia Villa (August 5, 1908-February 7, 1997);
Alejandro Roces (July 13, 1924-May 23, 2011); Rolando S. Tinio (March 5, 1937-July 7, 1997); Levi Celerio
(April 30, 1920-April 2, 2002); and Francisco Arcellana (September 6, 1916-August 1, 2002).