CANONICAL AUTHORS AND

WORKS OF PHILIPPINE
NATIONAL ARTIST IN
LITERATURE
EDITH L. TIEMPO
 She is a poet, fictionist, teacher and literary critic. She is one of the
finest Filipino writers in English whose works are characterized by a
remarkable fusion of style and substance, of craftsmanship and
insight. Born on April 22, 1919 in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, her
poems are intricate verbal transfigurations of significant
experiences as revealed, in two of her much anthologized pieces,
“The Little Marmoset” and “Bonsai”. As fictionist, Tiempo is as
morally profound. Her language has been marked as “descriptive
but unburdened by scrupulous detailing.” She is an influential
tradition in Philippine literature in English. Together with her late
husband, Edilberto K. Tiempo, she founded and directed the
Silliman National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete City, which has
produced some of the country’s best writers
Bienvenido Lumbera
 Bienvenido Lumbera is a Filipino poet, critic and dramatist.
He is a National Artist of the Philippines and a recipient of
the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and
Creative Communications. He won numerous literary
awards, including the National Book Awards from the
National Book Foundation, and the Carlos Palanca
Memorial Awards.

 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.
He is the author of the following works: 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,” Pakikiramay, 2004.
 SADNESS
By: Bienvenido Lumbera

Sweet little songs I make,

Tunes so pure and full of love.
When lovers are timid and mute,
I give them voice, I make them bold.

Once I bid a word to come

And help me put together a poem.
From far and near, from wherever,
The word brought the poem warmth.

Each word I painstakingly refine,

And I wash the impoverished tongue.
I soothe and salve the cry of pain,
I banish any trace of tears.

But sadness I cannot send away-

Its little waves lap and leave,
Lap and leave the shore of the heart,
This moment a whisper, next a storm.
N. V. M. Gonzalez
 Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez, better known as N.V.M.
Gonzalez, fictionist, essayist, poet, and teacher, articulated the
Filipino spirit in rural, urban landscapes. Among the many
recognitions, he won the First Commonwealth Literary Contest in
1940, received the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1960
and the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining in 1990. The awards attest
to his triumph in appropriating the English language to express,
reflect and shape Philippine culture and Philippine sensibility. He
became U.P.’s International-Writer-In-Residence and a member
of the Board of Advisers of the U.P. Creative Writing Center. In
1987, U.P. conferred on him the Doctor of Humane Letters,
honoris causa, its highest academic recognition.
 Major works of N.V.M Gonzalez include the following:
The Winds of April, Seven Hills Away, Children of the Ash-
Covered Loam and Other Stories, The Bamboo
Dancers, 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, A Grammar of
Dreams and Other Stories.
Virgilio S. Almario
 Virgilio S. Almario, also known as Rio Alma, is a poet, literary
historian and critic, who has revived and reinvented
traditional Filipino poetic forms, even as he championed
modernist poetics. In 34 years, he has published 12 books of
poetry, which include the seminal Makinasyon and
Peregrinasyon, and the landmark trilogy Doktrinang
Anakpawis, Mga Retrato at Rekwerdo and Muli, Sa
Kandungan ng Lupa. In these works, his poetic voice
soared from the lyrical to the satirical to the epic, from the
dramatic to the incantatory, in his often severe examination
of the self, and the society.
•Palipad-Hangin. (1985)
•Katon Para sa Limang Pandama. (1987)
•Sentimental. (2004)
•Estremelenggoles. (2004)
•Memo Mulang Gimokudan. (2005)
•Dust Devils. (2005)
•Sonetos Postumos, book of poems with translation by Marne
Kilates and paintings by National Artist Ang Kiukok. (2006)
•Tatlong Pasyon sa Ating Panahon, poems for children with
illustrations by Mark Justiniani, Neil Doloricon, Ferdinand
Doctolero. (2006)
•Buwan, Buwang, Bulawan. (2009)
•UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino
•Doktrinang Anak Pawis
Cirilo Bautista
 Bautista was born in Manila on July 9, 1941 and spent his
childhood in Balic-Balic, Sampaloc.

 He received his basic education from Legarda Elementary

School (1st Honorable Mention, 1954) and Mapa High
School (Valedictorian, 1959). He received his degrees in
AB Literature from the University of Santo Tomas (magna
cum laude, 1963), MA Literature from St. Louis
University, Baguio (magna cum laude, 1968), and Doctor of
Arts in Language and Literature from De La Salle University-
Manila(1990). He received a fellowship to attend the
International Writing Program at the University of
Iowa (1968–1969).
 Patalim
By: Cirilo Bautista

Araw-araw sinusubok naming Patas lang ang aming labanan

mag-asawa ang talim ng aming balaraw lagot kung lagot walang
dayaan.
Halimbawa kung umiiyak
ang bunsong anak at hindi kumikilos Kaya sa katapusan ng araw
ang sintang mahal magbibilang kami ng sugat
sasaksakin ko siya sa likod at tila mga gulanit na kaluluwa
at patawang pagmamasdan ay magtatawanan
habang duguang magsusuntukan pa.
pasususuhin niya Ganito kami lagi sapagkat
ang bunso. labis ang pag-ibig namin sa
isa't-isa
Kung pundi ang bumbilya
sa aming kusina
at ako'y abala
sa paglikha ng tula,
hindi niya ako titigilan
ng saksak sa batok
hanggang ang ilaw ay di
napapalitan.
Nick Joaquin
 Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín (May 4, 1917 – April 29, 2004)
was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for
his short stories and novels in the English language. He also
wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila. Joaquín
was conferred the rank and title of National Artist of the
Philippines for Literature. He has been considered one othe
most important Filipino writers, along with José
Rizal and Claro M. Recto, his major works are in English, but
was native Spanish speakers,unlike Rizal and Recto whose
masterpieces were written in Spanish.
 The Innocence of Solomon
By: Nick Joaquin

Sheba, Sheba, open your eyes! among the chaste rivuletsthat quiver
The apes defile the ivory temple, out of the clean primeval stones.
the peacocks chant dark blasphemies: Yea, bathe me again in the early vision
but I take your body for mine to trample, my soul tongued forth before your mouth
I laugh where once I bent the knees. made of a kiss a fierce contrition
Yea, I take your mouth for mine to crumple, salting the waters of my youth…
drunk with the wisdom of your flesh. Sheba, Sheba, close my eyes!
But wisdom never was content The apes have ravished the inner temple,
and flesh when ripened falls at las: the peacocks rend the sacred veil
what will I have when the seasons mint and on the manna feast their fill-
your golden breasts into golden dust? but chaliced drowsily in your ample
Let me arise and follow the river arms, with each brief bliss that dies
back to its source: I would bathe my bones my own deep sepulcher I seal.
F. Sionil José
 Francisco Sionil José (born 3 December 1924) is one of the
most widely read Filipino writers in the English
language. His novels and short stories depict the social
underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino
society. José's works—written in English—have
been translated into 28 languages,
including Korean, Indonesian, Czech, Russian, Latvian, Ukrai
nian and Dutch.
 A five-novel series that spans three centuries
of Philippine history, translated into 22
languages
 Po-on (Source) (1984)
 The Pretenders (1962)
 My Brother, My Executioner (1973)
 Mass (December 31, 1974)
 Tree (1978)
Amado V. Hernandez
 Amado V. Hernandez, poet, playwright, and novelist, is among the
Filipino writers who practiced “committed art”. In his view, the
function of the writer is to act as the conscience of society and to
affirm the greatness of the human spirit in the face of inequity and
oppression. Hernandez’s contribution to the development of
Tagalog prose is considerable — 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.
 Isang Dipang Langit
Ako’y ipiniit ng linsil na puno Kung minsan, ang gabi’y biglang magulantang
hangad palibhasang diwa ko’y piitin, sa hudyat – may takas! – at asod ng punlo;
katawang marupok, aniya’y pagsuko, kung minsa’y tumangis ang lumang batingaw,
damdami’y supil na’t mithiin ay supil. sa bitayang moog, may naghihingalo.
At ito ang tanging daigdig ko ngayon –
Ikinulong ako sa kutang malupit: bilangguang mandi’y libingan ng buhay;
bato, bakal, punlo, balasik ng bantay; sampu, dalawampu, at lahat ng taon
lubos na tiwalag sa buong daigdig ng buong buhay ko’y dito mapipigtal.
at inaring kahit buhay man ay patay.
Nguni’t yaring diwa’y walang takot-hirap
Sa munting dungawan, tanging abot-malas at batis pa rin itong aking puso:
ay sandipang langit na puno ng luha, piita’y bahagi ng pakikilamas,
maramot na birang ng pusong may sugat, mapiit ay tanda ng di pagsuko.
watawat ng aking pagkapariwara.
Ang tao’t Bathala ay di natutulog
Sintalim ng kidlat ang mata ng tanod, at di habang araw ang api ay api,
sa pintong may susi’t walang makalapit; tanang paniniil ay may pagtutuos,
sigaw ng bilanggo sa katabing moog, habang may Bastilya’y may bayang gaganti.
anaki’y atungal ng hayop sa yungib.
At bukas, diyan din, aking matatanaw
sa sandipang langit na wala nang luha,
Ang maghapo’y tila isang tanikala sisikat ang gintong araw ng tagumpay…
na kala-kaladkad ng paang madugo layang sasalubong ako sa paglaya!
ang buong magdamag ay kulambong luksa
ng kabaong waring lungga ng bilanggo.

Kung minsa’y magdaan ang payak na yabag,

kawil ng kadena ang kumakalanding;
sa maputlang araw saglit ibibilad,
sanlibong aninong iniluwa ng dilim.
Francisco Lázaro
 Francisco Lázaro (21 January 1891 – 15 July
1912)[ was a
Portuguese Olympic marathon runner and
Portugal's standard-bearer in their first-
ever participation at the Olympic Games,
the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm,
Sweden.

 Like all the Olympic athletes of his time,

Lázaro was an amateur sportsman, and his
actual job was as a carpenter in an
automobile factory in Lisbon. Prior to the
Olympics, he had won three national
marathon championships in Portugal, where
he represented S.L. Benfica.
 His reputation as the “Master of the Tagalog Novel” is backed up
by numerous awards he received for his meritorious novels in
particular, and for his contribution to Philippine literature and
culture in general. His masterpiece novels—Ama, Bayang
Nagpatiwakal, Maganda Pa Ang Daigdig and Daluyong—affirm
his eminent place in Philippine literature. In 1997, he was honored
by the University of the Philippines with a special convocation,
where he was cited as the “foremost Filipino novelist of his
generation” and “champion of the Filipino writer’s struggle for
national identity.”
Alejandro Roces
 “You cannot be a great writer; first, you have to be a good
person” Alejandro Roces, 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.” In his innumerable newspaper
columns, he has always focused on the neglected aspects
of the Filipino cultural heritage. His works have been
published in various international magazines and has
received national and international awards.
 During his freshman year in the University of Arizona, Roces
won Best Short Story for We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers.
Another of his stories, My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken, was
listed as Martha Foley’s Best American Stories among the
most distinctive for years 1948 and 1951. Roces did not only
focus on short stories alone, as he also published books
such as Of Cocks and Kites (1959), Fiesta (1980), and
Something to Crow About (2005). Of Cocks and Kites
earned him the reputation as the country's best writer of
humorous stories. It also contained the widely anthologized
piece “My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken”. Fiesta, is a book of
essays, featuring folk festivals such as Ermita's Bota Flores,
Aklan's Ati-atihan, and Naga's Peñafrancia.