Philippine Literature: The Region and the Nation

A study of literature in the Philippines representative of the different historical and cultural periods. This course covers the literature of the Filipinos, both in oral and in written form, from pre-Hispanic times to the present. The literary works may be expressed in any local or foreign language.

Sample Syllabi and Modules

Philippine Literature: The Region and the Nation

The Faculty of the University of Eastern Philippines

  • Jay Neil Verano (author)
  • Phoebe Maria Blanca Merino (author)
  • John Karlo Manlangit (author)
  • Karah Cleo Ero (author)
  • Leonila Longcop (editor)
  • Anatolia Basista (editor)
  • Maria Alfe Banawis (editor)

Modules on Philippine Literature: The Region and the Nation

A compendium of 37 modules covering the literature of Eastern Visayas (Waray, Ninorte-Samarnon) and selections from the various eras of Philippine literature (pre-colonial, Spanish colonial, American colonial, contemporary). Folk forms, poetry, fiction and drama are well-represented. The modules are creatively designed for the conduct of online classes.

Poetry

Roy V. Aragon

Aragon writes primarily in Ilokano, and his poems, short stories and essays have been published in Bannawag Magazine. He has won awards and prizes in various literary competitions in Iloko and Filipino, including the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature, and the Talaang Ginto Gawad Surian sa Tula- Gantimpalang Collantes.

Michael Coroza

A Tagalog wordwright, Coroza writes poetry, essays, stories for children, and translates literary writing. He was SEAWRITE (Southeast Asia Write) Awardee in 2007 from the Kingdom of Thailand. He is a Full Professor of Filipino at Ateneo de Manila University. He is chairman of the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL).

Jaime Agpalo, Jr.

Agpalo hails from Ilocos Sur. A poet, fictionist, translator, and critic, he has received 23 awards and prizes. He is a former bukanegan writer, and former columnist and publisher of Ilocos Sur weekly newspaper.

Jose Duke Bagulaya

Bagulaya is a PhD candidate at the University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law and Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of the Philippines Diliman. He is the author of Writing Literary History: Mode of Production and 20th Century Waray Poetry and Linara nga mga Pulong: Mga Siday (Bound Words: Poems), both published by the UP Press.

Merlie Alunan

Alunan is Professor Emeritus of the University of the Philippines Visayas, Tacloban. Her poetry books include Hearthstone, Sacred Tree (Anvil, 1993), Amihan among the Angels (UP, 1997), Tales of the Spider Woman (UST, 2011), Pagdakop sa Bulalakaw ug uban pang mga balak (Ateneo, 2012), among others. Her honors and awards include Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas from UMPIL (Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas), and the Lilian Jerome Thornton Award for Nonfiction.

Priscilla Supnet Macansantos

Macansantos writes poetry, nonfiction and fiction in English, Filipino and Iluko, her native language. She has won prizes for her poetry, and was awarded for her essay “Departures” in the 1998 Don Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature. She was head of the NCCA (National Commission for Culture and the Arts) Committee on Literary Arts from 2011 to December 2013, and was Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Baguio until April 2012. She is a Professor at UP Baguio and holds a PhD in Mathematics.

Poems by Gemino Abad, Cirilo Bautista, Marjorie Evasco, Elsa Coscolluela, Dinah Roma, Ricardo de Ungria, Alfred Yuson, Joel Toledo, Mikael de Lara Co, Simeon Dumdum, Jaime An Lim, Anthony Tan, Jhoanna Lynn Cruz, Isidoro Cruz, Ulysses Aparece, Clesencio Rambaud, Mohammad Nassefh Macla, among others appeared in Cordite Poetry Review Issue 85: Philippines, curated by Mookie Katigbak Lacuesta and Shirley Lua.

Fiction

Elizabeth Joy Serrano-Quijano

Serrano-Quijano works as a college instructor, teaching Development Communication at Southern Philippines Agribusiness and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (SPAMAST)–Malita, Davao Occidental. She is proud of her Igorot, Kapampangan, and Blaan roots. Her writing is also her advocacy for the indigenous people of Davao del Sur.

Kenneth Yu

Yu is the publisher/editor of The Digest of Philippine Genre Stories, a short-fiction publication of genre tales (science fiction, horror, crime, mystery, suspense, fantasy). His work of fiction has been published both locally and internationally. One of his stories was cited as an honorable mention by editor Ellen Datlow for Best Horror of 2011. His first collection, Mouths to Speak, Voices to Sing, was released as an ebook in 2013.

Yu’s story “Cricket” was featured in LeVar Burton Reads. Listen to the delightful podcast.

Catherine Rose Torres

Torres is a writer and diplomat.  Her creative works have appeared both locally and internationally in various literary journals, magazines, and anthologies. Her collection Mariposa Gang and Other Stories (2016) won the National Book Award for Best Fiction, given by the Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board.

Essay & Criticism

Junley Lazaga

Lazaga is professor of the University of the Philippines Baguio where he served as chairperson of the Department of Language, Literature and the Arts (2013-2017). His collections of Ilokano poems with Filipino translations have been published by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2015 as
Dandaniw Ilokano: mga tulang Ilokano, 1621-2014.

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