This document lists 16 Filipino writers who have been designated National Artists in Literature by the Philippine government. It provides brief biographies for each writer, noting their major works and contributions to Philippine literature. The writers span from 1973 to 2014 and worked in a variety of genres including novels, short stories, poems, essays and plays. Their works often dealt with themes of social justice, nationalism, rural and urban landscapes, and the effects of colonialism in Philippine society.

1. Canonical
Philippine National
Artists in Literature

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Francisco Arcellana -1990
• Writer, poet, essayist, critic,
journalist, teacher
• Master of words, and master
of storytelling
• From a family of many
children
• The Mats

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. Alejándro 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. Questions?