The week leading up to September found UP once again raking in honors at this year’s batch of literary competitions. As with previous years UP faculty, alumni, and workshop fellows, both young and old alike, won numerous awards and citations for their work in the field of literature and criticism.

Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas
UP’s literary harvest began when UP Institute of Creative Writing (ICW) resident fellow and Department of English and Comparative Literature (DECL) faculty member Charlson Ong, along with UP alumnus Joaquin Sy, was awarded the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL). Ong was recognized for his short fiction and novels in English, and Sy for his essays and translations of relevant Chinese literature to English.

The awards were given during UMPIL’s 33rd National Congress on August 25 at the Pulungang Claro M. Recto at the Faculty Center. Senator Francis Pangilinan III was the guest of honor.

The Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas aims to honor living Filipino writers who have made outstanding works in any Philippine language, and have contributed to the development and promotion of Philippine literature. Also recognized were Prescillano Nisperos Bermudez for fiction in Iluko, and Jose R. Munsayac for fiction in Tagalog.

2007 Gawad Komisyon
Prof. Reuel Molina Aguila of the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature (DFPP) took home the top prize at the 2007 Gantimpalang Collantes Timpalak sa Sanaysay, which was awarded at the Bayview Hotel, Manila on August 31. UP National Writers Workshop fellow Edgar C. Samar placed second, while his co-fellow Eros S. Atalia’s entry was cited as one of the runners-up. The awarding ceremony capped off the month-long celebration of the Buwan ng Wika.

The awards were given out along with the winners of the Gawad Komisyon 2007, where Dr. Eugene Y. Evasco, also of the DFPP, was cited in the short story for children category. The Gawad Komisyon is an annual contest organized by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino as part of the Buwan ng Wika in August. 

National Book Awards
ICW Director Prof. Vim Nadera won the Juan C. Laya Award for Best Novel in a Philippine Language for (H)istoryador(a), published by UP Press. The novel previously won second place in the Philippine Centennial Literary Prize in 1998.
Meanwhile, Gawad Balagtas awardee and DECL faculty member Charlson Ong and recent UP workshop fellow Katrina P. Tuvera shared the Juan C. Laya Award for Best Novel in a Foreign Language. Ong won for Banyaga: A Song of War, while Tuvera for The Jupiter Effect.  

Another recent workshop fellow, Jerry B. Gracio, won for his poetry collection Apokripos published by the UP Press. Gracio shared the prize with poet Rogelio Mangahas. Likewise, Zosimo Quibilan Jr. shared the prize for short fiction collection with Tony Perez. Quibilan, who was a fellow of the 45th UP National Writers Workshop, won for his collection Pagluwas also published by the UP Press.

Other UP Press titles cited were Treading Through: 45 Years of Philippine Dance by Basilio Esteban Y. Villaruz (cultural studies), A Guide to Families of Common Flowering Plants in the Philippines by Irma Remo Castro (the sciences), and Sawikaan 2006: Mga Salita ng Taon, edited by Romulo P. Baquiran Jr. and Galileo Zafra (linguistics).

The 26th Manila Critics Circle National Book Awards was held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City in conjunction with the 28th Manila International Book Fair.

Don Carlos Palanca Literary Awards
At the 57th Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, UP writers bagged most of the top prizes in the categories in the Filipino division. Allan Alberto Derain and Carlos M. Piocos III placed first in the short story and poetry category, respectively. Both graduated from the College of Arts and Letters (CAL) in UP Diliman and were past UP workshop fellows. Annalyn L. Leyesa, who went to UP Diliman, won the top prize in the essay in Filipino.

Playwright Nicolas Pichay was inducted into the Palanca Hall of Fame this year, after his “Tres Ataques de Corazon,” won first place in the full-length play category in Filipino. He is the 20th writer in the Hall of Fame, among whose illustrious members include Dr. Jose Y. Dalisay Jr. of the DECL and Prof. Rene O. Villanueva of the DFPP.

In the English division, Angelo R. Lacuesta, Lakambini Sitoy, and  Jorshinelle Taleon-Sonza topped the short story, short story for children, and full-length play categories, respectively.

Other UP faculty members, workshop fellows, and alumni who won in this year’s Palancas were Prof. Merlie Alunan of UP Visayas Tacloban College (short story in Cebuano), Prof. Layeta P. Bucoy of UP Los Baños (one-act play in Filipino), Rebecca T. Añonuevo (poetry in Filipino), Jose Dennis Teodosio (one-act play in Filipino), Dean Francis Alfar (short story for children in English), Allan Pastrana (essay in English), Dinah Roma-Sianturi (poetry in English), Allan Lopez (one-act play in English), Cynthia Lapeña-Amador (full-length play in English), and Crystal Gail Shangkuan Koo (short story in English).