The University of the Philippines Press launched its Centennial Publications on July 10, 2008 at Balay Kalinaw, UP Diliman.

The Centennial Publications were chosen by the UP Press from all the books it has published since it was established in 1965. UP Press Director Maria Luisa Camagay introduced the books as part of the history of the country’s foremost academic publishing house.

In her message, UP President Emerlinda Roman said that, aside from the Centennial Lecture Series, which is the centerpiece of UP’s centennial celebration, the Centennial Publications constitute another academic project celebrating excellence, service, and leadership.

She lauded the UP Press for its untiring efforts to publish quality works by leading experts in various fields, and urged the younger UP writers to write more and publish more.

As part of the program, UP Press Editorial Board Member Dr. Ramon Santos explained that the criteria for choosing the titles were relevance, quality of content and style, peer and other reviews, uniqueness in the field, and timelessness.

The books were divided into the Social Sciences, Humanities, Sciences, and Literature categories. Literature was divided into six sub-categories.

The Social Sciences titles are An Economic History of the Philippines and Roots of the Filipino People, both by Onofre Corpuz; Mabini and the Revolution, The Political and Constitutional Ideas of the Philippine Revolution, and Muslims in the Philippines by Cesar Adib Majul; The Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan and The Fateful Years: Japan’s Adventure in the Philippines, 1945-1945 by Teodoro Agoncillo; Sulod Society and Slum as a Way of Life by F. Landa Locano; Cavite before the Revolution 1571-1896 by Isagani Medina; From Colonial to Liberation Psychology: The Philippine Experience by Virgilio Enriquez; Study of Psychopathology by Lourdes Lapuz; and Ang Bagong Lumipas by Renato Constantino.

The Humanities titles are Arkitekturang Filipino: A History of Architecture and Urbanism in the Philippines by Gerard Lico; Awit and Corrido. Philippine Metrical Romances by Damiana Eugenio; Gongs and Bamboo: A Panorama of Philippine Music Instruments by Jose Maceda; Home Body Memory: The Feminine as Feminist ‘Elsewhere’ (Filipina Artists in the Visual Arts, 19th Century to the Present) by Flaudette May Datuin; Protest and Revolutionary Art in the Philippines 1970-1990 by Alice Guillermo; Treading Through: 45 Years of Philippine Dance by Basilio Esteban Villaruz; Tunugan: Four Essays on Filipino Music by Ramon Santos; and Wages of Cinema: Film in Philippine Perspective by Joel David.

The titles from the Sciences are Animal Breeding: Principles and Practice in the Philippine Context by Orville Bondoc; Diagenic Trematodes of Philippine Fishes by Carmen Velazquez; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering by Ricardo Sigua; Introduction to Statistics and Econometrics by Rolando Danao; Nutrition in the Philippines: The Past for Its Template, Red for Its Color by Cecilia Florencio; Philippine Birds and Mammals by Dioscoro Rabor; Philippine Tuna Fisheries: Yellow Fin and Skipjack by Virgilio Aprieto; and Selected Essays on Science and Technology for Securing a Better Philippines edited by Caesar Saloma and Giselle Concepcion.

The poetry titles are Amado V. Hernandez: Tudla at Tudling edited by Rosario Torres Yu; An Edith Tiempo Reader edited by Edna Zapanta Manlapaz et al.; Asintada: Mga Tula by Lilia Quindoza Santiago; Hairtrigger Loves: 50 Poems, Parables, Poetics 1973-2003 by Gemino Abad; Mujer Indigena by Vim Nadera; Pidgin Levitations: Poetic Chroma Texts by Ricardo De Ungria; Poetika/Pulitika:Tiniong Tula by Bienvenido Lumbera; Poro Point: An Anthology of Lives (Poems, 1955-1960) by Alejandrino Hufana; Selected Poems by Merlie Alunan; The Garden of Wordlessness: Selected Poems by J. Neil Garcia; and Una Kong Milenyum (1963-1981), Una Kong Milenyum (1982-1993), and Sonetos Postumos by Rio Alma.

The titles in fiction are (H)istoryador(A) by Vim Nadera, Jr.; A Grammar of Dreams, Work on the Mountain, The Winds of April, and The Bread of Salt and Other Stories by NVM Gonzalez; Dugo sa Bukang Liwayway by Rogelio Sicat; Etsa-Puwera by Jun Cruz Reyes; Feast and Famine: Stories of Negros by Rosario Cruz Lucero; Ginto ng Kayumangging Lupa by Dominador Mirasol; Jungle Planet and Other Stories by Lakambini Sitoy; Mata ng Apoy by Domingo Landicho; My Sad Republic by Eric Gamalinda; Recuerdo: A Novel by Cristina Hidalgo; Sa Loob at Labas ng Mall Kong Sawi/Kaliluha’y Siyang Nangyayaring Hari: Ang Pagkatuto at Pangtatanghal ng Kulturang Popular by Rolando Tolentino; Sandaang Damit: 16 na Maikling Kuwento by Fanny Garcia; Selected Stories by Jose Dalisay, Jr.; Selected Works by Francisco Arcellana; and the Undiscovered Country by Luis Teodoro.

The creative nonfiction titles are Creative Nonfiction: A Manual for Filipino Writers and Creative Nonfiction: A Reader by Cristina Hidalgo; Breaking the Silence by Lourdes Montinola; Looking for Jose Rizal in Madrid: Journey’s Latitudes, Perspectives, Destinations by Gregorio Brilliantes; and Sarilaysay: Danas at Dalumat ng Lalaking Manunulat sa Filipino by Rosario Torres-Yu and Alwin Aguirre.

Titles in drama are Almanac for a Revolution by Nicolas Pichay; Apat na Dula by Rene Villanueva; Cao Yu: Taong Yungib ng Peking translated by Mario Miclat; Last Order sa Penguin by Chris Martinez; May Katwiran ang Katwiran at Iba Pang Dula by Rolando Tinio; Sepang Loca and Others by Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio; and The Heart of Emptiness is Black: A Tragedy in Verse by Ricaredo Demetillo.

The scholarly works in literary criticism and language studies are Bukod na Bukod: Mga Piling Sanaysay by Isagani Cruz; Emergent Literature: Essays on Philippine Writings edited by Elmer Ordoñez; Kilates: Panunuring Pampanitikan ng Pilipinas by Rosario Torres-Yu; Mula sa Pakpak ng Entablado: Poetika ng Dulaang Kababaihan by Joi Barrios; Origins and the Rise of the Filipino Novel: A Generic Study of the Novel until 1940 by Resil Mojares; Panitikan ng Rebolusyon(g 1896): Isang Paglingon at Katipunan ng mga Akda ni Bonifacio at Jacinto and Si Rizal:Nobelista (Pagbasa sa Noli at Fili Bilang Nobela) by Virgilio Almario; The Likhaan Book of Philippine Criticism 1992-1997 and Philippine Gay Culture: The Last 30 Years by J. Neil Garcia; Philippine Studies: Have We Gone Beyond St. Louis? by Priscelina Patajo Legasto; Toward a People’s Literature: Essays in the Dialectics of Praxis and Contradiction in Philippine Writing by E San Juan, Jr.; Women Reading: Feminist Perspectives on Philippine Literary Texts by Thelma Kintanar; and Writing the Nation/Pag-akda ng Bansa by Bienvenido Lumbera.

The scholarly works in literary anthologies are A Habit of Shores, A Native Clearing, The Likhaan Anthology of Philippine Literature in English from 1900 to the Present and Upon Our Own Ground: Filipino Short Stories in English 1956-1972 by Gemino Abad; the Philippine Folk Literature series by Damiana Eugenio (An Anthology, The Epics, The Folktales, The Legends, The Myths, The Proverbs, and The Riddles); Philippine Short Stories 1925-1940, Philippine Short Stories 1941-1955 (Part I) and Philippine Short Stories 1941-1955 (Part II) by Leopoldo Yabes; Sa Ngalan ng Ina: 100 Taon ng Tulang Feminista sa Pilipinas 1889-1989 by Lilia Quindoza-Santiago; and The Likhaan Book of Philippine Drama: from Page to Stage 1991-1996 by Anton Juan.

The first batch of UP Press publications released this year,
a number of which are Centennial publications

The UP Press also launched its first batch of books for 2008: Poetika/Pulitika: Tinipong mga Tula by Bienvenido Lumbera; Mindoro and Beyond by NVM Gonzalez; Si Rizal: Nobelista by Virgilio Almario; The Other Empire: Asian Literary Views of Japan by Ronald Klein; Surgeons Don’t Cry by Jose Tiongco; Inintokan by Victor Sugbo; Ginhawa, Kapalaran, Dalamhati edited by Consuelo Paz; Our Scene So Fair: Filipino Poetry in English 1905 to 1955 by Gemino Abad; Appropriation of Colonial Broadcasting: A History of Early Radio in the Philippines, 1922-1946 by Elizabeth Enriquez; Introduction to Semiconductor Devices and Circuits, 2nd Edition by Luis Sison; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering by Ricardo Sigua; A History of the Philippines by Samuel Tan; and Globalization to National Liberation: Essays of Three Decades by E. San Juan, Jr.