Elijah's Reviews

Title: Dead Stars Author: Paz Marquez Benitez Author’s Background: Paz Marquez-Benitez (1894–1983), who authored the first Filipino modern English-language short story "Dead Stars", was born in Lucena City, Quezon. Benitez was among the first generation of Filipinos trained in the American education system which used English as the medium of instruction. She taught at the University of the Philippines’ English department from 1916 to 1951, acquiring a reputation as an outstanding teacher. She became an influential figure to many Filipino writers in the English language, among them, Loreto Paras Sulit, Paz Latorena, Bienvenido Santos, Manuel Arguilla, S.P. Lopez and National Artist Francisco Arcellana, who later emphatically declared, “She was the mother of us all!” In 1919, she founded "Woman's Home Journal", the first women's magazine in the country. In 1928, she compiled "Filipino Love Stories," reportedly the first anthology of Ph...

Title: Visitation of the Gods Author: Gilda Cordero-Fernando Author’s Background: Gilda Cordero-Fernando is a multiawarded writer, publisher and cultural icon from the Philippines. She was born in Manila, has a B.A. from St. Theresa’s College-Manila, and an M.A. from the Ateneo de Manila University. She started off as a writer and was awarded the Palanca Award for Literature several times. She has also written and illustrated children’s books.Her short stories are collected in The Butcher, The Baker and The Candlestick Maker (1962) and A Wilderness of Sweets (1973). She has had a very rich life as a publisher. In 1978 she launched GCF Books, which published landmark books on Philippine cultural history: Streets of Manila (1977), Turn of the Century (1978), Philippine Ancestral Houses (1980), Being Filipino (1981), The History of the Burgis (1987), Folk Architecture (1989), & The Soul Book (1991). Cordero-Fernando has also worn numerous other hats as a visual artist, fas...

Title: How my Brother Leon Brought a Wife Author: Manuel E. Arguilla Author’s Background: Manuel E. Arguilla was born on June 17, 1911 in Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union to parents Crisanto Arguilla, a farmer, and Margarita Estabillo, a potter. Their mediocre living was not a hindrance for Manuel to attain his dreams especially in literature. He finished his elementary school in his hometown and his high school in San Fernando where he became the editor-in-chief of his school's newsletter, the La Union Tab. He was also an athlete where he became champion in swimming events he joined. He entered the University of the Philippines where he joined the UP Writers Club and later became the president and the editor of the UP Literary Apprentice. He finished Education in 1933. He married Lydia Villanueva, a fellow artist and writer and lived in Ermita, Manila. Upon graduation, he practiced his profession in University of Manila. He later joined the Bureau of Public welfare where he wa...

Title: Footnote to Youth Author: Jose Garcia Villa Author’s Background: Jose Garcia Villa (August 5, 1908 – February 7, 1997) is considered as one of the finest contemporary poets regardless of race or language. Villa, who lived in Singalong, Manila, introduced the reversed consonance rime scheme, including the comma poems that made full use of the punctuation mark in an innovative, poetic way. The first of his poems “Have Come, Am Here” received critical recognition when it appeared in New York in 1942 that, soon enough, honors and fellowships were heaped on him: Guggenheim, Bollingen, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Awards. He used Doveglion (Dove, Eagle, Lion) as a pen name, the very characters he attributed to himself, and the same ones explored by e.e. cummings in the poem he wrote for Villa (Doveglion, Adventures in Value). Villa is also known for the tartness of his tongue. Source: http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-th...