10 famous filipino writers 02

8/10/2019 10 Famous Filipino Writers 02

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10 FAMOUS FILIPINO WRITERS

1. Jose Rizal

The country‘s national hero is also known to be one of the greatest writers Philippines was

blessed to have. His writing caused the Filipino people to have the courage to fight for their

Freedom against the hands of the Spaniards. He was the man behind brilliant literary outputs

such as Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo which are considered to be precious treasures of

the Philippine Literature.

2. Bob Ong

Bob Ong is the most doted contemporary authors by the Filipino people of the recent times. He

uses conversational Filipino as his writing style to provide humor to his reader and to make his

books more interesting than others. Bob Ong is just a pseudonym of someone whose identity is

left as a mystery to the public. It was even stated in one of his books that he/she prefers his/her

identity remained unknown so he/she can still have a normal life and not be stereotyped

according to his manner of writing. ABNKKBSNLAko?, Bakit Baligtad Magbasa ng Libro ang

mga Pilipino?, and Alamat ng Gubat, are just some of his best-selling books. He was one of the

few authors whose release of next books are being anticipated by many and to some being

reserved in advance.

3. Francisco Balagtas

Francisco Baltazar, also known as Francisco Balagtas is a legendary as well as a historical figurein Philippine Literature. In fact, the Filipino Poetic Debate is termed as Balagtasan, a name taken

in honor of him. He was like a Filipino version of William Shakespeare. His life and works has

even been incorporated in the high school curriculum. His most famous work was the epic

entitled Florante and Laura, whose story was said to be taken after his personal tragic love

relationship with Maria Asuncion Rivera. To further signify his vast contribution to the

Philippine Literature, an elementary school in Santa Cruz, Manila and a city in Bulacan where he

was born were named after him.

4. F. Sionil Jose

Francisco Sionil Jose is a Filipino novelist, writer, and journalist. Like Nick Joaquin, most of

Jose‘s works are written in English and he became one of the most read Filipino writers both in

the local and foreign scene. His creations portray the social condition of the Filipino Society

under colonialism and since all of it were written in English, it has been easily translated into 22

languages like Korean, Russian, Dutch, and among any others. Jose‘s writing has been deeply

influenced by the life and works of Jose Rizal — having found some similarities between his and



Rizal‘s life in terms of witnessing social injustices and poverty. Thus, it‘s no surprise that most

of his works are all about promoting social justice, awakening social awareness, and making the

lives of the average Filipino people better. In 1980, Sionil Jose received a Ramon Magsaysay

Award for Literature.

5. Lualhati Bautista

Phenomenal novels such as Dekada ‗70, Bata, Bata, Pa‘no ka Ginawa?, and Gapo are all written

by the multi-awarded Lualhati Bautista. She was one of the primary female writers in the history

of contemporary Philippine literature. Although a college dropout, her writing ability is praised

and admired by many. As a writer, she was highly commended for her honest realism and

fearless exploration of Philippine Women‘s and Political issues. Bautista earned several Palanca

Awards for her novels that exposed injustices and portrays women activism during the Martial

Law Period. Aside from being known locally, works by Lualhati are also being recognized

abroad. In fact, she was the only Filipino who got included in a book on Foremost International

Women Writers published in Japan in 1991. Lastly, excerpts from her novels have beenanthologized in a book of short stories written by Filipino women which was published in

Finland by the Finnish-Philippine Society

6. Nick Joaquin

He is one of the most renowned, well-respected, and highly admired writer in the Philippines. In

fact he was considered as the most important Filipino writer in English and in general the third

most important after Jose Rizal and Claro M. Recto. Nick Joaquin, also known by his pen nameQuijano de Manila, was a writer, historian, and journalist who used the English language in his

works. He received so many awards and recognition both local and international due to his

brilliance in writing. As a journalist he was both intellectual and provocative — which pave theway to increase the level of reportage in the country — something that is unknown to the

Philippines at that time. In 1976, he received the National Artist of the Philippines for Literature,

among any others. Famous works include.: May Day Eve A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino TheSummer Solstice The Woman Who Had Two Navels

7. Gilda Olvidado

Sinasamba kita, Babangon ako at Dudurugin kita, and Saan Nagtatago ang Pag-ibig are some of

the works done by Gilda Olvidado which made her popular. In fact, the screenplay Saan

Nagtatago ang Pag-ibig, became a blockbuster and was awarded Best Story during the 36th

FAMAS Awards Ceremonies in 1987. Currently, Olivado is an in-house writer of GMA

network, a popular broadcasting company in the Philippines.



8. Mars Ravelo

Like Caparas, Mars Ravelo is also a comic strip writer and creator who rose to popularity

because of his works such as Darna (a local version of America‘s wonderwoman), Dysabel (a

mermaid whose fate is a little similar to Ariel of ―The Little Mermaid‖), and Captain Barbel (a

local version of Superman) to name a few. As you may have observed, Ravelo‘s works are somuch alike to some American fictional stories. This is because he was born at the time when

Philippines was still an American Ter ritory. Thus, it‘s understandable that his writing is heavily

influenced by the American literature. Ravelo started out as a cartoonist who worked his way up

until he became an editor-in-chief for several publications and film companies before

establishing his own company. During his time, he was the highest paid comic writer.

9. Carlo J. Caparas

He was the man responsible for the creation of the undying story of Ang Panday (The

Blacksmith). In addition to that, he also created other great stories who later turned to moviesand/or TV series such as Gagambino, Bakekang, Totoy Bato, and Joaquin Bordado to name a

few. Caparas was originally a comic strip writer who later ventured in to film directing and

producing. In July 2009, he was proclaimed as a National Artist of the Philippines in the

category of Visual Arts and Film.

10. Martha Cecilia

Maribeth dela Cruz who‘s more known under her pen name, Martha Cecilia, which was taken

after her daughter‘s name, is one of – if not the most popular Tagalog romance pocketbook

writer of today. Most of her written works became best-sellers and her very popular Kristine

pocketbook series which consists of a total of 54 books was even turn into a TV series by one of

the largest broadcasting network in the country. She is best known for writing love stories with

happy endings and she has released over 100 books under her current company, Precious Heart

Romance.

10 famous filipino writers 02

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