Merlie M. Alunan Explained

Birth Date:	1943 12, mf=y
Birth Place:	Dingle, Iloilo
Genre:	poetry, short story, essays

Merlie M. Alunan (born December 14, 1943) is a multi-awarded Filipina poet, teacher and mentor, and cultural worker in the Visayas.

Life

Merlie M. Alunan was born December 14, 1943, in Dingle, Iloilo.Alunan graduated from Silliman University with an MA in creative writing in 1974. She taught Literature and Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College.^[1] She was awarded Professor Emeritus of the UP Visayas in 2008 upon her retirement. She lives in Tacloban City.

Honors and awards

Local awards, honors, and distinctions

Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature^[2] !Year!Title of work/s!Category!Award

1985	"The Gift Supreme"	Poetry in English	Third Prize, co-winner
1988	"Poems for Amina"	Poetry in English	First Prize
1991	"Poems of a Season"	Poetry in English	Second Prize
1992	"Dream of the Blue Gypsy and Other Poems"	Poetry in English	First Prize
1995	"Amina Among the Angels and Other Poems"	Poetry in English	Third Prize
2007	"Pamato"	Short Story in Cebuano	First Prize
2010	"Tales of the Spiderwoman"	Poetry in English	First Prize

National Book Awards - Philippines (Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board)!!Year given!Title of work!Category!Award

37th National Book Awards, 2018	2019	Running with Ghosts and Other Poems	Best Book of Poetry in English	Winner^[3]
37th National Book Awards, 2018	2019	Tinalunay Hinugpong nga Panurat nga Winaray	Best Anthology in English	Winner^[4]
36th National Book Awards, 2017	2018	Susumaton: Oral Narratives of Leyte	Best Anthology in Waray	Winner^[5]
35th National Book Awards, 2016	2017	Sa Atong Dila Introduction to Visayan Literature	Best Translated Book	Winner^[6]
32nd National Book Awards, 2012	2013	Pagdakop sa Bulalakaw ug uban pang mga Balak	Philippine Literary Arts Council Prize for Poetry in the English Language	Finalist^[7]
31st National Book Awards, 2011	2012	Tales of the Spiderwoman	Philippine Literary Arts Council Prize for Poetry in the English Language	Finalist^[8]

• 1984 - Likhaan Award for Poetry, UP Creative Writing Center
• 1994 - Free Press Literary Award for Poetry
• 1995 - Free Press Literary Award for Poetry
• 1995 - Home Life Magazine Poetry Writing Contest, Second Prize, "Hunger"^[9]
• 1996 - Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Creative Work
• 1997 - Gawad Alagad ni Balagtas Award, UMPIL (Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas)
• 2003 - Catholic Mass Media Award for Best Column, Cebu Daily News
• 2004 - Home Life Magazine Poetry Writing Contest, First Prize, "Mater Dolorosa in Two Voices"
• 1995 - Distinguished Faculty Grant, University of the Philippines
• 2007 - Second Prize Tula sa Cebuano, Gawad Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino
• 2008  - Selected Poems (UP Press, 2004), listed among the UP Centennial Publications
• December 13, 2008 - Professor Emeritus, University of the Philippines.
• July 2, 2009 - Sangyaw Achievement Award, City of Tacloban.
• 2014 - Ani ng Dangal (Literary Arts), NCCA.^[10]
• 2015 - Gawad Kampeon ng Wika, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) ^[11]
• 2018 - Garbo sa Ormoc for Literary Arts, Ormoc City, Leyte.^[12]

International awards, honors, and distinctions

• 1997 - Honorable Mention, Lilian Jerome Thornton Award for Poetry
• September 2010 - Ananda Coomaraswamy Fellowship in Literature, Sahitya Akademi, Republic of India.^{[13] [14]}
• July 26, 2013 - Sunthorn Phu Award for Poetry, Government of Thailand.^[15]

Works

• Hearthstone, Sacred Tree, Anvil, 1993,
• Amina among the angels, University of the Philippines Press, 1997,
• Selected poems, University of the Philippines Press, 2004,
• Tales of the Spider Woman, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2010.
• Pagdakop sa Bulalakaw ug uban pang mga Balak, Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2013.
• Running with Ghosts, Ateneo de Naga University Press, 2018.
• Tigom: Collected Poems, UP Press, 2023.

Edited non-literary anthologies

• Kabilin Legacy of 100 years of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental Centennial Foundation, 1993.  (Co-editor with Bobby Villasis)
• Kaaging Bisaya. UP Center for Women Studies, Ford Foundation, April 2003.

Edited literary anthologies

• Fern Garden: An Anthology of Women Writing in the South, Committee on Literature, National Commission on Culture and the Arts, 1998,
• An Siday han DYVL, NCCA, UPTC VisWrite, Province of Leyte, DYVL Aksyon Radyo, 2005.
• The Dumaguete We Know, Anvil Publishing, 2011.
• Our Memory of Water Words After Haiyan, Ateneo de Naga University Press, 2016.
• Sa Atong Dila, Introduction to Visayan Literature, University of the Philippines Press. 2016.
• Susumaton, Oral Narratives of Leyte, Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2017.
• Tinalunay, Anthology of Waray Literature, University of the Philippines Press. 2018.
• Pinili: 15 Years of Lamiraw, Katig Writers Network Inc., 2019.

Anthologies

• Songs of ourselves: writings by Filipino women in English, Editor Edna Zapanta-Manlapaz, Anvil Publishing, 1994,

External links

• Author's blog

Notes and References

1. Web site: Merlie M. Alunan . Panitikan.com.ph . 9 December 2020 . 8 October 2019.
2. Web site: Directory of Winners. 2020-11-11. www.palancaawards.com.ph.
3. Web site: The 37th National Book Awards Winners (Best books published in the Philippines in 2017). National Book Development Board.
4. Web site: The 37th National Book Awards Winners (Best books published in the Philippines in 2017).
5. Web site: 36th National Book Awards Winners. National Book Development Board.
6. Web site: Winners of the 35th National Book Awards Announced. National Book Development Board.
7. Web site: 32nd National Book Awards finalists announced. Inquirer.net.
8. Web site: Finalists of 31st National Book Awards Announced. Kalasag.
9. Web site: Home Life Magazine Poetry Writing Contest: Judges and Winners, 1993-2007. LASALLIAN LITERARY STORY.
10. Web site: Brillante Mendoza leads NCCA's Ani ng Dangal Awards. Inquirer.net.
11. Web site: Kampeon ng Wika 2015: Merlie M. Alunan.
12. Web site: October 15–21, 2018. Garbo sa Ormoc and Dakbayanon Pasasalamat 2018 Awardees. Eastern Visayas Mail.
13. Web site: Dr. Anandacoomaraswamy Fellowship.
14. Web site: Dr. Anandacoomaraswamy Fellowship.
15. Web site: July 13, 2013. Dr. Merlie M. Alunan is the first Filipino recipient to receive Sunthorn Phu Award 2013. Manila Channel.