| Michael M. Coroza | |
| Birth Place: | Manila |
| Occupation: | Poet and Professor of Filipino Language and Literature at the Ateneo de Manila University |
| Language: | Filipino |
| Spouse: | Jeanette Job Coroza |
| Notableworks: | Dili't Dilim (1997), Mga Lagot na Liwanag (2002), May Di-mawaglit na Awit (2021), Imbisibol Man ang Tatay (2009), Ang mga Kahon ni Kalon (2010), Mga Lambing ni Lolo Ding (2012), Nawawala si Muningning (2015) |
| Awards: | S.E.A. Write Award, Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature |
Michael M. Coroza (Manila) is a Filipino poet, educator, and S.E.A. Write Award laureate.
Michael M. Coroza is a Full Professor and former Chair (2020 - 2023) of the Department of Filipino, School of Humanities, Ateneo de Manila University. He teaches Filipino Literature, Creative Writing (Poetry), and Literary Translation at the graduate and undergraduate levels. A multi-awarded poet, essayist, literary translator, and editor, he received the S.E.A. Write Award (Southeast Asian Writers Award) from the Royalty of Thailand in 2007 and the Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honor) Award from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) of the Republic of the Philippines in 2009. He has won eight major prizes for his poems, essays, and stories for children in the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. In two successive years, 2015 and 2016, he received the National Book Award for Best Book in Language Studies from the Manila Critics Circle (MCC) and the National Book Development Board (NBDB). In 2019, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (Commission on the Filipino Language) distinguished him as Kampeon ng Wika (Language Champion) in Literature and Translation. He received in 2016 the Rev. Fr. Henry Lee Irwin, SJ, Memorial Teacher Award for the Humanities from the Ateneo de Manila University. Since 2012, he has held at the same university the Rev. Fr. Horacio de la Costa, SJ, Endowed Professorial Chair in History and Humanities. For two terms, 2017 - 2019 and 2020 - 2022, he served as Head of the National Committee on Language and Translation (NCLT) of the Sub-commission on Cultural Dissemination of the NCCA. He is now on his third term as Chair of the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL, or Writers' Union of the Philippines).
He obtained his Bachelor of Arts Major in Philosophy from the University of Santo Tomas (1990), his Master of Arts in Literature (Filipino) from the Ateneo de Manila University (2001), and his Doctor of Philosophy in Filipino (Language and Translation) from the University of the Philippines Diliman (2010).
He writes poetry and short stories for children and is engaged in literary translation. His critical essays on language and literature have been published in national and international journals such as Kritika Kultura, Philippine Studies, Unitas, Tomas Literary Journal, Bulawan Journal of Arts and Culture, Daluyan, Loyola Schools Review, Katipunan Journal, Hasaan, and the Malay Indonesian Studies. Together with premier poets Teo T. Antonio and Victor Emmanuel D. Nadera Jr., he has performed the Balagtasan, traditional poetic joust, in significant cultural events in the Philippines and in cities abroad like Singapore, Honolulu, Hawaii, San Francisco, California, and New York City. From 2009 to 2020, he wrote a weekly column on language and literature called Haraya (Imagination) for the Liwayway (Dawn) Magazine, the Philippines’ longest-running popular literary magazine in the National Language since 1922. He has represented the Philippines in international literary events such as the 10th Kuala Lumpur World Poetry Reading (Malaysia, 2004), the 2nd Korea-ASEAN Poets Literature Festival (Pekanbaru, Indonesia, 2011), Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (United Arab Emirates, 2018), Neilson Hays Bangkok Literature Festival (Thailand, 2019), and Payakumbuh Poetry Festival (Indonesia, 2022).
He staunchly advocates the preservation of the kundiman and other traditional and classic Philippine song forms such as the balitaw and dansa. He has produced and hosted "Harana ng Puso with the Mabuhay Singers," which aired over DWBR 104.3 FM from 2006 to 2017, Radyo Pilipinas Dos kHz from 2017 to 2020, and now on YouTube since 2021. He has also produced and hosted PLAKA (Pamana ng Lahi, Arte, Kultura, Atbp), featuring vintage Filipino songs of the 40s, 50s, and 60s on 78 rpm and vinyl records on Radyo Pilipinas Dos 918 kHz from 2016 to 2020. It has been on YouTube since August 2020, and Prof. Felipe M. de Leon Jr., Sonia Roco, and Jeanette Job Coroza have joined him as the show's co-hosts.
He has been married since 1994 to Jeanette Job Coroza, a public high school administrator in Marikina City, with whom he has three children.