Merlie M. Alunan

Merlie M. Alunan
Merlie M. Alunan
Born	December 14, 1943 (age 80); Dingle, Iloilo
Education	Silliman University
Genre	poetry, short story, essays
Notable works	Amina among the Angels (1997); Tales of the Spider Woman (2010);
Notable awards	Palanca Awards (1988, 1992, 2007, 2010); Philippine National Book Awards (2017, 2018, 2019);

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.

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"^[9]
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]

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]

Hearthstone, Sacred Tree, Anvil, 1993, ISBN 978-971-27-0301-0
Amina among the angels, University of the Philippines Press, 1997, ISBN 978-971-542-150-8
Selected poems, University of the Philippines Press, 2004, ISBN 978-971-542-443-1
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.

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.

Fern Garden: An Anthology of Women Writing in the South, Committee on Literature, National Commission on Culture and the Arts, 1998, ISBN 978-971-91500-6-0
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.

Songs of ourselves: writings by Filipino women in English, Editor Edna Zapanta-Manlapaz, Anvil Publishing, 1994, ISBN 978-971-27-0356-0

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