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Breakirg Barriers:
The Essay and the
Non-Fiction Narrative
CRISTINA PANTOJA HIDALGO
A Brief Introduction
ire essay has always been a kind of outsider. When it records personal
impressions, reminiscences, or reflections in a light, whimsical, humorous
tone, it is grudgingly accepted as a kind of stepsister. When it deals with serious
subjects in a sober, analytical, formal tone, it is declared to be philosophy, history,
sociology or political science, and banished altogether.
Tiue, the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature and the Manila
Critics Circle National Book Awards now include the essay as an official category;
and courses in the writing of the essay are part of the Creative Writing curriculum
in the University of the Philippines. But one proof that it is still not regarded as
equal in importance to poetry, fiction or the drama is that the national creative
writing workshops-held in Baguio, the Visayas and Davao (by the University
of the Philippines), in Dumaguete (by the Creative Writing Foundation), and in
IIigan (by Mindanao State University)-are not open to essay writers.t Another
proof is its neglect by literary critics.2
The idea seems to be that the essay is easy to write. After all, politicians,

priests, and pedants of every stripe produce countless lectures, speeches, sermons,
papers, theses and dissertations which could all be called "formal essays." And

practically everyone who thinks he or she can write-from the newspaper

columnist, pounding out his weekly 400 words, to the college freshman struggling
tlrrough his English composition assignments-produces what is referred to
variously as the "informal" or "personal" or "familiar" essay.
Because of tlris notion-that anyone can write an essay-many in fact do.
-l'hc
resr,rlt is matcrial oIsuch voluminous quantity and such uneven quality that
it rlrrly rcirrlorccs tltc prejudice against the essay as a literary form.
Writers wlro lrt' rnuinly essayists contribute to this confusion by being
rrpologclit irlrrrr rl tlrcit w ritittg. Cttrttrcn G uerero Nakpil, for instance, commenting
rrrr lrlr ollcrr lrcirrg t'nllrtl "lrr expcrl in tlrc l'iclrl oI the essay," wrote:

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I am afraid rhat distinction was earned only by my having been such

a bad short story writer. My short stories were so bad that my friends
would say O[ course they're bad. They're not short stories, they're essays'
When one is not much good as a [ish, one becomes a frog.

In desperation, I put together some stulf that had appeared in

newspapers and magazines under my by-line into a kind of nonbook called
Woman Enough and called it a collection o[ essays. But somebody has now
written that a few of the pieces in that item are not essays but short stories.

(Nakpil 1973:4)
Moreover, there is no clear definition of what an essay is. To quote Nakpil
once agarn:

essay as it is to write a good short

o[ "creative writers" to be
tendency
srory or poem or l-act play. And despite the
and playwrights make
poets
fictionists,
snobbish toward the essay, some gifted
disinclined to
journalists,
generally
who
are
rather bad essayists. Whereas many
fine essays.
produce
writings,
make claims regarding the literary value of their
How
"literature"?
hence,
essay,
But when does a feature article become an
"literariness"
a
Is
review?
about an interview story? or a column? or a movie
a
story
does
when
matter,
matter of subject or style or approach or tone? For that
or narrative become an essay? And given the paradigms of poststructuralist
criticism, should we be worrying about these distinctions at all? Are not all these
materials simply "texts?"
Since it is necessary, in a book of this sort, to decide upon what particular
"r.exrs" are to be covered by the label, I shall begin by specifying that for purely
practical reasons, this short overview will not concern itself with that type of
"formal essay" which may be called an intellectual treatise and includes
philosophical disquisitions, academic lectures, political speeches, and a whole
slew of other texts not generally regarded as "imaginative literature" or "creative
wriring," and therefore not generally included in literature textbooks. But it should
lrt. rrolcd that there is, in the Philippines, a rich tradition of the essay as political
trr.rtt is(,; ilnd today's newspaper columnists like Adrian Cristobal, Yen Makabenta,
( ,ll,r(l() tlt.(Jr.riros, and others like them, have illustrious predecessors in the
\\'illr'r', r,l tlrt' I)ropagallda Movement, who wrotc in Spanish ancl whose vehicle
rr',r,,,t1',,r,r r('wsl)ill)cr, thc l-a Solitluriducl.
\', lrrr llrr- ro t'itllt'tl "ittlotrttrtl t'ss;ty," itt trty vit'w, it tttlty llt'itllottl irrryllrirrg

ln fact, it is as difficult to write a good

llr rt,,tl,l, ltottt lltt pto tltttttt'/|trl ltlt',lr'lr,rlc lrr lltt't'vlttlt'stt'ttl

Philippine Literature in English

355

summer blossoms lt may be written in any style-straightforward or oblique,

simple or complex, laconic or exuberant, humorous or lyrical. And it ma1, adopI
any tone, frorr dead earnesI to whimsical to self-mocking. The only requirement
is that the voice of the writer ring clear and true and fine. Which is just another
way of saying that the writer should have something significant to say and that
helshe should say it well
As to the matter of the difference between essay and story that is, between
cxpository and narrative writing, I agree with Edward Hoagland that "the point an
essayist is trying ro illustrate takes precedence over his'story"' (Hoagland 1993:74)
The personal essay is meant to be like a household implement, a
frying pan hanging from a punchboard, or a chat at the kitchen table,

Essays, then, are what no other form o[writing seems willing to be A

bad short story a letter that lets one off from an undesirable engagement
or money debt, liction that can never be publlshed as fiction because it
has too much truth in it, a libelous tract, propaganda material, an extended
joke, a parody or satire, a private quarrel or a public flirtation-any and
all of these can be called an essay and the subject ofprose writing. (P 5)

ttt

oJ

lrt'ltrtly ol

though it need not remain domestic; it canbecome anguished, confessional,

iconoclastic, or veer from comfortable wit to mastectomy, chemotherapy,
and visions of death, just as the talk in the parlor does. Essayists are
ambidextrous, not glamorous; switch-hitters going for the single, not the
home run They're character actors, not superstars. They plug along in a
moclest manner (if any writer can be called modest), piling up masonry
incrementally, not trying for the Taj Majal like the ambitious novelist. (p.78)

From this perspective, Danton Remoto's book reviews are essays. So are
Doreen Fernandez's columns on food. And so are some of Dr. Margarita Holmes'
responses to readers' queries regarding their sexual hang-ups.
The field today is an incredibly varied place, and it is also located in the
pages of newspapers and magazines, as indeed it was in the time of the first
Filipino

essayists

in English during the Commonwealth period.

Pre-War
There seems to be a consensus that the Commonwealth Period was a kind
of golden age lor the familiar essay.] Among the prominent practitioners of the
art were: Jorge Bocobo, Carlos P Romulo, Vidal Tan, Mauro Mendez, Cristino
Jamias, I.V Mallari,Juan Collas, An[onio and Ariston Estrada, Federico Mangahas,
M aria Luna-Lopez, Lydia Villanueva-Arguilla, Maria Kalaw-Katigbak, A.E.
t-itiatco,Jose A. Lansang, Francisco B. Icasiano, Fernando M. Maramag, Amado
l)ayrit, Alfredo Gonzalez, Pura Santillan-Castrence, Francisco Arcellana, Estrella
l). Alfon, Arturo Rotor, andJosefa Estrada.
Unfortunately, all the collections of pre-war essays in English are out of
'l-hc [irst ol these, Dear Devices, Being a First Volume of Familiar Essays in
lrrirr t.
l:nglisl, pLrlllislrcd in 1933, was a collection of essaysbysome of the members o[
r lrlt lirst gt'rrclat ion of Filipino essayists in English (Antonio Estrada, A.E. Litiatco,
Mlrriir I rrrlr I opt'2, l;ctlcric'o Mangahas,Jose A. Lansang, Ariston Estrada, Maria
lr,,rl,rw K;rtililrrrli irrrtl l;tlrttt'ist'o l]. Icasiano).
I lr lrr',t ,,rrr1il,' ;rlllrot lrooli ol lrrrrrililrcssayswas TheCallof theHeightshy
,'\llr,,l,r (,) (,ol,.,rlr ,' ( lr) i/), rr t ollt'r'tion rrl wltal rnay perhaps be callcrl

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357

o[ the east wing of the church, but only

that he just would not take Christianity
94ll "At the Baptismal Font,,' in Reyes,

"inspirational pieces." Literature and Society by Salvador P. Lopez, published in

1940, collected some familiar essays that originally appeared in his column, "So
It Seems," in the Herald (along with the piece titled "Literature and Society,"
included in this collection because of its importance in articulating an aesthetic
which continues to influence some Filipino writers today). This was followed
by Horizons fromMy NipaHut (1941) by Francisco B. Icasiano, a selection of his
columns inthe Sunday TribuneMagazine. And mention should be made here of
Sand in the Palm, which, although published in I976, is a collection of Maria

The reader will likewise be beguiled by the poetry of Francisco Arcellana,s

column, "Art and Life," i. the philippines HerakiMid,-weeh Magazine:
The thing to do is to admit tenderness if you are tender, to admit

hardness if you are hard: to be no more than the emerard being no more
and no less than what it was intended to be.

Luna-Lopez s pre-war essays.

In these volumes rr.ay aheady be found practically all the varieties of the
essay in English as practised in the Philippines today-social commentary, reverie,
reflection, recollection, meditation, humorous sketch, journal entry letter, travel
sketch, profile. The contemporary reader will probably find some of these pieces
rather naive, both in the use of the English language and in the worldview they

The thing to do is to be as the emerard the.: emerard being emerald.

(Arcellana [19401, "Art and Life,,' in Reyes, 302)

And charmed by the ingenuity of Lydia villanueva-Arguilla's essay *on

l)e

ncil":

reflect.
For instance:

English

I don't sharpen my pencils too line either, it seems

After it was decided that I was going to enroli in the University, I

broached the subject ofjournalism. I was disgusted to find out that a
journalist is a newspaper man, a hunter of news, o[ anything to thrill and
excite the public It belonged to the earth, not to the beautiful heavens I
dreamed of soaring to with the sweet and tender words from my pen. (KalawKatigbak ll929l, "What I Should Like Most to Be," in Reyes 1977 22 )

lot ol waste to

inhibiting as mine with pencils, especially colored pencils (Arguilla tl93gl

"On a Pencil," in Reyes, 231)

l)ost-War

Or this:
Another lesson I learned from Bacong is found in the fact that the
river was not. merely determined to flow just an)'where but to reach the
great end Many streams manage to surmount barriers they meet along
the way, but they come out of obstacles after much labor, only to end in a
foul and stagnant marsh or lake. How like so many human livesl How like
so many people who, in the springtime of their youth and in the summer
o[ their early manhood, showed splendid heroism against frowning odds,
determined to overcome those hostile barriers, only in the autumn of their
lives to end in defeat, disgrace and remorse. (Gonzalez [19371, "The Will
o[ a River," in Reyes, 228)

On the other hanci, he/she will also be much struck by the sophisticated
Irrtrnor o[ Francisco B. Icasiano's ruminations on Filipino idiosyncracies and
lr,rlrils, rrsirrg as a technical device the point of view olMang Kiko, "the nipa.,l r,rt li lr ilosop lrcr. " Take, for instance, his account oI the baptism o I the "unhappy
l
,lrrlrl" rvlro, rrntorrstrltcd, faced a lllcak lirttrrc with thc naurc o[ "Jtran I'.cclcly
Lrrrrp,rl,rr,rrr " I )rrr ing lltc ccrentony, tlrc t lril<l

After the war, Francisco Arcellana continued to write essays, as well as his
trrlrrrnrr "Through a Glass Darkly" in rhis weeh magazine. so did Amador T.
l)lgr-rio, Estrella D. Alfon, and Pura santillan-Casrrence. And Kerima poloran,
Atlrian Cristobal, F sionil Jose, Rosalinda orosa, D. paulo Dizon and N.vM.

iorrzalcz began publishing essays.

lrr 1962, Yay Panlilio-Marking collected some of rhe essays which had
oliginally appeared in her column "where a Country Begins," published in the
lM'r'lrl.y women\ NIagaTine lrom 1955 to 1961. Most o[ these are more like
rrrrrirlivcs, dealing with her own life, her adventures and misadventures as a
ilrwsl)irl)crwoman So even here we have a blurring of the distinction between
r'xpositiorr aucl narration, a blurring which could be said to be one of the
t lt,rrrrt tt'ristics ol the essay today
t )l llrc rrcw l)racr itioners olthe craft of the essay, perhaps the most
distinguished

ll,rlllrl

l'l

uiilll

lrt ltsrl ,

llts

rtr

,tr toss llrt'lr;tIlr.,trr ),wrllr \url)r iritrll rPcrrl, lollowcrllry tlrt'

olylcs, tltr' ;rolttir,rl liorl l,rllrr't rutrln linli lu,lt,t w,rs llr;rlly

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Very typical is her santacruTan piece

The santacruTan, th^t seasonal phenomenon which helps justily the
month oI May in the Philippines, is probably the only exclusively Filipino
feature of Filipino life. There are nipa huts and carabaosjust like ours all
over Southeast Asia; the carinosa, anyone will tell you, is derived from
Spain; the hundiman is a cross between the Spanish cancion and the
American "blues;" and the national costume is rightly calledtraje demestiza
But nowhere else in the world is there anything hke the Santacruzan.
(Nakpil 1964:76)
Less well known are the tender nostalgic pieces like "I Remember Ermita"
and "A Christmas Memoi " (Nakpil I964), which, once again, cross the border
rnto narratrve
Another respected woman essayisl and teacher, Dolores Stephens Feria, has
paid Nakpil this tribute:

in

English

35g

Kerima Polotan's essays are collected in two volumes: Author\ Choice (l9zl)
'tnd Adventures rn a Forgotten Country (1975). These range in subject from
(()ntemporary news events, like the I967 massacre of the Lapiang Malaya in
"'-fatang' and the Lapiang Malaya," to reminiscences of her unorthodox wedding
in "Anniversary," to travels in Iran in the company of Imelda Marcos in "persepolis
without the Trimmings." Their style varies, from rambling and evocative in
"Memories" to clipped and tersed in "Midwife from pampanga."
And their tone varies from the poignant nostalgia in "sma[ Town Filipinos"
lo the alternating contempt and compassion in "Filipinos in America." Many of
llrcse tex[s could also be called non-fiction narratives.
Gilda Cordero-Fernando has not thought of making a book out of her
tolumn, "Tempest in a Teapot," which ran for six years, first in the Chronicle,
tlren in the obsewer, and finally inveritas;so rhese charming, witty pieces are
('ve n more difficult ro find.

Now
Tl.re most distinguished writing being done in the essay in the
Philippines today is to be found in the newspaper column of Carmen
Guerrero Nakpil (Feria 196I:4)

ybeonea
on, media
one want

l)()s

Pre Martial Law

slrortlived Kalikasan

Nick Joaquin's historical

essays

were Iater collected in A Qaesti on

oJ Heroes

(1977), a handsome coffee table book. And some of his lighter pieces were
collected in 8 small voiumes published by Nationa Bookstore in 1977-I981:
licprtt Ltrge on Love, Reportage on CrLme, Nora Aunor and Other Profiles, Ronnie
l'rrr' 11111f Other Silhouettes, Manila: Sin City? and Other Chronicles, Language oJ
/lrr' \lrr'r'/s rrntl Other Essa1,.s, etc Since then, Joacluin has ptrblishccl at least a

,1,,,'r'r rrort' rrotr-[iction lroolis, int:lrrtling tollctliorrs ol-t'ssuys orr crrllrrrc, lrrr
,tlttr.ttr,tr , ,utrl .'otnt' lriognrplrit's llis writittlls itlt'so wcll linowu ls lo rrrrrlit'trry
,Ir,'t,rtri'n,, ol lr.r',sllAt's lrorrr tlrcrrr rlrrilr',,rr1r, rllrr,rrr,,
rl

What is the scene like today as far as the informal essay/non-fiction narrative

Some of Nakpii's later essays are collected in two other books, A Question of
Identity (1973), and in The Philippines and the Filipinos (1977).

The sixties and early seventies were [he era of the Philippines Free Press, the
Philippine Graphic, the AsiaPhilippines Leader, and the Sunday supplements of the
ManilaTimes andtheManilaChronicle, a high point in Philippine journalism. These
periodicals attracted as staff members and regular contributors some of the best
writers of the time: NickJoaquin (who wrote as Quijano de Maniia), flictionists
Kerima Poloun, Gregorio C Brillantes, Wilfredo Nolledo, Gilda Cordero-Fernando,
Ninotchka Rosca, Norma Miraflor, Arnadis Ma. Guerrero, and Rosario A. Garcellano,
poets Jose Lacaba, Marra PL. Lanot, and Edel Garcellano; essayists Petronilo Bn.
Daroy, Luis Teodoro, Antonio Hidalgo and Sylvia Mayuga. These writers raised the
magazine feature article to the level o[ literature.

ili

isc

rrrrPrecedenred activity

nsoexciting.
g. It was suddenly
d. There was also

in the publishing field, initiated by the groundbreaking,

if

whichbegan ro publish new, relatively unknown wrirers.

Today, writers have the choice of raking their work ro Anvir publishing,
( rrcho Hermanos, Bookmark, rhe pioneering New Day, which is still very much
rrror-rnd, the new Giraffe Publishers, or lhe university presses (U.p, Ateneo and
| )e l-a Salle), which are now publishing literary titles. The effect of all rhis
acrivity
,rrr non-fiction as well as fiction and poetry is obvious.
Because mosr of these rexrs are still widely available,a I shall not quore
l)irssages from them. I wish merely ro menrion some examples which will, I
tlrirrk, suggesI the range of what the new crop of essayists are doing with the oldlirslrioned "personal" or "familiar" essay.
M ost oI the non-fiction being published today consists of collections of essays
,r igirrally published as newspaper columns. This, despite the fact that mosr
jrrrrrnrlists, iI asked, would probably agree with Adrian Cristoba].
Press,

I bclieve that a collection ol newspaper columns in book form is

shccr vanity: what is perishable-and newspaper pieces are perishableslr.Lrltl bc lllowed to perish without benelit of clergyz (cristobal 1993:ix)
lltsrlttirtrtrl's ( 199 l),

sclcction from pieces originally published as part of his

,,,lrurrrr irr tlrt. l)rrily (ilolrr', r'orrtains sonre of Cristobal,s best personal essays_
prtlry,
rrrr,l ,'rrr, lirl willrrrLrl evt'r lrccorrrirrg pedantic. Conrado cle euiros has
"vitty
r ollt't lt rl ttt,tttl' r"",,r\/', (rrrliirrrrlly
;rrrlrlislrt'tl ils l)irrt ol'his Daily Globe columns in

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focusing on details that normally elude the ordinary tourist-forms part of

SeductLon and Solitude (1995) by poet Danton Remoto. And sculptorJerusalino
V Araos has published the lavishly illustrated beautifully produced The Garden

of Two Dragons Fuching (1992), which could be called an extended personal

essay but actually defies classification.
A compilation of the essays which ran as the column "Barfly" by fictionist/
poet/playwrightJose Y. DalisayJr. was released by Anvil in L997, surely among
the finest in the genre.
The women essayists are even more adventurous. Elsewhere, I have described
their work as "among the best examples of English prose being produced in the

country today" (Hidalgo 1994:15) They resist genre classification, being

combinations of the autobiographical narrative, the personal reflection, the travel
essay, the book review, the hard-nosed reportorial account, and what onc writer
orrcc described as "the lyrical etude."5
(.onsicler the foliowing: Sylvia Mayuga's two collections,Spy Ln My Own
( irrrrrlry: li.sscry.s (1991) andEarth, Fire and Air: E-ssay-s of a Dccada (1992), a
rl, lrlilrt, :tt nrrtt'lr lirr the irnrnense vrricty ancl corlplcxity ol thcir subjccts as [or
Illl ,,rr',r',1( ntlyltrrninousclualityol'tlrcirlurrgrrlgt';llosurioA.(ilrxclllrrrolsMlrrn
',1, r r l', ( l'l') I ), tvltit lr rlcPit ts "llt'rll:rrrr rrrrtl gr it'1" ttr :t lrtttgttrrgt' lrl ()n( t' so lyr it lrl

rll n,lrr llt,tt ol('lt'cls lr,'1,t'1t.,.,('tlltl', r1,,,'ll ,,r,tr llrt ,l,sP:rir,ll,rrlr:rr:r (

r,,,rr tl, ,"Iltt',lt,,tlt',1,r'lr'11;tttlll,ttotttr llrrl'l)rr)i'ttlrl,,tllirtttl'r'rttl,,rtrr'li,rtl,',

Englis'h

36I

rvlrich purports to be a manual for single parenrhood, a uniquely postmodern

t('xr, in which the medium is truly the message, and the message is ,grace under

several books. Luis Teodoro has compiled some of his columns inNationalMidweeh

andTheManilaTimes into one book While these consist mainly of political essays,
they include the occasional pieces which are marvelous examples of the familiar
essay, like "Respite" inFlowers from the Rubble (1990) by de Quiros, arrd "TV and
the Household" in Teodoro's The Summer of Our Discontent (1990) . Confessions of a
Q.C House-Husband and Other Privacies (1991) consists entirely of personal essays
by poet/fictionist Alfred A Yuson, since Yuson, even when he is writing political
commentary always does so with the lightest of touches and his tongue firmly
planted in his cheek. The same light touch is displayed by historian Ambeth Ocampo
in his column, "Looking Back," published first in the Globe and then in the Inquirer;
and longer articles published inWeehend. Some of these pieces have now collected
in several books which might all be subtitled "History Made Easy" Poet/scholar
Gdmino H. Abads "letter-essays" tn State of PIay (1990), also surprisingly first
publishedaspartofacolumncalled"Exchange," tnTheManilaChronicleonSunday,
are examples of a variant of the familiar essay, what is sometimes called the "literary
essay," not.just because they are of[en about language and literature, but because
they are written in a style would best be described as lyrical. A different type of
literary essay cum memoir is to be found in N.VM. Gonzalez'sWorh on theMountain
(1995) andTheNorel of Justice (1996).
Fictionisl Amadis Ma Guerrero has two collections of travel essays Traveller\
Choic e : F rom N or th to S o uth, ( I 993 ), and A J o urney T hrough the En chanted Isle s,
(1995) A different type of travel writing-adopting in epistolary form and

in

l)r'('ssLrre, rhe

stiff upper lip behind the engagingsmile, a kind of iachismoin

rt'vt:rse" (Flidalgo 1994:r49); Doreen Fernandez's essays on food as culture,

t'rrllt'cted insarap: E-ssays onFilipinoFood

I'ttpal

6ni Culture (1994).

(l9gg) and.Tihim:Essays onphilippine

And there is more. Fictionist Cecilia Manguerra Brainard tackles the exparriate
.xlrcrience from rhewoman's poinr of view inphilippine womaninAmerica(r99r).
l)trrrrir-ri rorrevillas-suarez,and RinaJimenez-David train the sharp reporter's eye
'rr tlrc quotidian in Sounds oJ stlence, sounds of Fury (lgg9) andwoman at l_arge
( l()94) respectively sylvia Mendez venrura surveys
her many worlds wirh gre"at
rrrlranity and charm in Ragtime inKamuning: sari-sariEssays (1992). Gemma cruz

rt'rrrirrisces in Sentintiento (1995) Julie Daza proposes an Etiquette

for Mistresses
Romana-cruz surveys the sundays of ourLives (1995). Redpencil,
lll;. Pencil: Essays and Encounters (199r) is an imposing collection of Dolores

( l(x).1). Leni sta.

\tt';lhcr.rs Feria's political and literary essays but it also includes some delightful
trrvclogues. And my own contriburion to the field takes the form of personal
rrrn.ar-ives cum travel essays, which have been collected into 6 books.

one of the most interesting of the new women essayists is Jessica Zafra,
r'lrtrsc interests, idiom, and wacky humor have turned her into a kind of cult
lrgrrrc for thar portlon of the population that likes to call itself ,,Generation X "
lle r'lwisted (I995)and Twistedll: Spawnof Twisted (1996), collecrions of essays
Irr rrr hcr column inToday, andwomanagerie andother Tales
Jrom the Front ( t99i),

('()nrPilation of her earlier columns irwomanToday, depicta world

shaped as
r rr rt lr by her early convent school education
and the classics which she absorbed
rrr hcr English literature classes at rhe U.p, as by MT! rock music, comicbooks,
l,rst l.ods, Holl)rvood, local showbiz, rhe gay culture, cyberspace, etc.
,r
r

A.nother developmenr worth mentioning is the recent publication of

,rrrtlrologies of essays by womenwriters. The forerunner he rewasFilipina2 (r9g5),

lrut r()llcther by a group of women journalists who had organized themselves
rrrto Wonten Writers in Media Now (WOMEN) to assert the difference between

tlrt'rrsclvcs and the "newshens" of the previous generation. A product both of

tlrt' Political activism that immediately preceded martial law, and the resistance
il r( )v('nrc11[ clr,rring the dictatorship, the book was edited by Mila Astorga
Garcia,
lvl:rrrrr l)l-. [-anor and Lilia Quindoza santiago, and included pieces (by, among
,tlrt'rs, Arlcrre Babst, LettyJimenez Magsanoc, Ma. Ceres Doyo, etc), which
rrrort' propt'rly bclorrg in a discussion of the formal essay.

ln lt)t)2, llnbcth Lolarga and Anna Lea sarabia editedkllingLives: Essaysby

I rlilrirrrr wtntrrtr, wlrich vcry quicl<ly went out of print (and since then has been
r, r',',rr,tl) Ilrclrool<torrlirirrs: aslrrlrtreassessmentofthefeministmovementin

rlr'l'lrrliPIirrr'slryl)olrrrt.sStt'Plrt'rrst;cria(,,GenderWhirlwindfromtheEast,,),
t t,rrttl,ltttl' t( \'( lr' trlro111 111.i111' rlirrrglrlt'r, lr6tlrcr alci grandmother by Gilda

{,rrlrrr,

l','rrr,rrrrl,r('[\,l,rlrcrlroorl\r;rrcrrrt,nrs");(;rrrrrt.rrGttcrreroNakpil,sshort

362

The Lihhaan Anthology of Philippine Literature in English

essay on {bur Filipinas as representative of four aspects of the

The Lihhaan Anthol,ogy of Phi.Iippine Literature

Filipino woman's

character ("The Filipino Woman: Cory and Leonor, Gabriela and Imelda"); Paula

Carolina Malay's simple, touching narrative of her mothers life ("Recuerdos:

Shadows of My Generation"); her own daughter, Paula Malay's account of her
coming of age as a writer and freedom fighter ("The lnvisible Ceiling"), Rosario
A Garcellano's narrative about watching her stepmother die ("Besieged"), my
own profile of my mother; Ester Dipasupil's harsh but humorous indictment o[ a
convent school education ("Liberation and Crochet Work"); Emmie Velarde's
understated but poignant account of the end of her marriage ("Room with no
View"), and Elvira Mata's short vignettes about women and their failed
relationships with men ("Xeroxed Palms and Other Tales of the Heart"). It is a
significant anthology, as it opens a door into a woman's private world, a world
which until very recently Filipino women kept carefully shielded, allowing
strangers in only after it had been carefully disguised as fiction.
One effect o[ the publication of this slim volume is that it appears to have
started s 11snd-2 type of writing by women for which one label might be
"confessional writing." In 1994, Criselda Yabes published A lourney of Scars, a
candid account of her efforts to get over a lost lover. And then, there was Coming
to Terms (1994) edited by Lorna Kalaw-Tirol, a collection of astonishingly frank
essays on mid-lifing by fifteen women, among them Dr. Margarita Holmes, Imelda
Nicolas, Tessie Tomas, and Neni Santa-Romana Cruz.
Finally, there is Ladies' Lunch and. OtherWays to Wholeness, a tour de forceby
Gilda Cordero-Fernando and Mariel Francisco (1995). This unusual book, a
pastiche of memoir, essay, sketch, journal entries, letters, recipes, advice, song
fragments, passages from both fiction and non-fiction, drawings, sketches, and
old photos, might be described as a jointautobiography of the authors, or again,
a postrnodern biography of middle-class Filipina, touching on prac[ically every
aspect of her life, from childhood to old age.
Another kind of anthology is the lovely little volume edited by poet/artist
Ricardo M. de Ungria,LunaCaledonia: FtueFilipinoWritersinHawthomdenCastle
(1992-).It contains poems, fiction excerpts, and the lyrical, impressionistic essayscum-journal-entries of poets and fictionists Rofel Brion, Eric Gamalinda, Alfred
A. Yuson, Marjorie Evasco and de Ungria himself.
And then there is the beautiful little book published by the Atene o Heights.
The Art of Writtng (1995) includes essays on their craft by, among others, N.VM.
Conzalez, Marjorie M. Evasco, Doreen Fernandez, Danton Remoto, andJose Y.

l)llisayJr.
I lnvc,

thr-rs far,

limited myself to writers whose

essays have been collected

in

I'o,rli' Nowuwordaboutsomewriterswhohaveenteredorre-enteredthefieldof
(,,',,r\'$'rrlinlillrroLrghthenewspapers,thuscnsuringitscontinrrccl
vigoranrl varicty
rrr tlrr , r rtlt), to t'1;1rr.. I rcli'r to l'ictiorrists l:r'win t:. (,irstillo, Ilrit.(iarnalirrtll irntl
r lr,ttl,,rtt(lrll, rvlttt wtott'tolrrrrrrrs lor tlrc slrorllivt'rl l:vlrrirr( llr|r'r; to llrt'vt'r-y
\,,rrrrtr l",r I firrr'lrlr'Vt't'rt, wlro wtilr'., lor llrc I'lililltittr l)tillv Irtr: ritrr; trrrrllo tlrrt't'

ol

in

English

363

very talented contemporaries, fictionists Katrina P Tuvera and Clinton

poetJ. Neil C. Garcia, and poet/fictionisrAngelo Lacuesra, whose columns,
rrlso in the EveningPaperwere sometimes lyrical, often funny and always intelligent.
cle Vera's

I'rrlar-rca,

It now remains for NickJoaquin to collect the end-of-the-year essays that

lre used to publish inthePhilippinesFree Press as Quijano de Manila, delighrful
picces that summed up all tl-re events of the previous year, including vagaries of

thcweather,fashion,art,etc.; forGregBrillantesto publishhisseriesof travel

('ssays on Latin America, first printed inMidweeh magazine; for Gilda Corderolicrnando to compile some of the essays that appeared as part of her column
" lL'rr-rpest in a Teapot" in the Chronicle, the Obsen,er, and Veritas; and for Letty

lirrrcnez Magsanoc to publish her own essays.

An effort has been made to ensure that the selec[ions that form part of this
lrrrol< are fairly representative. Nonetheless, choices of this sort are necessarily
1rt'rsonal, and inevitably rellect the editor's taste. No claim is being made for these
pict'cs as the "best" examples of the genre, or even necessarily the best examples of

tirch writer's work. But they are certainly among the finest informal essays/ nonIrt titln narratives to date, and they are very different one from the other. Thus they
n ply demonstrate the richness of the genre in the Philippines today

, r r

NOTES
I Last year, I997, the U P National Writers Workshop in Baguio accepted works
, ,rlt'gurized as "Mixed Genre,"

' The landmark text, Brown Heritage (Manuod 1967), which purported ro be as
r'rlnustive a study of Philippine literature as had ever been attempted, gave the essay
,,rrly the most cursory attention
'See especiallyYabes (1 949), Reyes (1977), and Pur4 Santillan-Castrence (1967:559):
" I lrc cssay was, curiously enough, less neglected during the period under survey than it
r', rrow The short story fits more than the essays, it seems, the psychology o[ the present

Irrncs -l-heessayisforgraciouslivingandquiet,deliberatethinking,theshortstoryisfor
tlrl r;rrick-moving, tense kind of human existence that we go through today."
tr

'I 'l'hc llre which razed the warehouse o[ Anvil Publishing in

January 1996 has
tnportt'ily turned most of its titles into rare books. Anvil has promised to reprint them.

''

I'ilipino Woman Writing: Home and Exile in the Autobiographical Narratwes oJ Ten
\\irtr'rs by Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo (Ateneo, 1994) studies some of these texts, i.e the
nrn li( li()r) nrlrratives of Maria Luna-Lopez, Paula Carolina Malay, Carmen Guerrerg
ll,rliprl, l(crirrra Polotan, Gilda Cordero-Fernando, Cecilia Manguera Brainard, Sylvia
[\1,r1'rry',:t,

:ttttl llttsitritt

\l;l Ii(.'l'l:l)
\lr,rrl, (,r'rrrrrro

Garcellano

IIIBI.IOGRAPHY

ll

\r,r,.,, fr'rrr,,,rltrr,,

\lrrlr'rr/

I'lry

Manila: Kalikasan Press, I990.

V llr, r itttltn ol lwo l)rtr(rrns Fuching.

l'rrlrll ,llttrl', l 'tr).t

Philippines: Miratala

The Lihhaan Anthologlt of Philippine Literature

364

TheLihhaanAnthologyofPhilippineLiteratureinEnglish

,,Art and Life." 1g40. The philippine Informal Essay in English:

Arcellana, Francisco.
Z' fr'l'n' thesis' University of
1918- 1963 by Estela Anna Fernando Reyes' Voi'
the PhiliPPines,1977.

Philippine lnformal Essay in

Arguilla, Lydia Villanueva. "On a Pencil'" I938' The
Vol' 2' M'A' thesis'
English: 19I8-f963 by Estela Anna Fernando Reyes'
University of the Philippines, 1977
de Manila University' 1995'
The Art of Writing.Quezon City: HEIGHTS, Ateneo

( irrrrzalez,

Alfredo Q. The Call

oJ the

in

English

365

Heights. Manila: Community Publishers, 1937.

"The Will of a River-" The Philippine Informal Essay in English: 1918Vol.2. M.A. thesis, University of the

1963, by Estela Anna Fernando Reyes.

Philippines, I977.
( iorrzalez, Barbara.
I

How Do You Know Your Pearls Are Real? Pasig: Anvil Publishing,

991.

(ittcrrero, Amadis. Alourney ThroughtheEnchanted Isles. Pasig: Anvil Publishing,

1995

Brainard,CeciliaManguerra.PhilippineWomaninAmerica'QuezonCity:NewDay'

Trayeller's Choice: From North to South. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 1993.

1991.

1933'
Certain Filipinos. Dear Devices Manila: The Authors'
1993'
Cristobal, Adrian- Pasquinades' Pasig: Anvil Publishing'
14' 1995'
"TrlT ng the Lord'" Philippine Daill Inquirer' November
1995'
cruz, Gemma Guerrero. sentimiento. Pasig: Anvil Publishing,
Publishing' 1995'
Neni Sta. Romana. Sundays of Our Li'tes' Pasig: Anvil
Cruz,

llidalgo, Cristina Pantoja. ComingHome

Ffue Years in a Forgotten Land: A Burmese Notebooh. Quezon City:

.I Remember . Trayel Essays Quezon

Feria,DoloresStephens.RedPencil,BluePetcil:EssaysandEncountersManila:
Kalikasan Press,

I99I'

The Path of the Heart, Pasig:

FilipLno Woman Writtng: Home and Exile in the Autobiographical N onatiy

March I993.

I94I. The Philippine Informal Essay

in English: 1918-1963, by Estela Anna Fernando Reyes. Vol. 2. M.A. thesis,

lcrtsiano, Francisco B. "At the Baptismal Font."

University of the Philippines, I977.

Horizons from My Nipa

l99l '
lltlll(1, lkrsario A- Mean Streets' Manila: Kalikasan Press'
in Mcdia Now
( rdrr 1f,, Mlln Astorga ct al., ccls Filipina 2: l:ssays hy Won'trn Writcrs
'lly: Ncw l)ay Ptrblishe rs, l()tt4'
(
(
)lletrrll

Hut Manila: Nipa Publishing,

1941.

lrrirquin, Nick (Quijano de Manila). Amalia Fuentes and Other Etchings. Manila:
National Bookstore, I977.
Doteglion and Other Cameos. Manila: National Bookstore, 1977.

Publishing, 1994.

es

llrragland, Edward. "To the Point: Tiuths Only Essays Can Tell." Harper\Magazine,

Fernandez,Doreen-Tihim:EssaysonPhilippineFoodandCulture'Pasig:Anvil
Fernandez,DoreenandEdilbertoAlegre.Sorap:EssaysonFilipinoFood.Manila:Mr.
& Ms. Publishing House, 1988'
Lunch and other ways to
Fernando, Gilda cordero and Mariel Francisco. Ladies
Wholeness. Quezon City: GCF Books, 1994'
Publishing' 1992'
"Motherhood Statements'" TellingLitesPasig: Anvil

Anvil Publishing, f 994.

of TenWriters Quezon City: Ateneo University Press, 1994.

..SomeCurrentsinFilipinoEssays.''PhilippineCollegian,November
15,196I.

City. New Day Publishers, 1992.

Shyscrapers. Celadon and Kimchi: A Korean Notebooh. Quezon City:

University of the Philippines Press, 1993.

Publishing' 1994'
David, RinaJimenez. WomanatLarge' Pasig: Anvil

Manila: Aria Editions ,1992'

Anvil Publishitg, 1997.

University of the Philippines Press, 199I.

1997'
Dalisay, JoseJr. Y. Best of BarJty' Pasig: Anvil Publishing'
1993'
Daza, Julie. Etiquette t'or Mistresses' Philippines:
Pasig: Anvil Publishing' 1990'
de Quiros, Conrado. Flowers t'rom the Rubble'
Fi,le F ilipino Witers in Hawthornden Castle
de Ungria, Ricardo M., ed. Luna Caledonia:

Pasig'.

Gloria Diaz and Other Delineations Manila: National Bookstore, I977.

Language oJ the Street and Other Essays. Manila: National Bookstore,
lc)80.

Manila: Sin CLty? and Other Chronicles. tvtanila, National Bookstore,

l()80.
Nrrrrr Aurrrrr und O(hcr ['rol'ilcs Manila: National Bookstore, 1977.

'nt('e

A Qttr'rliort r,/ lrr'r(,r'\ Mlrrilir: Ayitlit Muscttm , 1977.

The Lihhaan Anthology

366

oJ

The Lihhaan Anthology

Philippine Literature in English

Reportage on Lovers.

Press.

Manila: National Bookstore, 1977

National Bookstore, I977'

lrryag, Katoks . Recollections and Digressions Manila: Philnabank Club, 1985.

le

Kalaw-Karigbak, Maria. "What I Should Like Most to Be." 1929. The Philippine
lnformal Essay in English: 1918-1963, by Estela Anna Fernando Reyes. Vol' 2.
M.A. thesis, University of the Philippines, 1977'
Lolarga, Babeth and Anna Lea sarabia, eds. TellingLi,"es: Essays by Filipino women.
Quezon City: Circle Media Publications, I992'
Lopez, Maria Luna. sand in the Palm. Manila: University of the Philippines Press,

odoro, Luis. The Summer of Our Discontent Manlla'. Kalikasan Press, 1990.

I'irol, Lorna Kalaw, ed. Comingto Terms: Writings onMid-liJeby 15 Women Pasig:
Anvil Publishing, 1994.
Vcntura, Sylvia Mendez Ragtime in Kam.uning: Sari-Sari Essays. Pasig: Anvil
Publishing, 1992.
Vcra-Cruz, Sixto. Five Major Filipino Woman Essayists in English: An Appreciative
Study M.A thesis, National Teachers' College, 1956.

t976.
P-

Literature and Society. Manila: Philippine Book Guild, 1940.

Mayuga, sylvia Earth,FireandAir:Essaysof aDecade.Pasig:AnvilPublishing,1992.

Spy in My Own Country: Essays. Manila: ["consortium of Filipino

Leopoldo P The Filipino Essay in English: A Critical Study with an Anthology

of RepresentativeEssays (f9I2-1918). M.A. thesis,Universityof thePhilippines,
1949.

Yuson, Alfred A. "The Adopted Hometown." The Sunday lnquirer Magazine, May 3,

ConJessions of a Q.C. House-Husband

Miraflor, Norma. OneWoman\ Opinion Singapore: Media Masters, 1990

Nakpil, Carmen Guerrero. Woman Enough and Other Essays. Quezon City: Vibal
Publishing, 1964.
The Philipp ines and the F ilipino s. Manila : Vess el Bo

oks,

Bonifacio\ Bo7o. Pasig'. Anvil Publishing, 1995.

LoohingBach. Pasig" Anvil Publishing, 1990.

Mabini\ Ghost. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 1995'

Rizal Without the Overcoat. Pasig: Anvil Publishing' 1990

l97l'

in a Forgotten Country. Manila: Alemars-Phoenix

Press,

l()75.

l)rilllon. StductionandSolitutle'

Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 1995

lllyrr,l,rtrlrr Arrrrir l;crnunrlo 'l'lrc I'lrilippinc lulirrnrirl

M A llrrrlc, t)rrivcrsity ol tlrc I'hilippitres, l()77

fissrry

/.rrlra, Jessica. Twisted. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 1995.

Womanagerie. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 1995

Question of ldentity. Manila: Vessel Books, 1973'

Polotan, Kerima. Author\ Choice . Manila: Bustamante Press,

atd Other Privacies. Pasig: Anvil

Publishing, I99I.

Twisted II: Spawn of Twisted Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 1996.

I 9 77'

Ocampo, Ambeth. Aguinaldo\ Breaht'ast. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 1993'

l(r'rrrrrlrr,

Criselda. AJourney of Scars. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 1994

t992.

publishers"L I981.

Adyentures

Yrrbes,
Yrrbes,

Marking, Yay.Where aCountry Begins. Manila, 196l'

Criticism of Post-War Editorials and Columns in the Philippine

M.A. thesis, Ateneo de Manila University, 1949.

Domini Torrevillas. Sounds of Silence, Sounds of Fury. Quezon City: New Day
Publishers, 1989.

Intramuros. Manila: Philippine Daily Inquirer, 1988.

Lopez, Salvador

367

SrrirLez,

Manila: National Bookstore, 1977'

Reportage on Crime. Manila:

Philippine Literature in English

SirrrJuan, Benjamin. A

Reportage onPolitics. Manila: National Bookstore, 1981'

Ronnie Poe and Other Silhouettes.

oJ

in [:rrglish: lc)ltl-lc)63