Literary Works of

Bicolano, Eastern
Visayas, Ilonggo, and
Muslim

Submitted By:

Mrs. Nor-ayn Bansara Garcia

Literary Work of Bicolano

Tahao / Middle Road: From Imagining Nation to Embodying Transnation

By: Merlinda Bobis

Analysis

This is a creative-critical discussion of the author’s expatriate arts practice (literature

and performance) using re/conceptualizations of the border as the underpinning

framework. The Tahao Road (“Middle/Border Road”) is a very busy road in the author’s

original home, Legazpi. The road cuts across the heart of the city. It was built in the late

90s (long after I left home) to relocate and ease the congested traffic from the old road.

Using this as a metaphor for the author’s “border practice” away from home and the

national/ist imaginary, the author will trace how the expatriate writer relocates “the traffic”

of the imaginary from the nation to the transnation in order to help it survive between its

new and old home. This survival strategy de-territorialises the sensibility but also renders

it “suspect,” in terms of loyalty and currency, to both sides of the border: Australia and the

Philippines. More dangerously, it cuts/fragments the heart of the artist; the only way to

“make whole” is to embody the border. To live the “Tahao Road,” thus find a way back

home.

Background Location: Legazpi City, Bikol

 Merlinda Bobis

Award-winning writer Merlinda Bobis grew up in Albay, Philippines at the foot of

an active volcano, which figures prominently in her writing and performance. As a child
her main interest was painting, but at age ten she began writing poetry because
‘painting with words’ was cheaper. She has published novels, short stories, dramas and
poems. Her plays have been produced/performed on stage and radio in Australia, the
Philippines, Spain, USA, Canada, Singapore, France, China, Thailand and the Slovak
Republic. She has performed some of her works as theatre, dance and music.
Merlinda has a Bachelor of Arts (Summa cum Laude) from Aquinas University of
Legazpi and a Master of Arts in Literature (Meritissimus) from the University of Santo
Tomas, Manila. For ten years she taught Literature and English at Philippine universities
before coming to Australia in 1991 on a study grant. She completed a Doctorate of
Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong where she taught creative writing for
more than twenty years. She continues to dream new stories in Canberra.
Literary Work of Ilocano

The Ilocana Mother of Filipino Poetry

By: Leona Florentino

Analysis

I chose this poem because I can really feel the conflict that’s happening with the

persona. Love is one of the most powerful things in the world and a lot of people can

relate to it. I’ve never fallen in love before but I know that when you love someone you

would do anything for them even if it hurts. It takes courage to confess how you feel

especially if you already know the outcome: that person cannot reciprocate how you

feel. A literary form is a way to tell a story or describe a feeling and through this poem

my knowledge about love became clearer and when the time comes when I finally feel

love, I would be ready because I know that it is a battlefield.

Background Location: Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

 Leona Florentino

Leona Florentino (April 19, 1849-October 4, 1884) was a Filipino poet in

the Spanish and Ilocano languages. She is considered as the "mother of Philippine women's
literature" and the "bridge from oral to literary tradition".[1]
Born to a wealthy and prominent family in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, Florentino began to write
her first verses in Ilocano at a young age. Despite her potential, she was not allowed to receive a
university education because of her gender. Florentino was instead tutored by her mother, and
then a series of private teachers. An educated Ilocano priest taught her advanced Spanish and
encouraged her to develop her voice in poetry.[1]
Florentino married a politician named Elias de los Reyes at the age of 14. They had five
children together. Their son Isabelo de los Reyes later became a Filipino writer, activist and
senator. Due to the feminist nature of her writings, Florentino was shunned by her husband
and son; she lived alone in exile and separately from her family.[1] She died at the age of 35.[1]
Leona Florentino was a Filipino poet in the Spanish and Ilocano languages. She is
considered as the "mother of Philippine women's literature" and the "bridge from oral to literary
tradition".
Born to a wealthy and prominent family in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, Florentino began to write
her first verses in Ilocano at a young age. Despite her potential, she was not allowed to receive a
university education because of her gender. Florentino was instead tutored by her mother, and
then a series of private teachers. An educated Ilocano priest taught her advanced Spanish and
encouraged her to develop her voice in poetry. Due to the feminist nature of her writings,
Florentino was shunned by her .
Literary Work of Eastern Visayas

An Iroy Nga Tuna

By: Illuminado Lucente

Analysis
An Iroy nga Tuna (The Motherland) a poem written by Iluminado Lucente (1883-1960) is
known as the second National Anthem of the Bisayans (Waray-Warays'). Iluminado Lucente
was a Filipino writer, primarily writing poetry and drama in the Bisayan language. He is
considered by many as the greatest writer in the Bisayan language.