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Philippine literature in English has its roots in the efforts of theUnited States, then engaged in awar with Filipino nationalist forces at the end of the 19th century. By 1901, public education was institutionalized in thePhilippines, with English serving as the medium of instruction. That year, around 600 educators in theS.S.Thomas (the "Thomasites") were tasked to replace the soldiers who had been serving as the first teachers. Outside the academe, the wide availability of reading materials, such as books and newspapers in English, helpedFilipinos assimilate the language quickly. Today, 78.53% of the population can understand or speak English (seeList of countries by English-speaking population).
The founding ofSilliman University byPresbyterian missionaries and thePhilippine Normal School (PNS) in 1901 and theUniversity of the Philippines (U.P.) in 1908, as well as of English newspapers like theDaily Bulletin (1900),The Cablenews (1902), and thePhilippines Free Press (1905), helped boost English usage. The first ten years of the century witnessed the first verse and prose efforts of Filipinos in student publications such as TheFilipino Students’ Magazine first issue, 1905, a short-lived quarterly published in Berkeley, California, by Filipinopensionados (or government scholars); theU.P. College Folio (first issue, 1910);The Coconut of the Manila High School (first issue, 1912); andThe Torch of the PNS (first issue, 1913).
However, the beginnings of anything resembling a professional market for writing in English would not be realized until the 1920s with the founding of other newspapers and magazines like thePhilippines Herald in 1920, thePhilippine Education Magazine in 1924 (renamedPhilippine Magazine in 1928), and later theManila Tribune, theGraphic,Woman's Outlook, andWoman's Home Journal. The publications helped introduce the reading public to the works ofPaz Márquez-Benítez,José García Villa,Loreto Paras,Luis Dato, andCasiano Calalang, among others. Cash incentives were given to writers in 1921 when theFree Press started to pay for published contributions and awarded ₱1,000 for the best stories. The organization in 1925 of the Philippine Writers Association and in 1927 of the University of the Philippines National Writers Workshop, which put out theLiterary Apprentice, also helped encourage literary production. In 1939, the Philippine Writers League was put up by politically conscious writers, intensifying their debate with those in the "art for art's sake" school of Villa.
Among the significant publications of this fertile period were:
Dramatic writing took a backseat due to the popularity of Filipino vaudeville (bodabil) and Tagalog movies, although it was kept alive by the playwright Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero.
During theJapanese occupation, whenTagalog was favored by theJapanese military authority, writing in English was consigned to limbo, since most of the English writers were forced to write in Tagalog or joined in the underground and wrote English stories based on the battles to serve as propaganda pieces in boosting the morale of the guerrillas. It picked up after the war, however, with a fervor and drive for excellence that continue to this day.Stevan Javellana's"Without Seeing the Dawn" (1947), the first postwar novel in English, was published in theUnited States. In 1946, the Barangay Writers Project was founded to help publish books in English..
Against a background marked by political unrest and government battles withHukbalahap guerrillas, writers in English in the postwar period honed their sense of craft and techniques. Among the writers who came into their own during this time were, among many others:
Fresh from studies in American universities, usually asFulbright orRockefeller scholars, a number of these writers introducedNew Criticism to the country and applied its tenets in literature classes and writing workshops. In this way were born theSilliman National Writers Workshop.
In 1940, the first Commonwealth Literary Awards were given by PresidentManuel L. Quezon to Salvador P. Lopez for"Literature and Society" (essay),Manuel Arguilla for"How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Stories" (short story),R. Zulueta da Costa for"Like the Molave" (poetry), and Juan C. Laya for"His Native Soil" (novel).
Government recognition of literary merit came in the form of the Republic Cultural Heritage Awards (1960), the Pro Patria Awards for Literature (1961), and theNational Artist Awards (1973). Only the last of these three awards survives today. Writers in English who have received the National Artist award include:Jose Garcia Villa (1973), Nick Joaquin (1976),Carlos P. Romulo (1982),Francisco Arcellana (1990),N. V. M. Gonzalez,Rolando Tinio (1997),Edith L. Tiempo, (2000), F. Sionil José (2003), andBienvenido Lumbera (2006).
A select group of local writers have also received the internationalMagsaysay Award, namely,F. Sionil José,Nick Joaquin andBienvenido Lumbera.
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Despite the lack of a professional writer's market, poetry and fiction in English continue to thrive and be written with sophistication and insight. Among the fictionists of recent years are:
Poets include:
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