DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 10 December) – Six Mindanao books are among 35 winners in the 41st National Book Awards.
The Best Anthology in English is “Kalandrakas Part 1, 1890-1945: Stories and Storytellers of/on Regions in Mindanao, 1890-1990” and “Kalandrakas Part 2, 1946-1990: Stories and Storytellers of/on Regions in Mindanao, 1890-1990,” edited by Ricardo M. De Ungria of Davao City and published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press while the Elfren S. Cruz Prize for Best Book in Social Sciences is “Transfiguring Mindanao: A Mindanao Reader,” edited by Jose Jowel Canuday of Davao City and Joselito Sescon of Iligan City and published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press. “Transfiguring” also won the Best Book Design, done by Karl Castro.
The four other Mindanao books that won were published in Mindanao.
The Ateneo de Davao University Publication Office’s two books won: “Dili Pwede Mogawas ug Ubang Mga Sugilanon” (Can’t Go Out and Other Stories) by Elizabeth Joy Serrano-Quijano of Matanao, Davao del Sur, for Best Book of Short fiction in Binisaya, and “Raising Quality Education in the Philippines: Selected Speeches and Writings” by Fr. Joel E. Tabora, SJ. for Best Book on Professions.
Xavier University Press in Cagayan de Oro’s “Coming Home to the Island: Poems” by Arlene J. Yandug won the Philippine Literary Arts Council Prize for Best Book of Poetry in English (Xavier University Press); while the Davao City-based Pawikan Press’ “Sarena’s Story (Suy-Suy ni Sarena): The Loss of a Kingdom”(In Paglawa’ sin Hambuuk Sultaniyya) won the Best Translated Book in Tausug. ‘Serena’s Kingdom’ was written by Criselda Yabes and translated by Benj Bangahan.
The Yabes book translated by Bangahan was the lone finalist for Translation in Tausug while Tabora’s book was the lone finalist for the Professions category.
The annual prize, initiated by the National Book Development Board (NDBD) and the Manila Critics Circle (MCC), honors the most outstanding book titles written, designed, and published in the Philippines.
Awarding rites will be held in February 2024.
A total of 235 titles were submitted across 34 categories in seven languages: English, Filipino, Binisaya, Bikol, Hiligaynon, Tausug, and Waray. There are 35 winners because the category on Non-fiction Prose in English has two winners.
Eleven Mindanao books written or edited by Mindanawons made it to the finals, six of them winners in their categories. MindaNews last month reported nine Mindanao books as finalists. Its listing missed two: “Laut: Stories” by Sigrid Gayangos of Zamboanga and Davao, published by the University of the Philippines Press, for Best Short Fiction in English and “Hulagway: Bahay ng Salita” (Balai ng Gunita), edited by Floraime Oliveros Pantaleta of Basilan and Zamboanga, for Best Literary Criticism / Cultural Studies, published by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
The other finalists from Mindanao: “Armor” by John Bengan of Davao City for Short fiction / English (Ateneo De Manila University Press); “Ang Dagayday sa Panahong Nanglabay” by Melchor M. Morante of Davao City for Novel in Binisaya (Aletheia Printing and Publishing House); and “My Ranaw Kitchen Lab: Food for Peace in Muslim Mindanao” by Assad Baunto of Marawi for Food (Pawikan Press).
Bengan was also a finalist at the 23rd Madrigal Gonzales Best First Book Award. He won the award for “Armor.”
“Kalandrakas”
“Kalandrakas,” the two-volume book on a century of Mindanao literature — from 1890 to 1990 is “the most comprehensive anthology of Mindanao literature to date, covering poetry, fiction, drama, and essays” in 11 languages, most of them translated to English.
The book includes the writings of 249 writers, de Ungria’s Introduction, biographical notes of the writers, appendices (which regions the writers are from, directory of Mindanao writers and proposed framework for archival project and developing literature in the Regions), photographs and bibliography.
The awards-giving body in its citation said describing “Kalandrakas” as comprehensive “would be an understatement.”
It said the research into Mindanao stories and storytellers spanning 1890 to 1990 is “as deep as the sea surrounding Mindanao.”
“Kalandarakas” is “nothing short of a masterful inspection that considered all aspects of the stories from Mindanao,” a hundred years’ worth of “a deep investigation into not just the tales and tellers from Mindanao, but even into their hierarchy, history, and even illustrations and backgrounds.”
De Ungria, it added, is “nothing if not thorough as he analyzes and tracks the flow of tales, identifying and giving each writer his or her due.”
“All this for an area whose distinctive culture has not been given the same attention as other parts of the country but has now received it in spades through this anthology,” the citation reads.
Transfiguring Mindanao
“Transfiguring Mindanao: A Mindanao Reader,” a book featuring the works on Mindanao’s history as well as its socioeconomic, political, and cultural elements, is a collaborative work of 44 authors, including MindaNews editor in chief Bobby Timonera and editor Horacio Marcos C. Mordeno, and columnists Karl Gaspar, Gail Ilagan and Fr. Reynaldo Raluto.
According to the citation, the book delves into Mindanao’s rich tapestry through insightful essays, historical accounts, and evocative stories, and presents “illuminating accounts of its indigenous history, vibrant culture, fervent struggles, and collective aspirations of people that define Mindanao.”
It also said the book “articulates the evolution of Bangsamoro that historicizes Islamized identities and its inclusive embrace of diverse peoples coming to Mindanao as their fertile land, a haven for livelihood and economic opportunities, and their home.”
“This compendium of memories, narratives, and scholarship brings to light what readers here in the Philippines and around the world can learn more about Mindanao’s society, politics, governance, economy, education, arts, culture, and religion, aside from the usual literature on armed conflicts and insurgence.”
The citation concludes with this note: “A must-read for everyone!”
“Dili Pwede Mogawas:
Serrano-Quijano’s “Dili Pwede Mogawas ug Ubang mga Sugilanon” (Can’t Go Out and Other Stories) is a collection of 10 stories in Binisaya/Cebuano with English translation by Palanca awardee Bengan, who was a finalist in the 41st NBA for short fiction in English.
“Committed to the exploration of the Mindanaoan, specifically the Blaan community experience (Serrano-Quijano) has woven a postcolonial subtext into the fabric of her stories.”
The citation noted that this is very evident in her “eponymous story that constitutes her more sustained effort to produce a narrative that boldly tackles socio-economic and political issues, providing a strong critique of the often-unrecognized experiences of war and struggle.”
The reader is also guided by the presence of acronyms, glossary, foreword, translator’s note, preface from the author, and blurbs from literature and arts professors.
Coming Home to the Island
Yandug’s “Coming Home to the Island” suggests in 50 poems “a journey in time, parsed by five enigmatic section subtitles that read together as a narrative paradigm: your story travels / in many voices / throughout the land / about things you can’t decipher / arriving at today which holds everything there is.”
Yandog’s “epic imagination sings of how one navigates the waters of history to come home to a specific island in the archipelago.”
She also “sings of a ‘coming home’ to a specific time today, imbricated with sentiments of re-membered history, particularly inflected here as Mindanawon.”
Raising Quality Education
Tabora’s book, according to the citation, equates quality education not only as a way for the common good to reach the common people, “but as a means for the Holy Spirit to bring the ecclesia to a ‘knowledge of God’ within the Roman Catholic catechism and tradition.”
“It is a collection as interesting as it is engaging especially to the lay minister-teacher to whom critical dialogue between the university and the ecclesia proves more important now than ever before.”
Suy-suy ni Sarena
“Suy-Suy ni Saren” is expected to encourage more Tausugs to read.
“The discernment and enjoyment of the story by both readers in English and Bahasa Sug, certainly become deeper and tighter. The translated version will hopefully reach out to more Bahasa Sug-speaking readers not only in the Sulu archipelago but also in other territories where there are Tausugs. The Bahasa Sug version appears appealing and rewarding enough to be read by native Tausugs because the material is about their rich and colorful Sultanate – a story of historical, social, and political reminiscence faithfully translated from the source language, which is English.
Two other books – one co-edited by a Mindanawon and the other on the Moro warrior – were finalists in the History category.
“The Marcos Era: A Reader,” published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press, is edited by Leia Castañeda Anastacio and Patricio N. Abinales., a Mindanawon who hails from Ozamiz City.
The “Moro Warrior: A Philippine Chieftain, an American Schoolmaster, and the Untold Story of the Most Remarkable Resistance Fighters of the Pacific War” by Thomas McKenna is also published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press. (MindaNews)
WINNERS OF 41st NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
LITERARY DIVISION
NOVEL (ENGLISH): “Yñiga: A Novel” – Glenn Diaz, Ateneo de Manila University Press
NOVEL (FILIPINO): “El Arbol de la Alegria: Southern Quartet I” – RM Topacio-Aplaon, Isang Balangay Media Productions
SHORT FICTION (ENGLISH): “Song of the Mango and Other New Myths” – Vida Cruz-Borja, Ateneo de Manila University Press
SHORT FICTION (FILIPINO): “Ang Buang ng Bayan: Mga Maikling Kuwento” – Rowena P. Festin, University of the Philippines Press
NONFICTION PROSE (ENGLISH)
“Even Ducks Get Liver Cancer and other medical misadventures” – Wilfredo Liangco, Milflores Publishing
“Rodolfo Biazon: Soldier, Solon, Statesman” – Eric Ramos, Milflores Publishing
NONFICTION PROSE (FILIPINO): “Pasasaan” – Jesus Aman Calvario, Isang Balangay Media Productions
ANTHOLOGY (ENGLISH): Kalandrakas Part 1, 1890-1945: Stories and Storytellers of/on Regions in Mindanao, 1890-1990” and “Kalandrakas Part 2, 1946-1990: Stories and Storytellers of/on Regions in Mindanao, 1890-1990” – Ricardo M. De Ungria (Ed.), Ateneo de Manila University Press
ANTHOLOGY (FILIPINO): “Plus/+ at Iba Plus, Maramihan: New Philippine Nonfiction on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities” – Rolando B. Tolentino and Chuckberry J. Pascual (Eds.), Ateneo de Manila University Press
LITERARY CRITICISM/CULTURAL STUDIES: “Isang Dalumat ng Panahon” – Christian Jil R. Benitez, Ateneo de Manila University Press
MEDIA STUDIES: “Alternative Cinema: The Unchronicled History of Alternative Cinema in the Philippines” – Nick Deocampo, University of the Philippines Press
POETRY (ENGLISH): “Coming Home to the Island: Poems” – Arlene J. Yandug, Xavier University Press
POETRY (FILIPINO): “Sa Ika-ilang Sirkulo ng Impyerno” – Miguel Paolo Celestial, Isang Balangay Media Productions
GRAPHIC NOVEL AND COMICS (ENGLISH): “Death be Damned” – Authors: Mike Alcazaren, Noel Pascual, and AJ Bernardo; Illustrators: AJ Bernardo and Josel Nicolas, Komiket Inc.
GRAPHIC NOVEL AND COMICS (FILIPINO): “Josefina” – Author: Russell L. Molina; Illustrator: Ace C. Enriquez, Adarna House
TRANSLATED BOOK (ENGLISH): “It’s A Men’s World” – Translator: Ken Ishikawa; Author: Bebang Siy, Isang Balangay Media Productions
TRANSLATED BOOK (FILIPINO): “Ilustrado” – Translator: Chuckberry J. Pascual; Author: Miguel Syjuco, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House
TRANSLATED BOOK (HILIGAYNON): “Nada” – Translator: Alice M. Sun-Cua; Author: Carmen Laforet, Sto Niño de Cebu Publishing House
TRANSLATED BOOK (TAUSUG): “Sarena’s Story (Suy-Suy ni Sarena): The Loss of a Kingdom (In Paglawa’ sin Hambuuk Sultaniyya)” – Translator: Benj Bangahan; Author: Criselda Yabes, Pawikan Press
TRANSLATED BOOK (WARAY): “GIMATA: Mga Siday ha Waray Nga May Mga Hubad Ha Inglis” – Victor N. Sugbo, National Commission for Culture and the Arts
DRAMA AND FILM: “Huni at Pakpak: Mga Dula, Mga Sanaysay” – Luna Sicat Cleto, University of the Philippines Press
NOVEL IN BINISAYA: “Arkipelago: Nobela” – Januar Yap, Advaux Publishing
SHORT FICTION IN BINISAY: “Dili Pwede Mogawas ug Ubang Mga Sugilanon (Can’t Go Out and Other Stories)” – Elizabeth Joy Serrano-Quijano, Ateneo de Davao University Publication Office
ANTHOLOGY IN BINISAYA: “Sinug-Ang: A Cebuano Trio” – Erlinda Alburo, Ester Tapia, and Corazon Almerino, University of San Carlos Press
POETRY IN BINISAYA: “Ang Nakayatak kay Nayatakan (Who Steps Upon Is Stepped Upon)” – Adonis Durado, University of the Philippines Press
NON-LITERARY DIVISION
ART: “Julio Nakpil (1867-1960) Collected Works Volume 1: Piano, Vocal, and Chamber Music” – Maria Alexandra Iñigo Chua (Ed.), University of Santo Tomas Publishing House
SOCIAL SCIENCES: “Transfiguring Mindanao: A Mindanao Reader” – Jose Jowel Canuday and Joselito Sescon (Eds.), Ateneo de Manila University Press
PHILOSOPHY: “Life-times of Becoming Human” – Neferti X. M. Tadiar, Everything’s Fine
HISTORY: “The Chinese Mestizos of Cebu City 1750-1900” – Michael Cullinane, University of San Carlos Publishing House
HUMOR, SPORTS, LIFESTYLE, AND BUSINESS: “The You-have-to-go-through-a-lot-of crap to-get-to-good-ideas book” – David Guerrero, Milflores Publishing
FOOD: “Flavors of Iloilo” – Rafael J. Jardeleza Jr., Iloilo City Government
SCIENCE: “The Role of Rainforestation in Forest Landscape Restoration and Conservation in the Island Municipality of Pilar, Camotes, Cebu” – Guiraldo C. Fernandez, Jr. and Marlito M. Bande, Aletheia Printing and Publishing House
SPIRITUALITY AND THEOLOGY: “The Islands of Faith: Crossroads of Mission” – Andrew Gimenez Recepcion, Ateneo de Naga University Press
PROFESSIONS: “Raising Quality Education in the Philippines: Selected Speeches and Writings” – Fr. Joel E. Tabora, SJ, Ateneo de Davao University Publication Office
JOURNALISM: “Duterte Watch: Descent into Authoritarianism Collected Commentaries” – Vergel O. Santos, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House
DESIGN: “Transfiguring Mindanao: A Mindanao Reader” – Editors: Jose Canuday and Joselito Sescon; Book design: Karl Castro, Ateneo de Manila University Press
