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GEMINO H. ABAD
National Artist for Literature (2022)
(February 5, 1939)
Dr. Gémino H. Abad’s contribution to the world of letters, as a writer, critic, scholar, literary historian, and anthologist, is tremendous. His numerous books and literary awards are eloquent testimony of this—51 books in all. These include his ten poetry volumes, nine volumes of literary criticism, two volumes on his own poetics, two short story collections, a five-volume historical anthology of Philippine poetry in English, and a six-volume anthology of Philippine short stories in English, from 1956 to 2009.
They provide future generations with a comprehensive view of the landscape of Philippine poetry and fiction in English. Several of these books have received national literary awards. Among the many awards Dr. Abad has received are: the Gawad Dangal ng Lahi given by the Carlos Palanca Memorial Foundation; the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for his poetry; the CCP Award for Poetry; the Ani ng Dangal Award of the NCCA; the UMPIL’s Gawad Alagad ni Balagtas for lifetime achievement in poetry and literary criticism; the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan sa Larangan ng Panitikan from the City of Maynila; the Manila Critics’ Circle National Book Award for poetry, for anthology, for personal anthology; and the 2021 ONA Literature Nominee | Gémino H. Abad Philippines Free Press Literary Awards for the short story, the essay and criticism; the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan sa Larangan ng Panitikan from the City of Maynila; the Manila Critics’ Circle National Book Award for poetry, for anthology, for personal anthology; and the Philippines Free Press Literary Awards for the short story, the essay and poetry. He was a full-time faculty member at the University of the Philippines (UP) and director of the UP Creative Writing Center. In 1998, he was rewarded with the UP Chancellor’s Award for his management of the CWC.
Dr. Abad has served as director and member of the teaching panel in numerous writers’ workshops. as a judge in national literary contests and as speaker/paper reader in various writers’ national conferences and various international conferences of scholars. He is cited in both The Oxford Companion to the English Language and The Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literature. Dr. Abad received Italy’s Premio Feronia, and some of his poems have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Chinese, etc. He won the Asian Publishers Catholic Authors Award in 1990. While he represented the Philippines in numerous international literary festivals, Dr. Abad also served as a plenary speaker at many international conferences. These included the 3rd Mediterranean Intercontinental Festival of Literature and the Arts in Rome in 2006; the First Congress of Iranian and World’s Poets’ in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz in 2010; the International Poetry Festival in Granada, Nicaragua, in 2013; the International Literary Festival in Kosovo in Croatia; and another one in Singapore.
