Merlie M. Alunan (born December 14, 1943) is a multi-awarded Filipina poet, teacher and mentor, and cultural worker in the Visayas.
Life Merlie M. Alunan was born December 14, 1943, in Dingle, Iloilo. Alunan graduated from Silliman University with an MA in creative writing in 1974. She taught Literature and Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College. She was awarded Professor Emeritus of the UP Visayas in 2008 upon her retirement. She lives in Tacloban City.
Honors and awards
Local awards, honors, and distinctions +Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for LiteratureYearTitle of work/sCategoryAward1985 "The Gift Supreme"Poetry in EnglishThird Prize, co-winner1988"Poems for Amina"Poetry in EnglishFirst Prize1991"Poems of a Season"Poetry in EnglishSecond Prize1992"Dream of the Blue Gypsy and Other Poems"Poetry in EnglishFirst Prize1995"Amina Among the Angels and Other Poems"Poetry in EnglishThird Prize2007"Pamato"Short Story in CebuanoFirst Prize2010"Tales of the Spiderwoman"Poetry in EnglishFirst Prize +National Book Awards - Philippines (Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board)Year givenTitle of workCategoryAward37th National Book Awards, 20182019Running with Ghosts and Other PoemsBest Book of Poetry in EnglishWinner37th National Book Awards, 20182019Tinalunay Hinugpong nga Panurat nga WinarayBest Anthology in EnglishWinner36th National Book Awards, 20172018Susumaton: Oral Narratives of LeyteBest Anthology in WarayWinner35th National Book Awards, 20162017Sa Atong Dila Introduction to Visayan LiteratureBest Translated BookWinner32nd National Book Awards, 20122013Pagdakop sa Bulalakaw ug uban pang mga BalakPhilippine Literary Arts Council Prize for Poetry in the English LanguageFinalist31st National Book Awards, 20112012Tales of the SpiderwomanPhilippine Literary Arts Council Prize for Poetry in the English LanguageFinalist
1984: Likhaan Award for Poetry, UP Creative Writing Center 1994: Free Press Literary Award for Poetry 1995: Free Press Literary Award for Poetry 1995: Home Life Magazine Poetry Writing Contest, Second Prize, "Hunger" 1996: Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Creative Work 1997: Gawad Alagad ni Balagtas Award 2003: Catholic Mass Media Award for Best Column 2004: Home Life Magazine Poetry Writing Contest, First Prize, "Mater Dolorosa in Two Voices" 2007: Second Prize Tula sa Cebuano 2009: Sangyaw Achievement Award 2014: Ani ng Dangal Award 2015: Gawad Kampeon ng Wika 2018: Garbo sa Ormoc for Literary Arts 2020: Nominated for the Order of National Artist of the Philippines 2026: Ani ng Dangal Award
International awards, honors, and distinctions
1997: Honorable Mention, Lilian Jerome Thornton Award for Poetry 2010: Ananda Coomaraswamy Fellowship in Literature, Sahitya Akademi, Republic of India. 2013: Sunthorn Phu Award for Poetry, Government of Thailand. 2025: Elected as Royal Society of Literature International Writer. 2026: Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature
Works Hearthstone, Sacred Tree, Anvil, 1993, Amina among the angels, University of the Philippines Press, 1997, Selected poems, University of the Philippines Press, 2004, Tales of the Spider Woman, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2010. Pagdakop sa Bulalakaw ug uban pang mga Balak, Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2013. Running with Ghosts, Ateneo de Naga University Press, 2018. Tigom: Collected Poems, UP Press, 2023.
Edited non-literary anthologies Kabilin Legacy of 100 years of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental Centennial Foundation, 1993. (Co-editor with Bobby Villasis) Kaaging Bisaya. UP Center for Women Studies, Ford Foundation, April 2003.
Edited literary anthologies Fern Garden: An Anthology of Women Writing in the South, Committee on Literature, National Commission on Culture and the Arts, 1998, An Siday han DYVL, NCCA, UPTC VisWrite, Province of Leyte, DYVL Aksyon Radyo, 2005. The Dumaguete We Know, Anvil Publishing, 2011. Our Memory of Water Words After Haiyan, Ateneo de Naga University Press, 2016. Sa Atong Dila, Introduction to Visayan Literature, University of the Philippines Press. 2016. Susumaton, Oral Narratives of Leyte, Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2017. Tinalunay, Anthology of Waray Literature, University of the Philippines Press. 2018. Pinili: 15 Years of Lamiraw, Katig Writers Network Inc., 2019.
Anthologies Songs of ourselves: writings by Filipino women in English, Editor Edna Zapanta-Manlapaz, Anvil Publishing, 1994,
References
External links Author's blog