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Ricaredo Demetillo

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Ricaredo Demetillo
Born(1920-06-02)June 2, 1920
Dumangas, Iloilo, Philippines
Died1998 (aged 77–78)
OccupationWriter, poet
LanguageEnglish
Alma materUniversity of Iowa
Notable worksBarter in Panay: An Epic
Notable awards
Spouse
Angelita Delariarte
​
​
(m. 1944⁠–⁠1998)​
Children3
Literature portal

Ricaredo Demetillo (June 10, 1920 – 1998) was a Filipino essayist, poet, and playwright. Demetillo was one of the most important and prolific literary figures in the Philippines during the Twentieth Century and has won numerous awards for his writing.[1]

Biography

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Demetillo was born in Dumangas, Iloilo. He first realized that he had a talent for writing in 1939 while he was a seminarian at the Protestant Central Philippine College (now Central Philippine University). He was able to seriously pursue his talent at Indiana University as a Rockefeller scholar. In 1952 he completed his master's degree in fine arts in English and creative writing at the State University in Iowa. That same year, he returned to teach in his alma mater, Silliman University, where he also served as the adviser of Sands and Coral, the literary journal of the university. Three years later, he left his post at Silliman University to teach literature and the humanities at the University of the Philippines.

He is the author of poetry collections, including No Certain Weather (1956),[2] La Via: A Spiritual Journey (1958),[3] Barter in Panay: An Epic and Daedalus and Other Poems (1961),[4] The Scarecrow Christ (1970),[5] The City and the Thread of Light (1973),[6] Lazarus, Troubadour (1974),[7] Masks and Signature (1984),[8] and First and Last Fruits (1989).[9] He also published a play, The Heart of Emptiness Is Black, (1979);[10][11][12] a novel, The Genesis of a Troubled Vision (1976),[13] and literary criticisms, The Authentic Voice of Poetry (1962) and Major and Minor Keys: Critical Essays on Philippine Fiction and Poetry (1987).[14]

Demetillo's Barter in Panay, an English language epic based on the Ilonggo epic Maragtas, is claimed to be the first true literary epic in the Philippines.[15]

Awards

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His numerous awards include first prize for play in the 1973 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, third prize for poetry in the 1975 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, second prize for essay in the 1984 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, UP Golden Jubilee Award for Criticism (1958), Jose Rizal Centennial Award for essay (1961), Republic Cultural Heritage Award for Literature (1968), Southeast Asian Writers Awards (1985) and the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas of the Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas (1992).[16]

Personal life

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He married Angelita Delariarte and had three children. A daughter, Becky Demetillo-Abraham and three sons, Darnay, Lester and Weston Demetillo.[16] He died in 1998.[17]

References

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  1. ^ Macansantos, Francis C.; Macansantos, Priscilla S. (1 November 2012). "Government of the Philippines". National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Archived from the original on 1 November 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  2. ^ Demetillo, Ricaredo (1956). No Certain Weather: A Collection of Poetry. Guinhalinan Press. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  3. ^ Demetillo, Ricaredo (1959). La Via: A Spiritual Journey. University of the Philippines. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  4. ^ Demetillo, Ricaredo (1984). Barter in Panay. Quezon City: New Day Publishers. ISBN 978-971-10-0169-8. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  5. ^ Bray, Christopher (1969). The Scarecrow Man. Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-434-08580-4. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  6. ^ Demetillo, Ricaredo (1973). The City and the Thread of Light, and Other Poems. University of the Philippines. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  7. ^ Demetillo, Ricaredo (1974). Lazarus, Troubadour. New Day Publishers. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  8. ^ Demetillo, Ricaredo (1968). Masks & Signature. University of the Philippines Press. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  9. ^ Demetillo, Ricaredo (1989). First and Last Fruits. New Day Publishers. ISBN 978-971-10-0273-2. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  10. ^ Demetillo, Ricaredo (1975). The Heart of Emptiness is Black: A Tragedy in Verse. University of the Philippines Press. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  11. ^ Marasigan, Dennis N. (30 November 2018). "Ryan Cayabyab—'blessed with greatness of talent, yet his heart throbs with humility'". Lifestyle.INQ. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  12. ^ Cervantes, Behn (21 December 2012). "How Menggie Cobarrubias found his calling". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  13. ^ Demetillo, Ricaredo (1976). The Genesis of a Troubled Vision. Demetillo. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  14. ^ Demetillo, Ricaredo (1976). The Genesis of a Troubled Vision. Demetillo. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  15. ^ Biclar, Leo Andrew (15 March 2014). "The Socio-cultural and Political Undertones in Demetillo's Barter in Panay: An Epic". JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research. 16 (1): 57–81. doi:10.7719/jpair.v16i1.271. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  16. ^ a b Guerrero, Amadís Ma (14 July 2022). "Ricaredo Demetillo: Poet of Panay epics". Philippines Graphic. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  17. ^ Greene, Roland; Cushman, Stephen (22 November 2016). The Princeton Handbook of World Poetries. Princeton University Press. p. 429. ISBN 978-1-4008-8063-8. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
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