DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/18 Nov) — Three books written by Mindanawons won this year’s National Book Awards for social science, poetry and anthology.
“Manobo Dreams in Arakan: A People’s Struggle to Keep their Homeland” written by Redemptorist Brother Karl Gaspar of Davao City, and published by the Ateneo de Manila University, won the National Book Awards in the social science category out of five nominees.
Gaspar, presently based in Cebu City, was not able to attend the awards rites on November 17 at the Old Senate Session Hall at the National Museum of the Philippines in Manila.
Ricardo de Ungria, former chancellor of the University of the Philippines-Mindanao, already a Dabawenyo and Mindanawon in the last ten years – won the Gemino H. Abad Prize for Poetry in English, Ricardo M. de Ungria for Tala Mundi: The Collected Poems of Tita Agcaoili Lacambra Ayala, published by the UST Publishing House).
Gaspar was also one of 19 Dabawenyo authors of “The Davao We Knew,” which won the National Book Award for anthology.
Edited by Dabawenyo Lolita Lacuesta and published by Anvil, the book featured essays written by Jo Bacani Angeles, Tita Lacambra Ayala, Nenita Belda Azarcon, Pribhu Dhalamal Balchand, Renato S. Basa, Jose F. Campo, Ernesto I. Corcino, Fe del Rosario Dacudao, Karl M. Gaspar, CSsR, Lolita R. Lacuesta, Cynthia Nograles Lumbera, Margarita Marfori, Patria Garcia Montemayor, Marcelino E. Payumo, Aida Rivera-Ford, Michael L. Tan, Ting Tiongco, Josie C. Tionko and Macario D. Tiu.
The National Book Awards, the 31st this year, are given to authors of the best books published in the previous year by the National Book Development Board and the Manila Critics Circle.
The other finalists in the Anthology in English category were Babayeng Sugid:Cebu Stories, edited by Erma M. Cuizon and Erlinda K. Alburo, Anvil Publishing; Hanggang sa Muli: Homecoming Stories for the Filipino Soul, edited by Reni R. Roxas, Ilaw ng Tahanan Publishing; The Anvil Jose Rizal Reader: On the Occasion of the Sesquicentennial of His Birth, 1861-2011, edited by Ani V. Habúlan, Anvil Publishing; The Davao We Knew, edited by Lolita R. Lacuesta, Anvil Publishing; and Turning Points: Women in Transit, edited by Rhona Lopa-Macasaet, Anvil Publishing.
The other finalists in Poetry in English category were Balsa: Poemas Chabacano, by Francis C. Macansantos, National Commission for Culture and the Arts; Geographies of Light, by Dinah Roma Sianturi, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House; Ruins and Reconstructions: Poems, by Joel M. Toledo, Anvil Publishing; and Tales Of The Spider Woman, by Merlie M. Alunan, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House. 1. A Clash of Cultures: Early American Protestant Missions and Filipino Religious Consciousness, by Melba Padilla Maggay, Anvil Publishing for De La Salle University.
In the Socieal Science category, the four other finalists were Bound by Law: Filipino Rural Poor and the Search for Justice in Plural-LegalLandscape, by Jennifer C. Franco, Ateneo de Manila University Press; Komunista: The Genesis of the Philippine Communist Party, 1902-1935, by Jim Richardson, Ateneo de Manila University Press; and Lungsod Iskwater: The Evolution of Informality as a Dominant Pattern in Philippine Cities, by Paulo Alcazaren, Luis Ferrer, and Benvenuto Icamina, Anvil Publishing ;
For 2012, a total of 106 books were considered in the eight categories of the Literary Division: 10 in Fiction (Novel), 21 in Short Fiction; 26 in Nonfiction Prose; 15 in Anthology; 6 in Literary Criticism/Literary History; 17 in Poetry; seven in Graphic Literature and four in Ilocano.
In the Non-Literary Division, there were 76 titles in the six categories: 11 in Art; nine in the Professions; 34 in Social Science; four in Science; 14 in Leisure; and four electronic books.
The Pre-Screening Committee was tasked to select a maximum of five titles per category, all of which were automatically considered as finalists. (MindaNews)