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Merlie M. Alunan
Born	(1943-12-14) December 14, 1943 (age 81) Dingle, Iloilo
Education	Silliman University
Genre	poetry, short story, essays
Notable works	Amina among the Angels (1997) Tales of the Spider Woman (2010)
Notable awards	Palanca Awards (1988, 1992, 2007, 2010) Philippine National Book Awards (2017, 2018, 2019)

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

• 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, UMPIL (Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas)
• 2003 - Catholic Mass Media Award for Best Column, Cebu Daily News
• 2004 - Home Life Magazine Poetry Writing Contest, First Prize, "Mater Dolorosa in Two Voices"
• 1995 - Distinguished Faculty Grant, University of the Philippines
• 2007 - Second Prize Tula sa Cebuano, Gawad Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino
• 2008  - Selected Poems (UP Press, 2004), listed among the UP Centennial Publications
• December 13, 2008 - Professor Emeritus, University of the Philippines.
• July 2, 2009 - Sangyaw Achievement Award, City of Tacloban.
• 2014 - Ani ng Dangal (Literary Arts), NCCA.
• 2015 - Gawad Kampeon ng Wika, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF)
• 2018 - Garbo sa Ormoc for Literary Arts, Ormoc City, Leyte.

International awards, honors, and distinctions

• 1997 - Honorable Mention, Lilian Jerome Thornton Award for Poetry
• September 2010 - Ananda Coomaraswamy Fellowship in Literature, Sahitya Akademi, Republic of India.
• July 26, 2013 - Sunthorn Phu Award for Poetry, Government of Thailand.

Works

• Hearthstone, Sacred Tree, Anvil, 1993, ISBN 978-971-27-0301-0
• Amina among the angels, University of the Philippines Press, 1997, ISBN 978-971-542-150-8
• Selected poems, University of the Philippines Press, 2004, ISBN 978-971-542-443-1
• 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, ISBN 978-971-91500-6-0
• 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, ISBN 978-971-27-0356-0

References

1. "Merlie M. Alunan". Panitikan.com.ph. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
2. "Directory of Winners". www.palancaawards.com.ph. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
3. "The 37th National Book Awards Winners (Best books published in the Philippines in 2017)". National Book Development Board.
4. "The 37th National Book Awards Winners (Best books published in the Philippines in 2017)".
5. "36th National Book Awards Winners". National Book Development Board.
6. "Winners of the 35th National Book Awards Announced". National Book Development Board.
7. "32nd National Book Awards finalists announced". Inquirer.net.
8. "Finalists of 31st National Book Awards Announced". Kalasag.
9. ^ "Home Life Magazine Poetry Writing Contest: Judges and Winners, 1993-2007". LASALLIAN LITERARY STORY.
10. "Brillante Mendoza leads NCCA's Ani ng Dangal Awards". Inquirer.net.
11. "Kampeon ng Wika 2015: Merlie M. Alunan".
12. "Garbo sa Ormoc and Dakbayanon Pasasalamat 2018 Awardees". Eastern Visayas Mail. October 15–21, 2018.
13. "Dr. Anandacoomaraswamy Fellowship".
14. "Dr. Anandacoomaraswamy Fellowship".
15. "Dr. Merlie M. Alunan is the first Filipino recipient to receive Sunthorn Phu Award 2013". Manila Channel. July 13, 2013.

External links

• Author's blog

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• 1943 births
• Living people
• 20th-century Filipino poets
• Writers from Iloilo
• Writers from Leyte (province)
• Silliman University alumni
• People from Tacloban
• People from Leyte (province)
• Filipino women poets
• 20th-century Filipino women writers
• 21st-century Filipino women writers
• 21st-century Filipino writers
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