Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta
Encyclopedia
Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta (June 16, 1932 – November 4, 2010) was a poet, editor, author, and teacher. One of the country's most respected writers, Dimalanta published several books of poetry, criticism, drama, and prose and edited various literary anthologies. In 1999, she received Southeast Asia's highest literary honor, the S.E.A. Write Award
S.E.A. Write Award
The S.E.A. Write Award, or Southeast Asian Writers Award, is an award that has been presented annually since 1979 to poets and writers in Southeast Asia....

.

Early years

Born in San Juan City in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, Dimalanta took up her Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, and Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Santo Tomas
University of Santo Tomas
The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines , is a private Roman Catholic university run by the Order of Preachers in Manila. Founded on April 28, 1611 by archbishop of Manila Miguel de Benavides, it has the oldest extant university charter in the...

 (UST). Trained as a concert pianist, Dimalanta focused on poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

, publishing her first collection of poems, Montage in 1974.

Career

Dimalanta served as the Writer in Residence and a Full Professor of Literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

 and Creative Writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...

 at the UST Graduate School and at the Faculty of Arts and Letters until her death. During her academic career, she held various administrative posts, including the position of Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Letters and Director of the Center for Creative Writing and Studies.

A panelist for various writing workshops at UST, University of the Philippines
University of the Philippines
The ' is the national university of the Philippines. Founded in 1908 through Act No...

, Silliman University
Silliman University
Silliman University is a private research university located in Dumaguete, Philippines. Established in 1901 as Silliman Institute by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, it was the first American private school to be founded in the country. The University is named after Dr...

 in Dumaguete, and Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology in Iligan, Dimalanta served as a judge in prominent literary award-giving bodies such as the National Book Awards
Philippine National Book Awards
The Philippine National Book Awards, or simply the National Book Awards, is a Philippine literary award sponsored by the NBDB and the MCC . It is the national book award of the Philippines...

 by the Manila Critics' Circle, Philippines Free Press Literary Awards, and Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. This status, alongside her teaching experience, enabled her to reach and influence generations of journalists and creative writers like Recah Trinidad, Arnold Azurin, Cirilo Bautista
Cirilo Bautista
Cirilo F. Bautista is a multi-awarded Filipino poet, fictionist, critic and writer of nonfiction. He received his basic education from Legarda Elementary School and Mapa High School . He received his degrees in AB Literature from the University of Santo Tomas , MA Literature from St...

, Albert B. Casuga, Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo
Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo
Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo is an award-winning Filipina fictionist, critic and pioneering writer of creative nonfiction....

, Eric Gamalinda, Jose Neil Garcia, Mike Coroza, and Lourd de Veyra.

Dimalanta published several books in her lifetime: seven books on poetry, one on drama, one on criticism, and one on her collected prose. Her first collection of poems, Montage, won the Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...

 Best Poetry Award (1969), and first prize (poetry category) in the Palanca Memorial Awards
Palanca Awards
The Palanca Awards or Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature is the Philippines' most prestigious and most enduring literary awards and is dubbed as the "Pulitzer Prize" of the Philippines...

 for Literature (1974).

She was a founding member and served as chairman of the Manila Critics Circle and an honorary fellow of the Philippine Literary Arts Council. Poet and critic Cirilo F. Bautista hailed her as "not only our foremost woman poet but also one of the best poets writing now, regardless of gender."

Dimalanta also wrote critical reviews in international journals and local periodicals and taught at Colegio de San Juan de Letran
Colegio de San Juan de Letran
The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Letran College, or simply Letran is a private Roman Catholic institution of learning located in Intramuros, Manila, in the Philippines. The college was founded in 1620. Colegio de San Juan de Letran has the distinction of being the oldest college in the...

 and De La Salle University
De La Salle University
De La Salle University is a private Lasallian university in Malate, Manila, Philippines. It was founded in 1911 by De La Salle Brothers as the De La Salle College in Paco, Manila with Blimond Pierre serving as its first director...

. The Ateneo de Manila University
Ateneo de Manila University
The Ateneo de Manila University is a private teaching and research university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. It began in 1859 when the City of Manila handed control of the Escuela Municipal de Manila in Intramuros, Manila, to the Jesuits...

 honored Dimalanta with the 13th Paz Marquez-Benitez Memorial Lecture and Exhibit which was organized by the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings (Aliww).

In 2002, UST published Dimalanta's verse drama, "Lorenzo Ruiz, Escribano: A Play in Two Acts," with a Filipino translation by Florentino H. Hornedo and Michael M. Coroza. It was premiered on 22–24 February 1994 at UST in a production directed by Isagani R. Cruz
Isagani R. Cruz
-Education:Cruz earned his undergraduate degree from the University of the Philippines, where he completed a Bachelor of Science in Physics in 1965. He later enrolled at the Ateneo de Manila University to earn an M.A. in English Literature in 1970. He also earned a Ph.D. in English Literature...

.

Dimalanta lived with her family until her death in Navotas City.

Honors

  • Poet and Critic Best Poem Award from Iowa State University (1968)
  • Palanca Awards for Poetry (1974, 1983)
  • Fernando Maria Guerrero Award (1976)
  • Focus Literary Award for Fiction (1977, 1981)
  • Cultural Center of the Philippines Literature Grant for Criticism (1983)
  • Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas from the Writers' Union of the Philippines (1990)
  • Southeast Asia (SEA) Write Award from King Bhumibol of Thailand (1999)
  • Parangal Hagbong, University of Santo Tomas (2008)

External links

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