National Book Awards winners bared; Lifetime Achievement award for Cordero-fernando

ANVIL PUBLISHING Inc., was named Publisher of the Year at the 31st National Book Awards last Nov. 17 at the National Museum.

Handed out yearly by the Manila Critics Circle (MCC) and the National Book Development Board (NBDB), the National Book Awards recognize the best of the previous year’s locally published books. The 31st National Book Awards feted the best books published in 2011.

Publisher, writer and artist Gilda Cordero-Fernando was given the Lifetime Achievement award for her iconic body of work. “She has exemplified what a publisher should be, namely, someone who blazes a path in intellectual history by calling attention to good research, fine writing, stimulating originality, aesthetic pleasure—in short, to good books,” read the citation.

It was Anvil’s 10th time to be named Publisher of the Year, the most of any publisher. The winners received a cash prize of P15,000 as well as trophies made by award-winning sculptor Michael Allen Cacnio. Additional cash prizes were given by individual sponsors.

The complete list of winners: Cirilo F. Bautista Prize for Short Fiction in English: “Better Homes and Other Fictions: Collected Prose” by Connie J. Maraan (University of Santo Tomas Publishing House); Fiction, Short Stories in Filipino: “100 Kislap” by Abdon Balde Jr., (Anvil Publishing Inc.); Fiction, Short Story in Ilokano: “Karapote: Antolohia Dagiti 13 A Nasuerte A Sarita” by Ariel S. Tabag (Gumil Metro Manila); Nonfiction Prose in English: “Peace Warriors: On The Trail with Filipino Soldiers” by Criselda Yabes (Anvil); Nonfiction Prose in Filipino: “Almanak ng Isang Aktibista” by Rolando B. Tolentino (University of the Philippines Press);

Anthology in English: “The Davao We Know” compiled and edited by Lolita R. Lacuesta (Anvil); Anthology in Filipino: “Telon: Mga Dula” edited by Tim Dacanay (National Commission for Culture and the Arts); Anthology in Ilokano: “Nabalitokan A Tawid: Antolohia Dagiti Napili A Sarita Dagiti Ilokano,” edited by Juan AL. Asuncion, Joel B. Manuel and Ariel S. Tabag (Gumil Filipinas Inc.); Philippine Literary Arts Council Prize for Poetry in English: “Tala Mundi: The Collected Poems of Tita Agcaoili Lacambra Ayala” by Tita Agcaoili Lacambra Ayala, edited by Ricardo M. de Ungria (UST Publishing House); Poetry, Filipino: “Distrungka” by Teo T. Antonio (UST Publishing House); Isagani R. Cruz Prize for Literary Criticism in a Foreign Language: “Dead Stars: American and Philippine Literary Perspectives on the American Colonization of the Philippines” by Jennifer M. McMahon (UP Press); Isagani R. Cruz Prize for Literary Criticism in a Philippine Language: “Sawikaan 2010: Mga Salita ng Taon,” edited by Roberto T. Añonuevo and Romulo P. Baquiran Jr. (UP Press); Graphic Literature: “Trese 4: Last Seen After Midnight” by Ferdinand Benedict G. Tan and Jonathan A. Baldisimo (Visprint Inc.);

Alfonso T. Ongpin Prize for Best Book on Art: “The Life and Art of Lee Aguinaldo” by Ma. Victoria Herrera, Clarissa Chikiamco, Cid Reyes and Rod ParasPerez (Vibal Foundation and Ateneo Art Gallery); Professions: “Is Franchising for You?” by Armando O. Bartolome (Anvil); Social Sciences: “Manobo Dreams in Arakan: A People’s Struggle to Keep their Homeland” by Karl M. Gaspar (Ateneo de Manila University Press); Science: “Pinatubo: The Volcano in Our Backyard” by Robert Tantingco (Holy Angel University, Center for Kapampangan Studies); Leisure: “100 Questions Filipino Kids Ask, Volume 2” by Alai Agadulin, Javier Asuncion, Victoria Bravo, Kata Garcia, Emylou Infante, Glenda Oris, May Tobias-Papa and Cynthia Villafranca (Adarna House Inc. and Liwayway Marketing Corp.); MCC Special Prize for a Book Published by an Independent Publisher: “Si Amapola sa 65 na Kabanata” by Ricky Lee (Philippine Writers Studio Foundation); Best Design: “Philippine Ancestral Gold” designed by Guillermo Ramos (Ayala Foundation Inc); Publisher of the Year: Anvil Publishing Inc.

Special citations were given to Joaquin Sy; “Lungsod Iskwater: The Evolution of Informality as a Dominant Pattern in Philippine Cities” by Paulo Alcazaren, Luis Ferrer and Benvenuto Icamina (Anvil); and “Tomas Pinpin and Tagalog Survival in Early Spanish Philippines” by Damon L. Woods (UST Publishing House).

Founded in 1981, the MCC is a nonprofit, nonstock organization of professional literary critics and newspaper columnists who believe that Philippine books deserve much more attention than they usually get from business, media and the general public. Membership in the Circle is strictly by invitation: A unanimous vote is required before anyone is invited to become a member.

Current members are: National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario, Juaniyo Arcellana, Cirilo F. Bautista, Roger Bresnahan, Isagani R. Cruz, Ruel S. De Vera, Shirley O. Lua, Resil B. Mojares, Danton Remoto, Soledad S. Reyes and Joel Pablo Salud.

In 2008, the MCC entered into an agreement with the NBDB to institutionalize the National Book Awards to better honor Philippine publishers and authors.

The 31st National Book Awards had the assistance of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.