The poet and literary critic Gémino H. Abad was born
on February 5, 1939 in Sta. Ana, Manila.
At present, he is a University Professor Emeritus
at the University of the Philippines.
His current writing and research include “Upon Our Own Ground”, a two- volume
historical anthology of short stories in English, 1956- 1972, with critical
introduction; “Our Scene So Fair”, a book of critical essays on the poetry in
English since 1905 to the mid- 50s, and; “Where No Words break”, a volume of
his own poems.
His parents are the noted novelist, playwright and
essayist in Sugbuanon and Spanish, Antonio M. Abad, who was at one time Chair
of the Department of Spanish in UP, and Jesusa H. Abad, professor of Spanish in
UP. He is married to Mercedes A. Rivera, with whom he has five children.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in
English, magna cum laude, from UP on 1963, and has been teaching English
literature and creative writing since then in the UP Department of English and
Comparative Literature, even after his retirement in 2004. He earned his
Master’s degree with honors, 1966, and Ph.D in English, at the University of Chicago under a Rockefeller Fellowship
Grant. In 1993, he was appointed University Professor in Literature, the
highest academic rank at the University of the Philippines.
In UP, he served as Secretary of the University and
the Board of Regents from 1977- 1982; as Vice- President for Academic Affairs,
1987- 1990, and; as Director of Likhaan: the UP Creative Writing Center, 1995-
1998. He was the first holder of the Carlos P. Romulo Professional Chair in
Literature from 1982- 1983, and received the UP Outstanding Faculty Award for
1985- 1986. He was also holder of the Irwin Chair for Literature at the Ateneo
de Manila University, 1993. He received the Chancellor’s Award as Best Office
Administrator in 1998 for his management of the UP Creative Writing
Center as its Director.
He was a Fellow at the Cambridge Seminar, Trinity
College, University of Cambridge, 1988; a Fellow in the International Writers
Program, University of Iowa, 1990; a Visiting Professor at the Center for
Philippine Studies, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, 1991; a Fellow at the
Oxford Conference on Teaching Literature Overseas, Corpus Christi College,
1995, and; Exchange Professor in Literature at St. Norbert College Wisconsin,
1998, and at Singapore Management University, 2003; represented the Philippines
in the 3rd “Mediterranea International Festival of Literature and
the Arts” in Rome, July 2006.
Abad is also a member of the UP Writers Club and
founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council (PLAC), which puts out
the Caracoa (since 1982)- the only poetry journal in English in Asia. He
has served as director and member of the teaching staff in numerous Writers
Workshops in UP, Siliman/ Dumaguete, MSU- IIT, and San Carlos University/
Cornelio Gaigao Workshop. He is a judge in various literary contests such as
the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards, Graphic, Free Press, NVM Gonzales Fiction
Awards, and Maningning Miclat Literary Awards. He is a speaker/ paper reader in
various writers’ national conferences and various international conferences of
scholars.
He was a columnist in The Manila Chronicle,
a weekly column called “Exchange”, with NVM Gonzales, Sylvia Ventura and Luning
Bonifacio Ira; The Evening Paper, a weekly column “Coming through”, with
NVM Gonzales and Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo; Musa: The Philippine Literature
Magazine, a monthly column called “Vates: Our Poets Speak”, and; Flip,
a monthly column “Poet’s Clearing”.
He is cited in The Oxford Companion to the
English Language, 1992, as among “poets of note”. He is also included in
the Encyclopedia of Post- Colonial Literatures in English, ed. Eugene
Benson and L. W. Conolly (London: Routledge, 1994) and the CCP Encyclopedia
of Philippine Art (IX: Philippine Literature, 1994).
His awards include the Don Carlos Palanca
Memorial Awards for Literature: first prize for poetry in English, 1976
(The Space Between); second prize, 1980 (Counterclockwise); first prize, 1983
(The Outer Clearing), The CCP Award for Poetry: second prize, 1973 (In
Another Light), Manila Critics Circle National Book Award for poetry,
1988 (Poems and Parables); for anthology, 1989 (Man of Earth), 1993 (A Native
Clearing), 1999 (A Habit of Shores); for personal anthology, 2002 (A Makeshift
Sun) and 2005 (In Ordinary Time), Asian Publishers Catholic Authors Award, 1990,
Free press Literary Awards: third prize for the short story (Tarang),
1993; first prize for the short story (Introibo), 1997; first prize for the
essay (A Day in One’s Life), 1997; second prize for the poem (A Description),
2000, Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni
Balagtas, 1996, for lifetime achievement in poetry and literary criticism, UP
Alumni Association Professional Award in Literature, 1997, Ellen F.
Fajardo Foundation grant for Excellence in teaching, 2000- 2001, Chancellor’s
Award for Best Literary Work, 2002 (A Makeshift Sun), and Patnubay ng
Sining at Kalinangan sa Larangan ng Panitikan, Lungsod ng Maynila, 2004.
Some of his poetry, fiction, critical essays and
short stories are Fugitive Emphasis, State of Play, Orion’s Belt and Other Writings,
Father and Daughter, Getting Real: An Introduction to the Practice of Poetry
and Who’s Afraid of Ching Dadufalza?
He edited books like The Likhaan, The Likhaan Book
of Poetry and Fiction, An Edith Tempo Reader, 100 Love Poems: Philippine Love
Poetry in English since 1905, Father Poems, Honoring Fathers: An International
poetry Anthology, NCAA Ubod Project, The NVM Gonzales Awards Stories and
Supreme Court Decisions as Literature. His edited textbooks are The Likhaan
Anthology of Philippine Literature in English from 1900 to the Present,
Frequently Asked Questions on Poetry, and Our People’s Story: Philippine
Literature in English.
His syllabi-textbooks
include Philippine Literature in English: Poetry, Fiction, and Drama; Greek and
roman Literature, and; Introduction to the Writing of Poetry. His index is
Index to Filipino Poetry in English, 1905 to 1950.
This year 2009, Gemino Abad won the Feronia Prize in Rome, Italy.
Partial bibliography:
Abad, Gémino H. / A Habit of Shores 1999
Abad, Gemino H. / A Makeshift Sun: Stories and Poems 2001
Abad, Gemino H. / Getting Real: An Introduction to the Practice of Poetry 2004
Abad, Gémino H. / In Ordinary Time: Poems, Parables, Poetics 1973-2003 2004
Abad, Gémino H. / Orion's Belt and Other Writings 1996
Abad, Gémino H. / Poems and Parables 2002 Ed
Abad, Gemino H. / The Children's Hour Stories on Childhood Vol. I 2007
Abad, Gémino H. and Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo / The Likhaan Book of Poetry & Fiction 1997, 1999
Abad, Gémino H. and Yuson Alfred A. / Honoring Fathers: An International Poetry Anthology 2005
Abad, Gémino H., et al. (Editors) / The Likhaan Anthology of Philippine Literature in English from 1900 to the Present 1999
Books:
  
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