Merlie M. Alunan
Filipino poet
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
2003: Catholic Mass Media Award for Best Column
2004: Home Life Magazine Poetry Writing Contest, First Prize, "Mater Dolorosa in Two Voices"
2007: Second Prize Tula sa Cebuano
2009: Sangyaw Achievement Award
2014: Ani ng Dangal Award
2015: Gawad Kampeon ng Wika
2018: Garbo sa Ormoc for Literary Arts
2020: Nominated for the Order of National Artist of the Philippines
2026: Ani ng Dangal Award
International awards, honors, and distinctions
1997: Honorable Mention, Lilian Jerome Thornton Award for Poetry
2010: Ananda Coomaraswamy Fellowship in Literature, Sahitya Akademi, Republic of India.
2013: Sunthorn Phu Award for Poetry, Government of Thailand.
2025: Elected as Royal Society of Literature International Writer.
2026: Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature
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.
“Merlie M. Alunan” enters the record as filipino poet. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Merlie, Alunan and Filipino can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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