Lualhati Bautista

Infobox Person


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name = Lualhati Bautista
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birth_date = birth date and age|1946|12|02
birth_place = Tondo, Manila, Philippines flagicon|Philippines
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occupation = Novelist; movie and television scriptwriter
genre = fiction
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Lualhati Torres Bautista (b. Manila, Philippines December 2, 1945) is one of the foremost Filipino female novelists in the history of contemporary Philippine Literature. Her novels include "Dekada '70", "Bata, Bata, Pa'no Ka Ginawa?", and "Gapô".

Biography

Bautista was born in Tondo, Manila, Philippines on December 2, 1945 to Esteban Bautista and Gloria Torres. She graduated from Emilio Jacinto Elementary School in 1958, and from Torres High School in 1962. She was a journalism student at the Lyceum of the Philippines, but dropped out even before she finished her freshman year. She has served as vice-president of the Screenwriters Guild of the Philippines and chair of the "Kapisanan ng mga Manunulat ng Nobelang Popular". She became a national fellow for fiction of the University of the Philippines Creative Writing Center in 1986. Also in 1986, she was invited to participate in the US- International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), multi-regional project on American film. The following year, she participated in the ASEAN writers conference held in Singapore. no [

[http://www.geocities.com/bimbifanatics/theauthor.htm Lualhati Torres Bautista: The Author, Geocities.com, date retrieved 27 May 2007] ]

Work

In addition to being a novelist, Lualhati Bautista is also a movie and television scriptwriter and a short story writer. Her first screenplay was "Sakada" (Seasonal Sugarcane Workers), a story written in 1975 that exposed the plight of Filipino peasants. Bautista has received recognition from the Philippines' Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature and the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa in 1987. Her award-winning screenplays include "Bulaklak sa City Jail" (1984), "Kung Mahawi Man ang Ulap" (1984), "Sex Object" (1985). For screenplay writing, she has received recognition from the Metro Manila Film Festival (best story-best screenplay), Film Academy Awards (best story-best screenplay), Star Awards (finalist for best screenplay), FAMAS (finalist for best screenplay), and URIAN awards. Two of her short stories have also won the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, "Tatlong Kuwento ng Buhay ni Juan Candelabra" (Three Stories in the Life of Juan Candelabra), first prize, 1982; and "Buwan, Buwan, Hulugan mo Ako ng Sundang" (Moon, Moon, Drop Me a Sword), third prize, 1983. Bautista also authored the television dramas "Daga sa Timba ng Tubig" (The Mouse in the Bucket of Water) (1975) and "Isang Kabanata sa Libro ng Buhay ni Leilani Cruzaldo" (A Chapter in the Book of Life of Leilani Cruzaldo) (1987). The latter won best drama story for television from the Catholic Mass Media Awards.

Bautista was honored by the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings on March 10, 2004 during the 8th Annual Lecture on Vernacular Literature by Women. In 2005, the Feminist Centennial Film Festival presented her with a recognition award for her outstanding achievement in screenplay writing. In 2006, she was recipient of the Diwata Award for best writer by the 16th International Women's Film Festival of the UP Film Center.

She is also the only Filipino included in a book on foremost International Women Writers published in Japan, 1991.

[ [http://rizal.lib.admu.edu.ph/aliww/splprg_bautista.html Lualhati Bautista, Ateneo Library of Women's Writings, date retrieved: 27 May 2007] ]

Translations of her novels

Excerpts from Lualhati Bautista's novels have been anthologized in "Tulikärpänen" a book of short stories written by Filipino women published in Finland by the The Finnish-Philippine Society (FPS), a non-governmental organization founded in 1988. "Tulikärpänen" was edited and translated by Riitta Vartti, et al. In "Firefly: Writings by Various Authors", the English version of the Finnish collection, the excerpt from the Filipino novel "Gapô" was given the title "The Night in Olongapo" while the excerpt from "Bata, Bata, Pa'no Ka Ginawa?" was titled "Children's Party." [http://www.oovrag.com/books/firefly.shtml Firefly: Writings by Various Authors (Lualhati Bautista Translated into Finnish and English), Edited and Translated by Riitta Vartti, et.al Our Own Voice June 2001 (OOV Bookshelf 2001), date retrieved: 27 May 2007] ] [ [http://www.geocities.com/bimbifanatics/ Bata, Bata Pa'no Ka Ginawa? (Lea's Story): Title Page from Geocities.com, date retrieved: 27 May 2007] ] [ [http://www.geocities.com/bimbifanatics/summary.htm English Language Summary of Bata, Bata Pa'no Ka Ginawa? (Lea's Story) from Geocities.com, date retrieved: 27 May 2007] ] Vartti, Riitta (editor). [http://www.filippiinit-seura.fi/preface.html Preface to the Finnish anthology Tulikärpänen - filippiiniläisiä novelleja (Firefly - Filipino Short Stories), Kääntöpiiri] : Helsinki, Finland 2001/2007, retrieved on: April 14, 2007]

A full translation of Bautista's best works could break the sound barrier of Filipino writing in international publishing. Some speculate, however, that no such translations have been published because her use of simple yet incisive language to describe complex social and spiritual conditions in the Philippines is often dismissed in Philippine literary circles.

Works

Novels

*"Gapô" (1980)
*"Dekada '70: Ang Orihinal at Kumpletong Edisyon" (1983) [ [http://library.thinkquest.org/15816/thebeginning.article5.html "Dekada ’70: A Book Review", The EDSA Revolution Website, ThinkQuest.org, date retrieved: 27 May 2007] ]
*"Bata, Bata...Pa'no Ka Ginawa?" (1984)
*"Desisyon"
*"Ang Kabilang Panig ng Bakod"
*"Hugot sa Sinapupunan"
*"Desaparesidos (2008)

hort fiction collections

*"Buwan, Buwan, Hulugan Mo Ako ng Sundang: Dalawang Dekada ng Maiikling Kuwento"

creenplays

*"Sakada
*"Kung Mahawi Man ang Ulap
*"Bulaklak sa City Jail
*"Kadenang Bulaklak
*"The Maricris Sioson Story
*"Nena
*"Bata, Bata...Pa'no Ka Ginawa?: The Screenplay"
*"Dekada 70

References

External links

*imdb name|0062527
* [http://www.geocities.com/phil_writers/bautista_lualhati.html Lualhati Bautista: Author's Official Website]
* [http://www.inquirer.net/saturday/jun99wk2/spc_3.htm Who's Afraid of Lualhati Bautista? by Abet Zialcita, Inquirer.net] , retrieved on June 17, 2007
* [http://ourthoughtsarefree.blogspot.com/2002/07/pagbabalik-sa-gapo-hulyo-4-1946-nang.html Our Thoughts are Free (Language: Tagalog), Pagbabalik sa "'Gapo" (Return to Olongapo, Essay) by Alexander Martin Remollino, July 6, 2002] , retrieved on: June 17, 2007
* [http://www.panitikan.com.ph/authors/b/lbautista.htm Your Portal to Philippine Literature: Lualhati Bautista, Institute of Creative Writing, UP Diliman, Panitikan.com.ph, 2005] , retrieved on: June 17, 2007
* [http://www.cbcpworld.com/cinema/archives/2002/dec2002/dekada70.html Movie Review: Dekada '70 (Language: Tagalog), Catholic Initiative for Enlightened Movie Appreciation, CBCPWorld.com, December 27, 2002] , retrieved on: June 17, 2007

ee also

*Edgardo M. Reyes
*Manuel Buising
*Paz Márquez-Benítez