John Iremil Teodoro

John Iremil E. Teodoro (born November 14, 1973 in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique, Philippines) is a Filipino writer, university professor and freelance journalist. He is also a multi-awarded poet and playwright, one of the country's leading pioneers in gay literature and the most published author in the Karay-a dialect to date.

Born to a middle class family in the province of Antique, Teodoro gained early recognition as a highly-prized and well-published writer during his college years. Among his first distinctions were the Literature Grant of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Gawad Ka Amado in 1993 for his early attempts in Filipino poetry. His first full-length play in Filipino "Ang Unang Ulan ng Mayo (The First Rain of May)" won 2nd Place at the 1997 "Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature". He obtained his bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of San Agustin in Iloilo City. He also holds a master's degree in Creative Writing from the De La Salle University-Manila where he graduated "with high distinction".

He later worked as a journalist for the "Bandillo ng Palawan-Edisiong Filipino" in Puerto Princesa City, a controversial publication devoted to the advocacy of environmental concerns in the province of Palawan. In 2001, he returned to his "alma mater" to work as an assistant professor in literature at the University of San Agustin where he would later become the founding coordinator of the "Fray Luis de Leon Creative Writing Institute", Managing Director of the USA Publishing House and moderator of the student publications. He also initiated the establishment of the "San Agustin Writers Workshop" with the intention of propagating the welfare of creative writing among young writers in Western Visayas.

His full-length play "Belasyon", which dramatizes the country's migratory diaspora was staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2003 as part of the USA Centennial Commission activities. In 2004, he was recognized as one of the "Outstanding Augustinians of the Century" for his lifetime achievement in culture and the arts. He writes in four tongues, namely in English, Filipino, Hiligaynon and Karay-a. He is a member of the "Alon Collective" and the "Tabig/Hubon Manunulat Antique". He is a five-time awardee of the prestigious Palanca Awards and has published five books of poetry. Many of his literary works have been published some of the country's leading journals, magazines and newspapers. His poetry book "Kung ang Tula ay Pwedeng Pambili ng Lalake (If Poems Could Buy Men)" has been shortlisted at the 2007 Manila Critics Circle National Book Award.

On February 20, 2008, "Unang Ulan ng Mayo (The First Rain of May)" was premiered by the De La Salle University - Harlequin Theatre Guild at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute, Cultural Center of the Philippines.