National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera passed away on Tuesday (Sep. 28) at the age of 89.
The renowned poet, playwright, essayist, and critic’s death was announced by his daughter Tala Lumbera in her Facebook page.
Lumbera finished Litt. B. Journalism, cum laude, in the old Faculty of Philosophy and Letters (now Faculty of Arts and Letters) from the University of Santo Tomas in 1957. In 1967, he obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Indiana University.
Among his famous works as a playwright were the “Tales of the Manuvu” in 1976, “Rama, Hari” in 1980, and the “Noli Me Tangere: The Musical” in 1955. His book “Tagalog Poetry 1570-1898: Tradition and Influences in Its Development” was one of the pioneering studies in Tagalog poetry.
Lumbera received many awards such as the Gawad CCP para sa Sining for cultural research in 1991, the Ramon Magsaysay Award for journalism, literature, and creative communication arts in 1993, the Gawad Chanselor as one of UP’s outstanding teachers in 1993, and the CCP Centennial Honors for the Arts in 1999.
He was bestowed the National Artist for Literature in 2006.
The national artist was born in Lipa, Batangas on April 11, 1932. -NGS-rir
