By Gabriela Baron
Renowned novelist and multi-awarded writer Lualhati Bautista passed away on Sunday, Feb. 12. She was 77.
Bautista’s passing was confirmed by her relative in a Facebook post.
Born in Tondo, Manila, 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.
Her first short story “Katugon ng Damdamin,” was published in Liwayway Magazine.
Among Bautista’s most popular novels include “Dekada ’70,” “Bata, Bata, Pa’no Ka Ginawa?”, and “Gapo.”
Bautista won the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature for her novels “Gapo,” “Dekada ’70,” and “Bata, Bata, Pa’no Ka Ginawa?” in 1980, 1983, and 1984, respectively.
Excerpts of her novels have been anthologized in “Tulikärpänen,” a book of short story collections written by Filipinas published in Finland.
Some of her novels were also translated into English and Japanese.
In 2022, Bautista got an offer from British publishing house Penguin Classics to publish “Dekada ’70.” -ag
