The Making of a Writer - Nick Joaquin
Nick Joaquín was born in Paco, Manila, one of ten children of Leocadio Joaquín, a colonel under General Emilio Aguinaldo in the 1896 Revolution, and Salome Márquez, a teacher of English and Spanish.
After being read poems and stories by his mother, the boy Joaquín read widely in his father's library and at the National Library of the Philippines. By then, his father had become a successful lawyer after the revolution. From reading, Joaquín became interested in writing.
At age 17, Joaquín had his first piece published, in the literary section of the pre-World War II
Tribune, where he worked as a proofreader. It was accepted by the writer and editor Serafín Lanot. After Joaquín won a nationwide essay competition for to honor
La Naval de Manila, sponsored by the Dominican Order, the University of Santo Tomas awarded him an honorary Associate in Arts (A.A.). They also awarded him a scholarship to St. Albert's Convent, the Dominican monastery in Hong Kong.
Career
After returning to the Philippines, Joaquín joined the
Philippines Free Press, starting as a proofreader. Soon he attracted notice for his poems, stories and plays, as well as his journalism under the pen name
Quijano de Manila. His journalism was both intellectual and provocative, an unknown genre in the Philippines at that time, and he raised the level of reportage in the country.
Joaquín deeply admired José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. Joaquín paid tribute to him in books such as
The Storyteller's New Medium - Rizal in Saga,
The Complete Poems and Plays of Jose Rizal, and
A Question of Heroes: Essays in Criticism on Ten Key Figures of Philippine History. He translated the hero's valedictory poem, in the original Spanish
Mi Ultimo Adios, as "Land That I Love, Farewell!"
Joaquín was appointed as a member of the Motion Pictures commission under presidents Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand E. Marcos.
After being honored as National Artist, Joaquin used his position to work for intellectual freedom in society. He secured the release of imprisoned writer José F. Lacaba. At a ceremony on Mount Makiling attended by First Lady Imelda Marcos, Joaquín delivered an invocation to
Mariang Makiling, the mountain's mythical maiden. Joaquín touched on the importance of freedom and the artist. After that, Joaquín was excluded by the Marcos regime as a speaker from important cultural events.
Joaquín died of cardiac arrest in the early morning of April 29, 2004, at his home in San Juan, Metro Manila. He was then editor of
Philippine Graphic magazine and publisher of its sister publication,
Mirror Weekly, a women’s magazine. He also wrote the column (“Small Beer”) for the
Philippine Daily Inquirer and
Isyu, an opinion tabloid.
Works
- May Day Eve (1947)
- Prose and Poems (1952)
- The Woman Who had Two Navels (1961)
- La Naval de Manila and Other Essays (1964)
- A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1966)
- Tropical Gothic (1972)
- A Question of Heroes (1977)
- Jeseph Estrada and Other Sketches (1977)
- Nora Aunor & Other Profiles (1977)
- Ronnie Poe & Other Silhouettes (1977)
- Reportage on Lovers (1977)
- Reportage on Crime (1977)
- Amalia Fuentes & Other Etchings (1977)
- Gloria Diaz & Other Delineations (1977)
- Doveglion & Other Cameos (1977)
- Language of the Streets and Other Essays (1977)
- Manila: Sin City and Other Chronicles (1977)
- Tropical Baroque (1979),
- Stories for Groovy Kids (1979)
- Language of the Street and Other Essays (1980)
- The Ballad of the Five Battles (1981)
- The Aquinos of Tarlac: An Essay on History as Three Generations (1983)
- Almanac for Manileños
- Cave and Shadows (1983)
- The Quartet of the Tiger Moon: Scenes from the People Power Apocalypse (1986)
- Collected Verse (1987)
- Culture and History: Occasional Notes on the Process of Philippine Becoming (1988)
- Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young (1990),
- The D.M. Guevara Story (1993),
- Mr. F.E.U., the Culture Hero That Was Nicanor Reyes (1995).
- Rizal in Saga (1996)
Awards
- José García Villa's Honor Roll (1940)
- Philippines Free Press Short Story Contest (1949)
- Ten Most Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM), Awardee for Literature (1955)
- Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Literary Awards (1957–1958; 1965; 1976)
- Harper Publishing Company (New York, U.S.A.) writing fellowship
- Stonehill Award for the Novel (1960)
- Republic Cultural Heritage Award (1961)
- Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila (1964)
- National Artist Award (1976).
- S.E.A. Write Award (1980)
- Ramon Magsaysay Award for Literature (1996)
- Tanglaw ng Lahi Award from the Ateneo de Manila University (1997)
- Several ESSO Journalism awards, including the highly-covetedJournalist of the Year Award.
- Several National Book Awards from the Manila Critics' Circle for The Aquinos of Tarlac: An Essay in History as Three Generations; The Quartet of the Tiger Moon: Scenes from the People Power Apocalypse; Culture and History: Occasional Notes on the Process of Philippine Becoming; The World of Damian Domingo: 19th Century Manila (co-authored with Luciano P.R. Santiago); and Jaime Ongpin: The Enigma: The Profile of a Filipino as Manager.
References
