Merlie M. Alunan

Merlie M. Alunan
Born	(1943-12-14) December 14, 1943 Dingle, Iloilo
Education	Silliman University
Genre	poetry, short story, essays
Notable works	Amina among the Angels (1997) Tales of the Spider Woman (2010)
Notable awards	Palanca Awards (1988, 1992, 2007, 2010) Philippine National Book Awards (2017, 2018, 2019)

Merlie M. Alunan (born December 14, 1943) is a multi-awarded Filipina poet, teacher and mentor, and cultural worker in the Visayas.

Merlie M. Alunan was born December 14, 1943, in Dingle, Iloilo. AShe earned her Bachelor of Science in Education, major in English from the University of the Visayas, and later completed a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at Silliman University.

She taught Literature and Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College, where she became a respected mentor to generations of writers.^[1] Upon her retirement in 2008, she was conferred the title of Professor Emeritus by the university.^[1]

In October 2025, Alunan participated in the 77th Frankfurter Buchmesse (Frankfurt Book Fair) where the Philippines was the year’s guest of honor.^[2][3] Two months after, she was elected a Royal Society of Literature International Writer, recognizing her significant contributions to global literature and the impact of her works beyond Philippines.^[4] She became the second Filipino to be affiliated with the Royal Society of Literature.^[5]

In 2026, Alunan was officially nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature alongside 60 other writers from Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands by 18 academic institutions and literary organizations.

She lives in Tacloban City.

• 1984 - Likhaan Award for Poetry, UP Creative Writing Center
• 1994 - Free Press Literary Award for Poetry
• 1995 - Free Press Literary Award for Poetry
• 1995 - Home Life Magazine Poetry Writing Contest, Second Prize, "Hunger"^[13]
• 1996 - Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Creative Work
• 1997 - Gawad Alagad ni Balagtas Award, UMPIL (Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas)
• 2003 - Catholic Mass Media Award for Best Column, Cebu Daily News
• 2004 - Home Life Magazine Poetry Writing Contest, First Prize, "Mater Dolorosa in Two Voices"^[13]
• 1995 - Distinguished Faculty Grant, University of the Philippines
• 2007 - Second Prize Tula sa Cebuano, Gawad Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino
• 2008  - Selected Poems (UP Press, 2004), listed among the UP Centennial Publications
• December 13, 2008 - Professor Emeritus, University of the Philippines.
• July 2, 2009 - Sangyaw Achievement Award, City of Tacloban.
• 2014 - Ani ng Dangal (Literary Arts), NCCA.^[14]
• 2015 - Gawad Kampeon ng Wika, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) ^[15]
• 2018 - Garbo sa Ormoc for Literary Arts, Ormoc City, Leyte.^[16]

• 1997: Honorable Mention, Lilian Jerome Thornton Award for Poetry
• 2010: Ananda Coomaraswamy Fellowship in Literature, Sahitya Akademi, Republic of India.^[17][18]
• 2013: Sunthorn Phu Award for Poetry, Government of Thailand.^[19]
• 2020: Nominated for the Order of National Artist of the Philippines by Katig-uban han mga Magsusurat ha Sinirangan Bisayas.^[20]
• 2025: Elected as Royal Society of Literature International Writer.^[4]
• 2026: Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by 18 academic institutions and literary organizations.

• Hearthstone, Sacred Tree, Anvil, 1993, ISBN 978-971-27-0301-0
• Amina among the angels, University of the Philippines Press, 1997, ISBN 978-971-542-150-8
• Selected poems, University of the Philippines Press, 2004, ISBN 978-971-542-443-1
• Tales of the Spider Woman, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2010.
• Pagdakop sa Bulalakaw ug uban pang mga Balak, Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2013.
• Running with Ghosts, Ateneo de Naga University Press, 2018.
• Tigom: Collected Poems, UP Press, 2023.

• Kabilin Legacy of 100 years of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental Centennial Foundation, 1993.  (Co-editor with Bobby Villasis)
• Kaaging Bisaya. UP Center for Women Studies, Ford Foundation, April 2003.

• Fern Garden: An Anthology of Women Writing in the South, Committee on Literature, National Commission on Culture and the Arts, 1998, ISBN 978-971-91500-6-0
• An Siday han DYVL, NCCA, UPTC VisWrite, Province of Leyte, DYVL Aksyon Radyo, 2005.
• The Dumaguete We Know, Anvil Publishing, 2011.
• Our Memory of Water Words After Haiyan, Ateneo de Naga University Press, 2016.
• Sa Atong Dila, Introduction to Visayan Literature, University of the Philippines Press. 2016.
• Susumaton, Oral Narratives of Leyte, Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2017.
• Tinalunay, Anthology of Waray Literature, University of the Philippines Press. 2018.
• Pinili: 15 Years of Lamiraw, Katig Writers Network Inc., 2019.

• Songs of ourselves: writings by Filipino women in English, Editor Edna Zapanta-Manlapaz, Anvil Publishing, 1994, ISBN 978-971-27-0356-0

• Author's blog