Ophelia Dimalanta
Born: June 16, 1934 Died:
November 04, 2010
Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta was an editor, poet, author, and
teacher. She was born in San Juan City in the Philippines.
Dimalanta has several works anthologized in local and foreign
journals; has published three books : Anthology of Philippine Contemporary
Literature, Readings from Contemporary English and American Literature, and The
Philippine Poetic; and a collection of poems, Montage, which won the Iowa State
University best poetry award(1969), and first prize in the Palanca Memorial
awards for literature(1974).
She was a founding member of the Manila Critics Circle and an
honorary fellow of the Philippine Literary Arts Council. In 1999, she founded
the UST Center for Creative Writing and Studies and presently serves as its
dynamic director.
Cirilo F. Bautista hailed her as "not only our foremost
woman poet but also one of the best poets writing now, regardless of
gender."
Her poems show the evident influence of T.S. Eliot and Wallace
Stevens. Her later poetry draws from a wider range of influences, among them
Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Denise Levertov.
Dimalanta believes that "The older you become and the
more mature your art becomes, the more you realize that you have your own
identity."
Mrs. Dimalanta also wrote books and critical reviews, handled
literature and creative writing classes at the University of Santo Tomas
Graduate School, Faculty of Arts and Letters, and De La Salle College . She
also aquired a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of Santo Tomas.
In 2002, UST published Dimalanta's verse drama, "Lorenzo
Ruiz, Escribano: A Play in Two Acts", with a Filipino translation by
Florentino H. Hornedo and Michael M. Coroza. It was premiered on 22-24 February
1994 at UST in a production directed by Isagani R. Cruz.
Dimalanta lived with her family in Navotas City.
Works
Poetry
• Finder Loser
• Montage
(1974)
• Time Factor
(1983)
• Flowing On
(1988)
• Lady Polyester
(1993)
• Love Woman
(1998)
• Passional
(2002)
• The Ophelia
Alcantara Dimalanta Reader, Volume 1, Poetry (2005)
Criticism
• The
Philippine Poetic
Anthology
• Anthology of
Philippine Contemporary Literature
• Readings from
Contemporary English
Prose
• The Ophelia
Alcantara Dimalanta Reader, Volume 2, Prose (2006)
Drama
• Lorenzo Ruiz,
Escribano: A Play in Two Acts (2002)
Honors
• Poet and
Critic Best Poem Award from Iowa State University (1968)
• Palanca
Awards for Poetry (1974, 1983)
• Fernando
Maria Guerrero Award (1976)
• Focus
Literary Award for Fiction (1977, 1981)
• Cultural
Center of the Philippines Literature Grant for Criticism (1983)
• Gawad
Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas from the Writers' Union of the Philippines (1990)
• Southeast
Asia (SEA) Write Award from King Bhumibol of Thailand (1999)
• Parangal
Hagbong, University of Santo Tomas (2008)
Finder Loser by
Ophelia Dimalanta
More than half of my life
I spend searching for lost
objects ( papers, receipts,
old letters, pills and whatever
else) and causes and the rest,
losing and finding, and losing
them again, found or otherwise;
losing what I have in good
measure, finding what
I can’t almost have-
One perpetual lifetime probe,
Forever rummaging through
Bureaus and drawers and pages
Of my life’s past disarray…
And so when I finally go
keep vault unlidded for I
shall surely sit up and look
around to pursue this search,
holding on to dear life,
or to dear death, does it matter-
they are one in the proper
time but not till then,
I shall go on seeking out
lost faces and faiths in the
cold, collecting, calculating
crowd, sadly aware that later
but an unbreath away
I shall lose them all again;
as I was won’t, losing all
in this final irretrievable
lose of my death time
or perhaps, possibly, yes,
death will be kinder and oh, yes
allow me at last this
flowing final find.
Sources:
-Krystelle
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