Gémino Abad


Gémino Henson Abad is an educator, writer, and literary critic from Cebu, Philippines. He is a National Artist for Literature of the Philippines.

Early life and education

His family moved to Manila when his father, Antonio Abad, was offered professorships at Far Eastern University and the University of the Philippines.
Abad earned his A.B. English from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1964 "magna cum laude". His MA with honors and Ph.D. in English literature degrees were obtained from the University of Chicago in 1966 and 1970, respectively. He is a member of Upsilon Sigma Phi.

Personal life

He is married to Mercedes Rivera-Abad.

Career

He served the University of the Philippines in various capacities: as secretary of the university, secretary of the Board of Regents, vice president for Academic Affairs and director of the U.P. Institute of Creative Writing. For many years, he also taught English, comparative literature and creative writing at U.P. Diliman.
Abad co-founded the Philippine Literary Arts Council, which published Caracoa, a poetry journal in English. His other works include Fugitive Emphasis ; In Another Light ; A Formal Approach to Lyric Poetry ; The Space Between ; Poems and Parables ; Index to Filipino Poetry in English, 1905-1950 and State of Play. He edited landmark anthologies of Filipino poetry in English, among them Man of Earth, A Native Clearing and A Habit of Shores: Filipino Poetry and Verse from English, ‘60s to the ‘90s.
The UP Diliman has elevated Abad to the rank of university professor, the highest academic rank awarded by the university to an exemplary faculty member. He currently sits on the Board of Advisers of the U.P. Institute of Creative Writing and teaches creative writing as emeritus university professor at the College of Arts and Letters, U.P. Diliman.
In 2009, he became the first Filipino to receive the coveted Premio Feronia in Rome, Italy under the foreign author category.
In 2022, the Philippine government conferred on him the National Artist for Literature distinction. It is the highest recognition for artists who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine art.

Works

Poetry

Fugitive Emphasis, 1973Poems and Parables, 1988In Ordinary Time: Poems, Parables, Poetics, 2004

Poems and critical essays

In Another Light, 1976The Space Between, 1985Father and Daughter, 1996

Poetry and fiction (in the same book)

A Makeshift Sun, 2001Care of Light: New Poems and Found, 2010

Fiction and essays (in the same book)

Orion's Belt and Other Writings, 1996

Literary criticism

A Formal Approach to Lyric Poetry, 1978Getting Real: An Introduction to the Practice of Poetry, 2004

Creative non-fiction

State of Play, 1990

Historical anthologies

Man of Earth: Filipino Poetry and Verse from English, 1905 to the mid-‘50s, 2017A Native Clearing: Filipino Poetry and Verse from English Since the ‘50s to the Present, 1993A Habit of Shores: Filipino Poetry and Verse from English, ‘60s to the ‘90s, 1999

Anthology

The Likhaan Anthology of Philippine Literature in English, 1998
With Ace Palermo..

Translations into other languages

  • Italian: Dove le parole non si spezzano, edited by Gëzim Hajdari, translated by Andrea Gazzoni, afterword by Carla Locatelli,Ace Palermo 2015

Awards, prizes and fellowships