Merlie M. Alunan

Merlie M. Alunan is a multi-awarded Filipina poet, teacher and mentor, and cultural worker in the Visayas.

Biography

Early life

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.

Career

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. Upon her retirement in 2008, she was conferred the title of Professor Emeritus by the university.
In October 2025, Alunan participated in the 77th Frankfurter Buchmesse where the Philippines was the year’s guest of honor. 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. She became the second Filipino to be affiliated with the Royal Society of Literature.
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.

Personal life

She lives in Tacloban City.

Honors and awards

Local awards, honors, and distinctions

	Year given	Title of work	Category	Award
37th National Book Awards, 2018	2019	Running with Ghosts and Other Poems	Best Book of Poetry in English	Winner
37th National Book Awards, 2018	2019	Tinalunay Hinugpong nga Panurat nga Winaray	Best Anthology in English	Winner
36th National Book Awards, 2017	2018	Susumaton: Oral Narratives of Leyte	Best Anthology in Waray	Winner
35th National Book Awards, 2016	2017	Sa Atong Dila Introduction to Visayan Literature	Best Translated Book	Winner
32nd National Book Awards, 2012	2013	Pagdakop sa Bulalakaw ug uban pang mga Balak	Philippine Literary Arts Council Prize for Poetry in the English Language	Finalist
31st National Book Awards, 2011	2012	Tales of the Spiderwoman	Philippine Literary Arts Council Prize for Poetry in the English Language	Finalist

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"
1996 - Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Creative Work
1997 - Gawad Alagad ni Balagtas Award, UMPIL
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"
1995 - Distinguished Faculty Grant, University of the Philippines
2007 - Second Prize Tula sa Cebuano, Gawad Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino
2008 - Selected Poems, 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, NCCA.
2015 - Gawad Kampeon ng Wika, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
2018 - Garbo sa Ormoc for Literary Arts, Ormoc City, Leyte.

International awards, honors, and distinctions

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

Works

Hearthstone, Sacred Tree, Anvil, 1993,
Amina among the angels, University of the Philippines Press, 1997,
Selected poems, University of the Philippines Press, 2004,
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.

Edited non-literary anthologies

Kabilin Legacy of 100 years of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental Centennial Foundation, 1993.
Kaaging Bisaya. UP Center for Women Studies, Ford Foundation, April 2003.

Edited literary anthologies

Fern Garden: An Anthology of Women Writing in the South, Committee on Literature, National Commission on Culture and the Arts, 1998,
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.

Anthologies

Songs of ourselves: writings by Filipino women in English, Editor Edna Zapanta-Manlapaz, Anvil Publishing, 1994,