Merlinda Bobis


Merlinda Bobis is a contemporary Filipina-Australian writer and academic.

Biography

Bobis was born on November 25, 1959 in Legazpi City, Albay, Philippines. She started writing poetry at the age of ten. She received her secondary education at Bicol University High School, then completed her B.A. at Aquinas University in Legazpi City, followed by a post-graduate degrees from the University of Santo Tomas. She achieved a Doctorate from the University of Wollongong in 1995, and now lives in Australia. Written in various genres in both Filipino and English, her work integrates elements of the traditional culture of the Philippines with modern immigrant experience.
Also a dancer and visual artist, Bobis has taught at Wollongong University.
Her play Rita's Lullaby was the winner of the 1998 Awgie for Best Radio Play and the international Prix Italia of the same year; in 2000 White Turtle won the Steele Rudd Award for the Best Collection of Australian Short Stories and the 2000 Philippine National Book Award. In 2006, she received the Gintong Aklat Award for her novel Banana Heart Summer, from the Book Development Association of the Philippines. She also won the 2016 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and NSW Premier's Literary Awards for her book, Locust Girl: A Lovesong.

Work

Poetry

  • Rituals: Selected poems, 1985-1990.
  • Summer was a Fast Train without Terminals.
  • usaping ina at anak
  • Accidents of Composition
  • "Mother's Break

Short stories

  • White Turtle.
  • The Kissing
  • Dream Stories ISBN 9789712730184

Novels

Banana Heart Summer The Solemn Lantern Maker Fish-hair Woman Locust Girl: A Lovesong
  • ''The Kindness of Birds''

Awards

Among her awards are:
  • Canberra Critics’ Circle Award for The Kindness of Birds
  • Christina Stead Prize for Fiction for Locust Girl. A Lovesong;
  • Philippine National Book Award for Locust Girl
  • Philippine National Book Award for Fish-Hair Woman,
  • MUBA for novel Fish-Hair Woman
  • Australian Classical Music Award for Best Vocal/Choral Work of the Year for Daragang Magayon Cantata
  • Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas from the Unyon ng Manunulat ng Pilipinas
  • Gintong Aklat Award for Banana Heart Summer
  • Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for Banana Heart Summer
  • Nomination: Best in Foreign Language in Fiction from the Manila Critics' Circle for Banana Heart Summer
  • Judges' Choice Award, Bumbershoot Bookfair, Seattle Arts Festival for The Kissing
  • Arts Queensland Steele Rudd Australian Short Story Award for White Turtle
  • Philippine National Book Award for Fiction from the Manila Critics' Circle for White Turtle
  • NSW Ministry for the Arts Writers' Fellowship for novel in progress, Fish-Hair Woman
  • Canberra Writing Fellowship jointly from the Australian National University, the University of Canberra, and the Australian Defence Force Academy
  • Prix Italia for Rita's Lullaby
  • Australian Writers' Guild Award for Rita's Lullaby
  • Pamana Philippine Presidential Award for achievement in the arts
  • Shortlist: The Age Poetry Book of the Year Award for Summer Was a Fast Train Without Terminals
  • Winner, Out of the Ashes Trans-Tasman Short Story Competition for White Turtle
  • Commended: National Short Story Competition, Society of Women Writers for The Sadness Collector
  • Joint winner, ABC Radio National's 'Books & Writing Short Story Competition' for The Tongue
  • Ian Reed Foundation Prize for Radio Drama for Rita's Lullaby
  • Carlos Palanca Memorial Award in Literature, Honourable Mention for Ms. Serena Serenata
  • Gawad Cultural Centre of the Philippines for Mula Dulo Hanggang Kanto
  • Likhaan Award for Daragang Magayon and other poems, University of the Philippines Writers' Workshop
  • Carlos Palanca Memorial Award in Literature, Second Prize for Lupang di Hinirang: Kuwento at Sikreto
  • Carlos Palanca Memorial Award in Literature, joint winner, First Prize for ''Peopleness''