Palanca Awards Essay

The Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (Palanca Awards) was established in 1950. The heirs of Don Carlos Palanca, Sr. found it most fitting to commemorate his memory through an endeavor that would promote education and culture in the country. The Palanca Awards aims to help develop Philippine Literature by: 1. Providing incentives for writers to craft their most outstanding literary works. 2. Being a treasury of the Philippine’s literary gems from our gifted writers and to assist in its eventual dissemination to our people, particularly the students. 62 years ago, the Palanca Awards called on Filipino fictionists to weave their best short story in either English or Filipino. Today, the Awards continues to challenge writers to pour out their creativity in various literary genres. Instituted in 1995, the Palanca Hall of Fame award is presented to a Palanca awardee who has achieved the distinction of winning five first prizes in the regular categories. TheKabataan Award of Distinction gives recognition to a Palanca awardee who wins four first prizes in this division. The Palanca Awards continues to pursue avenues that help share these literary gems with the rest of the countrymen, to whom Filipino literature ultimately belongs. These winning works are continuously made accessible to students, and all researchers and lovers of literature through the Carlos Palanca Foundation (CPF) library. Adding dimension to the Palanca Awards mission of encouraging excellence in literary writing, CPF is supporting a scholarship program for creative writing. The Foundation also seeks to foster the unbounded imagination and creative spirit of the Filipino through creative writing workshops and readings of award-winning works. Born from a simple dream made 62 years ago to help develop Philippine literature, the foundation holds steadfast to its mission of providing nourishment for the national spirit. †¢Is not a secret that many Filipinos are unfamiliar with Philippine literature especially those written long before the Spanish arrived in our country. This is due to the fact that the stories of ancient time were not written, but rather passed on from generation to generation through word of mouth. Only in 1521 did the Filipinos become to be acquainted with literature due to the influence of the Spaniards on us. But the literature that the Filipinos became acquainted with are not Filipino made, rather, they were works of Spanish authors. †¢The rise of nationalistic pride in the 1960s and 1970s also helped bring about this change of attitude among a new breed of Filipinos concerned about the â€Å"Filipino identity. † †¢ The 1960’s were, summarily, a period when writers seriously grappled with problems of art. The early 1970’s saw a proliferation of politically motivated or committed writing and protest literature. Short-story writers became more conscious of the political milieu and of social issues in the wake of the increased activism all over the world and right in their country, especially during the troubled days of a dictatorial government. Some of the more recent fiction writers include Paulino Lim, Alfred Yuson, Jose Dalisay, Mario Eric Gamalinda, and Cristina P. Hidalgo. Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the country’s most prestigious and longest-running literary contest. The Palanca Awards or Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature are literary awards of the Philippines. The Manila Standard called it the â€Å"Pulitzer Prize† of the Philippines. [1] It is one of the Philippines’ most long-running award giving bodies. [2] History[edit] The Palanca Awards was established in 1950 to inspire Filipino writers to improve their literary works. [3] In the 1960s the Palanca Awards Committee started to fund the publication of Palanca plays and production fund were committed on 1975. [4] In 2009, it added a category for Poetry for children in both Filipino and English. [2] Winning is tough, and for many writers, it goes beyond the cash prize. Winning means a validation of their work, and for some, it means a step toward joining the ranks of the country’s literati. It was to honor the legacy of Don Carlos Palanca, Sr. that the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature was established in 1950 and the first award was given in 1951. Through this annual literary contest, the family and heirs of Carlos Palanca sought to keep his name alive, along with his legacy of discipline and perseverance, and to enrich the nation’s cultural heritage.