Writer and educator Lilia Quindoza Santiago dies at 72

Poet, literary critic, and educator Lilia Quindoza Santiago has died at age 72.

Silliman University’s Edilberto and Edith Tiempo Creative Writing Center and the University of the Philippines Departamento ng Filipino at Pantikan ng Pilipinas (DFPP) each posted tributes to Santiago on their respective Facebook pages on Tuesday, February 16.

Santiago was born in Manaoag, Pangasinan, and grew up in Baguio, where she studied. In 1972, she was among the student activists who were arrested, detained, and tortured by the military under Ferdinand Marcos’ regime.

In a 2014 entry on her blog, Last Quarter Storm, she wrote that while imprisoned, she turned to writing and telling stories to keep her mind busy: “The imagination and desire to be free led me to write poetry.”

She would turn out to be one of the country’s most prolific writers with over 20 books to her name, including collections of poetry, short stories, and a novel.

Her poetry has earned her the title of Makata ng Taon in 1989, from the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa, now known as the Comission on Filipino Language. She also won the Grand Prize at the Palanca Awards in 1999 for her novel, Ang Kaulayaw ng Agila.

Santiago made a home in the academe, teaching as a longtime professor at the University of the Philippines, and also served as assistant professor for Ilokano at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. Recently, she had been based in Virginia, where she taught at the Tidewater Community College in Norfolk. – Rappler.com