Nick Joaquin

Nick Joaquin– also known as Quijano de Manila or Nicomedes Marquez Joaquin– was a Filipino novelist, writer, playwright, poet, and biographer who uses the heritage of the Filipino people as his inspiration and topic for writing his work. Joaquin is very well known for his short stories and novels in the english language– like May Day Eve, The Woman Who Had Two Navels, etc.– and was awarded with the title "National artist of the Philippines for Literature."

Born in the old district of Paco Manila, Joaquin originally started of as a proofreader for the Philippines Free Press and rose up the ladder in becoming a contributing editor and essayist under "Manila Old-Timer". After World War II Joaquin worked as a journalist, gaining fame as a reporter for the Free Press. In 1970 he left the Philippines Free Press and went on to edit Asia-Philippine Leader. During the reign of Ferdinand Marcos, who had won presidency in 1965, corruption started to fuel opposition to his administration. When martial law was declared in 1972 Joaquin was subsequently suspended. He then became the editor of the Philippine Graphic magazine and publisher of the Women's Weekly.

It was during 1943 when Joaquin started writing short stories, poems, and essays. The said author was awarded several times throughout his years as a writer; His essay 'La Naval de Manila' (1943) won in a contest sponsored by the Dominicans; 'Guardia de Honor' was declared the best story of the year in 1949, he received in 1963 the Araw ng Maynila Award, and in 1966 he was conferred the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Literature, Broadcast and Journalism. In 1976 Joaquin was declared a National Artist.

Nick Joaquin has touched and inspired so many Filipino writers and artists. In fact, he is the most anthologized of all Philippine authors.