III. FILIPINO CONTEMPORARY WRITERS

NCR AUTHORS

NCR authors

1.Lualhati Bautista

Lualhati Torres Bautista (born Manila, Philippines December 2, 1945) is one of the foremost Filipino female novelists in the history of contemporary Philippine Literature. Her novels include Dekada '70, Bata, Bata, Pa'no Ka Ginawa?, and ‘GAPÔ.

Biography

Bautista was born in Tondo, Manila, Philippines on December 2, 1945 to Esteban Bautista and Gloria Torres. She graduated from Emilio Jacinto Elementary School in 1958, and from Torres High School in 1962. She was a journalism student at the Lyceum of the Philippines, but dropped out even before she finished her freshman year.Despite a lack of formal training, Bautista as the writer became known for her honest realism, courageous exploration of Philippine women's issues, and her compelling female protagonists, who confront difficult situations at home and in the workplace with uncommon grit and strength.

Works as novelist

Lualhati garnered several Palanca Awards (1980, 1983 and 1984) for her novels ‘GAPÔ, Dekada '70 and Bata, Bata… Pa’no Ka Ginawa? exposing injustices and chronicling women activism during the Marcos era.GAPÔ, published in 1980, is the story of a man coming to grips with life as an Amerasian. It is a multi-layered scrutiny of the politics behind US bases in the Philippines, seen from ordinary citizens living in Olongapo City point of view.Dekada '70 is the story of a family caught in the middle of the tumultuous decade of the 1970s. It details how a middle class family struggled and faced the changes that empowered Filipinos to rise against the Marcos government. These series of events happened after the bombing of Plaza Miranda, the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, the proclamation of martial law and the random arrests of political prisoners. The oppressive nature of the Marcos regime, which made the people become more radical, and the shaping of the decade were all witnessed by the female protagonist, Amanda Bartolome, a mother of five boys.Bata, Bata… Pa'no Ka Ginawa?, literally, "Child, Child… How Were You Made?", narrates the life of Lea, a working mother and a social activist, who has two children. The novel begun with an introductory chapter about the graduation day from kindergarten of Maya, Lea’s daughter. A program and a celebration were held. In the beginning, everything in Lea’s life were going smoothly – her life in connection with her children, with friends of the opposite gender, and with her volunteer work for a human rights organization. But Lea’s children were both growing-up – and Lea could see their gradual transformation. There were the changes in their ways and personalities: Maya’s curiosity was becoming more obvious every day, while Ojie was crossing the boundaries from boyhood to teenage to adulthood. In the end, all three, and especially Lea, have to confront Philippine society’s view of single motherhood; and the novel itself brazens out to the questions of how it is to be a mother, and how a mother executes this role through modern-day concepts of parenthood.

Works

Short fiction collectionsBuwan, Buwan, Hulugan Mo Ako ng Sundang: Dalawang Dekada ng Maiikling Kuwento

• Sakada
• Kung Mahawi Man ang Ulap
• Bulaklak sa City Jail
• Kadenang Bulaklak
• The Maricris Sioson Story
• Nena
• Bata, Bata...Pa'no Ka Ginawa?: The Screenplay
• Dekada '70
• Ang Tondo ay May Langit din – Khonde

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.Linda Ty Casper

Linda Ty Casper is a Filipino writer who has published over fifteen books, including the historical novel DreamEden and the political novels Awaiting Trespass, Wings of Stone, A Small Party in a Garden, and Fortress in the Plaza. She has also published three collections of short stories which present a cross-section of Filipino society.^[1]

In 1992, Tides and Near Occasions of Love won the Philippine PEN short story prize; another at the UNESCO International Writers' Day, London; and the SEAWrite Award in Bangkok "Triptych for a Ruined Altar" was in the Roll of Honor of The Best American Short Stories, 1977.^[2]

Her novel Awaiting Trespass which is about the politically sensitive theme of torture by the Marcos regime was published by Readers International of London. This work gained her major critical attention in the United States for the first time, and in Britain the novel was chosen as one of the five best works of fiction by a woman writer published in 1985-86

Biography

Born as Belinda Ty in Malabon, Philippines in 1931. She spent the World War II years with her grandmother while her father worked in the Philippine National Railways, and her mother in the Bureau of Public Schools. Her grandmother told her innumerable of stories about the Filipino’s struggle for independence, that later became the topics of her novels. Linda Ty Casper graduated valedictorian in the University of the Philippines, and later earned her Master's degree in Harvard University for International Law.

In 1956, she married Leonard Casper, a professor emeritus of Boston College who is also a critic of Philippine Literature. They have two daughters and reside in Massachusetts.

Published worksThe Transparent Sun (short stories), Peso Books, 1963

• The Peninsulares (historical novel), Bookmark 1964
• The Secret Runner (short stories), Florentino/National Book, 1974
• The Three-Cornered Sun (historical novel), New Day, 1974
• Dread Empire (novella), Hong Kong, Heinemann, 1980
• Hazards of Distance (novella), New Day, 1981
• Fortress in the Plaza (novella), New Day, 1985
• Awaiting Trespass (novella), London, Readers International, 1985
• Wings of Stone (novella), London, Readers International, 1986
• Ten Thousand Seeds (historical novel), Ateneo, 1987
• A Small Party in a Garden (novella), New Day, 1988
• Common Continent (short stories), Ateneo, 1991
• Kulasyon: Uninterrupted Vigils (collected first chapters), Giraffe, 1995
• DreamEden (historical novel) Ateneo 1996 and University of Washington Press 1997

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.Ingrid Chua-Go

Ingrid Chua-Go is a Filipino- Chinese fashion and lifestyle blogger based in Manila, Philippines. She is known for her fashion blog The Bag Hag Diaries and her society blog, Manila Social Diary. She blogs for The Huffington Post-UK and writes columns for the both the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Look Magazine. She has also contributed fashion week photographs for online retailer Luisa Via Roma and Harrods of London. She co-owns Accessory Lab, a jewelry store specializing in crystals and semi-precious jewelry.

Biography

Early years[

Ingrid Chua-Go is the daughter of Benjamin Chua, Jr. and Pacita Ong Chua. When she was a child, her mother gave her a Tomy typewriter, which sparked her fascination with writing.^[1] This interest was further stimulated by her father during the summers that they would spend in San Francisco. He would assign her books to read over the vacation and required her to write book reports on each one. This developed her writing proficiency at an early age and she considers her father a great influence on her chosen profession.

Career

After graduating from Saint Mary's College with a bachelor's degree in communication arts,^[1] Chua-Go worked in broadcast news in Hong Kong, before becoming the managing editor of Metro Weddings Magazine, a top bridal publication in the Philippines.^[2][3] After she left Metro Weddings in 2007, she started blogging full time.

Fashion and society blogger Ingrid Chua-Go posing in a black evening dress.

The Bag Hag Diaries[edit source

In 2005, Ingrid Chua-Go started a personal blog to answer a personal question of whether she should buy either a Louis Vuitton bag or a couch for her home. The blog’s main purpose was for her friends to help her decide, but after a number of responses from both friends and other readers, it evolved into The Bag Hag Diaries where bag enthusiasts come to for information regarding the newest trends in bag fashion.^[4] The blog has gathered an international following in the world of fashion in Europe, Asia, and the United States.^[1]

The Bag Hag Diaries features Chua-Go's commentaries on the latest bag fashions, trends, and styles. Since its inception, it has expanded to include other fashion items like clothes, footwear, and accessories to appeal to a diverse array of interests and readers. The blog also includes some of her collaborations with different fashion houses, institutions, and personalities.

4.Gilda Cordero-Fernando

Gilda Cordero-Fernando is a multiawarded writer, publisher and cultural icon from the Philippines. She was born in Manila, has a B.A. from St. Theresa's College-Manila, and an M.A. from the Ateneo de Manila University.

Gilda Cordero-Fernando was born on June 4, 1932.

Cordero-Fernando has two landmark collection of short stories: The Butcher, The Baker and The Candlestick Maker (1962) and A Wilderness of Sweets (1973). These books have been compiled and reissued later as Story Collection (1994). Another book, Philippine Food and Life, was published in 1992. Together with Alfredo Roces, Cordero-Fernando worked on Filipino Heritage, a 10-volume study on Philippine history and culture published by Lahing Pilipino in 1978. Afterwards, she founded GCF Books which published a dozen titles that deal with various aspects of Philippine culture and society. Cordero-Fernando has also worn numerous other hats as a visual artist, fashion designer, playwright, art curator and producer. In February 2000, she produced a hugely successful extravaganza entitled Luna: An Aswang Romance.....

5. Jessica Hagedorn

jessica Tarahata Hagedorn (born 1949) is an American playwright, writer, poet, and multimedia performance artist.

Biography

Hagedorn was born in Manila to a Scots-Irish-French-Filipino mother and a Filipino-Spanish father with one Chinese ancestor.^[1] Moving to San Francisco in 1963, Hagedorn received her education at the American Conservatory Theater training program. To further pursue playwriting and music, she moved to New York in 1978.

Joseph Papp produced her first play Mango Tango in 1978. Hagedorn's other productions include Tenement Lover, Holy Food, and Teenytown. Her mixed media style often incorporates song, poetry, images, and spoken dialogue.

In 1985, 1986, and 1988, she received MacDowell Colony fellowships, which helped enable her to write the novel Dogeaters, which illuminates many different aspects of Filipino experience, focusing on the influence of America through radio, television, and movie theaters. She shows the complexities of the love-hate relationship many Filipinos in diaspora feel toward their past. After its publication in 1990, her novel earned a 1990 National Book Award nomination and an American Book Award. In 1998 La Jolla Playhouse produced a stage adaptation.

She lives in New York City with her younger daughter.

Bibliography

Hagedorn in San Francisco, California 1975

• Chiquita Banana. Third World Women (3rd World Communications, 1972)
• Pet Food & Tropical Apparitions (Momo's Press, 1975)
• Dangerous Music (Momo's Press, 1975)
• Mango Tango (Y'Bird Magazine January 1, 1977)
• Dogeaters (Penguin Books, 1990)
• Danger and Beauty (Penguin Books, 1993)
• Charlie Chan is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction (editor) (Penguin Books, 1993)
• The Gangster of Love (Houghton Mifflin, 1996)
• Burning Heart: A Portrait of the Philippines (with Marissa Roth) (Rizzoli, 1999)
• Dream Jungle (Viking Press/Penguin), 2003)

6.Nick Joaquin
Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín (May 4, 1917 – April 29, 2004) was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila. Joaquin was conferred the rank and title of National Artist of the Philippines for Literature.

He is considered^{[by whom?]} one of the most important Filipino writers in English, and the third most important overall, after José Rizal and Claro M. Recto.

Biography

Early life and education

Joaquín was born in Paco, Manila, one of ten children of Leocadio Joaquín, a colonel under General Emilio Aguinaldo in the 1896 Revolution, and Salome Márquez, a teacher of English and Spanish. After being read poems and stories by his mother, the boy Joaquín read widely in his father's library and at the National Library of the Philippines. By then, his father had become a successful lawyer after the revolution. From reading, Joaquín became interested in writing.

At age 17, Joaquín had his first piece published, in the literary section of the pre-World War II Tribune, where he worked as a proofreader. It was accepted by the writer and editor Serafín Lanot. After Joaquín won a nationwide essay competition to honor La Naval de Manila, sponsored by the Dominican Order, the University of Santo Tomas awarded him an honorary Associate in Arts (A.A.). They also awarded him a scholarship to St. Albert's Convent, the Dominican monastery in Hong Kong.

Career

After returning to the Philippines, Joaquín joined the Philippines Free Press, starting as a proofreader. Soon he attracted notice for his poems, stories and plays, as well as his journalism under the pen name Quijano de Manila. His journalism was both intellectual and provocative, an unknown genre in the Philippines at that time, and he raised the level of reportage in the country.

Works

• May Day Eve (1947)
• Prose and Poems (1952)
• The Woman Who had Two Navels (1961)
• La Naval de Manila and Other Essays (1964)
• A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1966)
• Tropical Gothic (1972)
• A Question of Heroes (1977)
• Jeseph Estrada and Other Sketches (1977)
• Nora Aunor & Other Profiles (1977)
• Ronnie Poe & Other Silhouettes (1977)
• Reportage on Lovers (1977)
• Reportage on Crime (1977)
• Amalia Fuentes & Other Etchings (1977)
• Gloria Diaz & Other Delineations (1977)
• Doveglion & Other Cameos (1977)
• Language of the Streets and Other Essays (1977)
• Manila: Sin City and Other Chronicles (1977)
• Tropical Baroque (1979),
• Pop Stories for Groovy Kids (1979)
• Reportage on the Marcoses (1979)
• Language of the Street and Other Essays (1980)
• The Ballad of the Five Battles (1981)
• Reportage on Politics (1981)
• The Aquinos of Tarlac: An Essay on History as Three Generations (1983)
• Almanac for Manileños
• Cave and Shadows (1983)
• The Quartet of the Tiger Moon: Scenes from the People Power Apocalypse (1986)
• Collected Verse (1987)
• Culture and History: Occasional Notes on the Process of Philippine Becoming (1988)
• Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young (1990),
• The D.M. Guevara Story (1993),
• Mr. F.E.U., the Culture Hero That Was Nicanor Reyes (1995).
• Rizal in Saga (1996)
• ABE: A Frank Sketch of E. Aguilar Cruz (2004)

7.Alejandro Roces

Alejandro Reyes Roces (13 July 1924 – 23 May 2011) was a Filipino author, essayist, dramatist and a National Artist of the Philippines for literature. He served as Secretary of Education from 1961 to 1965, during the term of Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal.

Noted for his short stories, the Manila-born Roces was married to Irene Yorston Viola (granddaughter of Maximo Viola), with whom he had a daughter, Elizabeth Roces-Pedrosa. Anding attended elementary and high school at the Ateneo de Manila University, before moving to the Arizona State University for his tertiary education. He graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts and, not long after, attained his M.A. from Far Eastern University back in the Philippines.^[1] He has since received honorary doctorates from Tokyo University, Baguio's St. Louis University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and the Ateneo de Manila University. Roces was a captain in the Marking’s Guerilla during World War II and a columnist in Philippine dailies such as the Manila Chronicle and the Manila Times. He was previously President of the Manila Bulletin and of the CAP College Foundation.

In 2001, Roces was appointed as Chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). Roces also became a member of the Board of Trustees of GSIS (Government Service Insurance System) and maintained a column in the Philippine Star called Roses and Thorns.

Literary works

During his freshman year in the University of Arizona, Roces won Best Short Story for We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers. Another of his stories, My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken, was listed as Martha Foley’s Best American Stories among the most distinctive for years 1948 and 1951. Roces did not only focus on short stories alone, as he also published books such as Of Cocks and Kites (1959), Fiesta (1980), and Something to Crow About (2005). Of Cocks and Kites earned him the reputation as the country's best writer of humorous stories. It also contained the widely anthologized piece “My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken”. Fiesta, is a book of essays, featuring folk festivals such as Ermita's Bota Flores, Aklan's Ati-atihan, and Naga's Peñafrancia.

Something to Crow About, on the other hand, is a collection of Roces’ short stories. The book has been recently brought to life by a critically acclaimed play of the same title; the staged version of Something to Crow About is the first Filipino zarzuela in English. This modern zarzuela tells the story of a poor cockfighter named Kiko who, to his wife's chagrin, pays more attention to the roosters than to her. Later in the story, a conflict ensues between Kiko’s brother Leandro and Golem, the son of a wealthy and powerful man, over the affections of a beautiful woman named Luningning. The resolution? A cockfight, of course. Something to Crow About won the Aliw Award for Best Musical and Best Director for a Musical Production. It also had a run off-Broadway at the La Mama Theater in New York.

Through the years, Roces has won numerous awards, including the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, the Diwa ng Lahi Award, the Tanging Parangal of the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining, and the Rizal Pro Patria Award. He was finally bestowed the honor as National Artist of Literature on the 25th of June 2003.

When once asked for a piece of advice on becoming a famous literary figure Roces said, "You cannot be a great writer; first, you have to be a good person

8.Bienvenido Santos

 Bienvenido N. Santos (1911–1996) was a Filipino-American fiction, poetry and nonfiction writer. He was born and raised in Tondo, Manila. His family roots are originally from Lubao, Pampanga, Philippines. He lived in the United States for many years where he is widely credited as a pioneering Asian-American writer.

Biography

Santos received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of the Philippines where he first studied creative writing under Paz Marquez Benitez. In 1941, Santos was a government pensionado (scholar) to the United States at the University of Illinois, Columbia University, and Harvard University. During World War II, he served with the Philippine government in exile under President Manuel L. Quezon in Washington, D.C., together with the playwright Severino Montano and Philippine National Artist Jose Garcia Villa.

In 1967, he returned to the United States to become a teacher and university administrator. He received a Rockefeller fellowship at the Writers Workshop of the University of Iowa where he later taught as a Fulbright exchange professor. Santos has also received a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship, a Republic Cultural Heritage Award in Literature as well as several Palanca Awards for his short stories. Scent of Apples won a 1980 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation.

Santos received an honorary doctorate degrees in humanities and letters from the University of the Philippines, and Bicol University (Legazpi City, Albay) in 1981. He was also a Professor of Creative Writing and Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Wichita State University from 1973 to 1982, at which time the university awarded him an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters. After his retirement, Santos became Visiting Writer and Artist at De La Salle University in Manila; the university honored Santos by renaming its creative writing center after him.

Works

Novels

The Volcano (1965)

• Villa Magdalena (1965)
• The Praying Man (1982)
• The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like Robert Taylor (1983)
• What the Hell for You Left Your Heart in San Francisco? (1987)

9.Gémino H. Abad

The poet and literary critic Gémino H. Abad was born on February 5, 1939 in Sta. Ana, Manila. 

At present, he is a University Professor Emeritus at the University of thePhilippines. His current writing and research include “Upon Our Own Ground”, a two- volume historical anthology of short stories in English, 1956- 1972, with critical introduction; “Our Scene So Fair”, a book of critical essays on the poetry in English since 1905 to the mid- 50s, and; “Where No Words break”, a volume of his own poems.

His parents are the noted novelist, playwright and essayist in Sugbuanon and Spanish, Antonio M. Abad, who was at one time Chair of the Department of Spanish in UP, and Jesusa H. Abad, professor of Spanish in UP. He is married to Mercedes A. Rivera, with whom he has five children.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, magna cum laude, from UP on 1963, and has been teaching English literature and creative writing since then in the UP Department of English and Comparative Literature, even after his retirement in 2004. He earned his Master’s degree with honors, 1966, and Ph.D in English, at the University of Chicago under a Rockefeller Fellowship Grant. In 1993, he was appointed University Professor in Literature, the highest academic rank at the University of the Philippines.

In UP, he served as Secretary of the University and the Board of Regents from 1977- 1982; as Vice- President for Academic Affairs, 1987- 1990, and; as Director of Likhaan: the UP Creative Writing Center, 1995- 1998. He was the first holder of the Carlos P. Romulo Professional Chair in Literature from 1982- 1983, and received the UP Outstanding Faculty Award for 1985- 1986. He was also holder of the Irwin Chair for Literature at the Ateneo de Manila University, 1993. He received the Chancellor’s Award as Best Office Administrator in 1998 for his management of the UP Creative Writing Center as its Director.

He was a Fellow at the Cambridge Seminar, Trinity College, University of Cambridge, 1988; a Fellow in the International Writers Program, University of Iowa, 1990; a Visiting Professor at the Center for Philippine Studies, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, 1991; a Fellow at the Oxford Conference on Teaching Literature Overseas, Corpus Christi College, 1995, and; Exchange Professor in Literature at St. Norbert College Wisconsin, 1998, and at Singapore Management University, 2003; represented the Philippines in the 3rd “Mediterranea International Festival of Literature and the Arts” in Rome, July 2006.

Abad is also a member of the UP Writers Club and founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council (PLAC), which puts out the Caracoa (since 1982)- the only poetry journal in English in Asia. He has served as director and member of the teaching staff in numerous Writers Workshops in UP, Siliman/ Dumaguete, MSU- IIT, and San Carlos University/ Cornelio Gaigao Workshop. He is a judge in various literary contests such as the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards, Graphic, Free Press, NVM Gonzales Fiction Awards, and Maningning Miclat Literary Awards. He is a speaker/ paper reader in various writers’ national conferences and various international conferences of scholars.

He was a columnist in The Manila Chronicle, a weekly column called “Exchange”, with NVM Gonzales, Sylvia Ventura and Luning Bonifacio Ira; The Evening Paper, a weekly column “Coming through”, with NVM Gonzales and Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo; Musa: The Philippine Literature Magazine, a monthly column called “Vates: Our Poets Speak”, and; Flip, a monthly column “Poet’s Clearing”.

He is cited in The Oxford Companion to the English Language, 1992, as among “poets of note”. He is also included in the Encyclopedia of Post- Colonial Literatures in English, ed. Eugene Benson and L. W. Conolly (London: Routledge, 1994) and the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (IX: Philippine Literature, 1994).

His awards include the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature: first prize for poetry in English, 1976 (The Space Between); second prize, 1980 (Counterclockwise); first prize, 1983 (The Outer Clearing), The CCP Award for Poetry: second prize, 1973 (In Another Light), Manila Critics Circle National Book Award for poetry, 1988 (Poems and Parables); for anthology, 1989 (Man of Earth), 1993 (A Native Clearing), 1999 (A Habit of Shores); for personal anthology, 2002 (A Makeshift Sun) and 2005 (In Ordinary Time), Asian Publishers Catholic Authors Award, 1990, Free press Literary Awards: third prize for the short story (Tarang), 1993; first prize for the short story (Introibo), 1997; first prize for the essay (A Day in One’s Life), 1997; second prize for the poem (A Description), 2000, Gawad Pambansang Alagad  ni Balagtas, 1996, for lifetime achievement in poetry and literary criticism, UP Alumni Association Professional Award in Literature, 1997, Ellen F. Fajardo Foundation grant for Excellence in teaching, 2000- 2001, Chancellor’s Award for Best Literary Work, 2002 (A Makeshift Sun), and Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan sa Larangan ng Panitikan, Lungsod ng Maynila, 2004.

Some of his poetry, fiction, critical essays and short stories are Fugitive Emphasis, State of Play, Orion’s Belt and Other Writings, Father and Daughter, Getting Real: An Introduction to the Practice of Poetry and Who’s Afraid of Ching Dadufalza?

He edited books like The Likhaan, The Likhaan Book of Poetry and Fiction, An Edith Tempo Reader, 100 Love Poems: Philippine Love Poetry in English since 1905, Father Poems, Honoring Fathers: An International poetry Anthology, NCAA Ubod Project, The NVM Gonzales Awards Stories and Supreme Court Decisions as Literature. His edited textbooks are The Likhaan Anthology of Philippine Literature in English from 1900 to the Present, Frequently Asked Questions on Poetry, and Our People’s Story: Philippine Literature in English.

His syllabi-textbooks include Philippine Literature in English: Poetry, Fiction, and Drama; Greek and roman Literature, and; Introduction to the Writing of Poetry. His index is Index to Filipino Poetry in English, 1905 to 1950.  

This year 2009, Gemino Abad won the Feronia Prize in Rome, Italy.

 

10.Carmen Acosta

NCR AUTHORS

Carmen Acosta was born in Manila on February 1, 1904 and died on September 13, 1986. She was the daughter of Godofredo B. Herrera, and Paterna Santos. Her father was a journalist and served for a time as municipal president (or mayor in modern usage) of Caloocan during the American colonial rule. She was a University of the Philippines Bachelor of Philosophy graduate and taught at theTorres High School in Manila.

A trilingual writer (Filipino, Spanish and English), Acosta soon left the teaching profession to become a full time journalist. She became editor of the Filipino weekly magazine Sampaguita, where she also published her essays, short stories and novels. She also wrote for other publications such as Liwayway magazine which honored her with a Short Story Writer of the Year Award" in c. 1952 for her story "Kandidata." She contributed essays in English to some Philippine magazines, writing about relevant national issues of the day.

She became editor of Pagina Azul (Blue Page) the Spanish section of a Philippine magazine. Here she published her short stories in Spanish. She was also a radio playwright and her plays were aired over the government station DZFM, then managed by Francisco "Koko" Trinidad.,

She first joined government service in the early 1940s working as a linguistic researcher at the Institute if National Language (Surian ng Wikang Pambansa) then headed by the Father of Tagalog Grammar, Lope K. Santos. She was the first Administrator of the government agency which was later to be called the Philippine Housing Authority.

She later joined the Department of Labor in various supervisory capacities. She traveled extensively across the United States of America, observing the labor conditions in that country. Later she also traveled to France,Spain, Italy and Lebanon. In 1961 Herrera Acosta was appointed by President Carlos P. Garcia as the first Director of the Bureau of Women and Minors, an agency of the Department of Labor. As such, she helped in the formulation of labor laws to improve the working conditions of female laborers.

A multi-awarded writer, Herrera Acosta's published books include "La Carta Redentora y Otros Cuentos" (The Saving Letter and Other Stories) in Spanish; and in Filipino, "Kandidata at iba pang mga Kuwento" (The Woman Candidate and other Stories); "Dangal ng Pangalan at Iba pang Mga Dulang Panradyo" (An Honorable Reputation and other Radio Plays); "Bulaklak ng Pag-ibig at Iba pang Mga Tula" (Flower of Love and other Poems); and "Kahapon at Ngayon" (Yesterday and Today), a book of essays.

She married Florinio Robles Acosta, a certified public accountant in 1940, and had one child, Carmencita H. Acosta who like her, became a journalist.