The socialist literary group Maso at Panitik is one with the Filipino literary community in mourning the death of two noted Filipino female writers over the weekend. They left the Philippine literary community with deep sadness.
National Artist for Literature Edith Tiempo passed away late afternoon August 21, 2011 at the age of 92, while Palanca awardee and journalist Kerima Polotan Tuvera died August 19, 2011 at the age of 85.
Tiempo’s published works include the novel A Blade of Fern (1978), His Native Coast (1979), The Alien Corn (1992), One, Tilting Leaves (1995) and The Builder (2003); the poetry collections, The Tracks of Babylon and Other Poems (1966), and The Charmer’s Box and Other Poems (1993); and the short story collection Abide, Joshua, and Other Stories (1964). Her works have won numerous prizes from the Don Carlos Palanca Awards in Literature, the CCP literary contest, and the Philippine Free Press literary contest.
Polotan was the most awarded writer among her contemporaries at one time. She won the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature for her short stories “The Virgin” (1952), “The Trap” (1956), “The Giants” (1959), “The Tourists” (1960), “The Sounds of Sunday” (1961) and “A Various Season” (1966).
