Palace mourns PHL literary legends' deaths

Malacañang mourned over the weekend the deaths of prominent literary elders Edith Tiempo and Kerima Polotan Tuvera, saying it was a "sad weekend" for the Philippine literary community. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda lauded National Artist Edith Tiempo and fictionist Kerima Polotan Tuvera for influencing many of the country’s established literary artists. "It is a sad weekend for the Philippine literary community as two of its most eminent elders, National Artist for Literature Edith L. Tiempo and renowned fictionist and essayist Kerima Polotan Tuvera, passed away within a day of each other. The Aquino administration is united in grief with a country that mourns their passing," Lacierda said in a statement posted on the government portal. Tiempo died Sunday in Dumaguete City while Tuvera died Friday night. He said many of the country’s established literary practitioners and promising young talents trace their lineage from the Silliman National Writers Workshop which Tiempo established with her late husband. Lacierda said those who served as a pillar of the workshop included Mrs. Polotan Tuvera, "whose own body of work has been widely recognized as crucial to the development of Philippine Literary Fiction written from English." Both stalwarts have influenced generations of writers through their mentoring and through their own works, inspiring countless to tread the same path, Lacierda said. "We are certain that coming generations of Filipinos will likewise find a timeless vibrancy in the wealth that they contributed to our culture, our collective memory, and our nation’s story," he said. — RSJ, GMA News