University of the Philippines. Photo: Nickrds09 (Talk to me), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UP_Visayas_Iloilo_Campus_2010.jpg)
Gallery of Franz (Francisco Arcellana)
University of Iowa. Photo: Billwhittaker ( talk ) at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iowa_Hall.JPG)
University of the Philippines. Photo: Nickrds09 (Talk to me), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UP_Visayas_Iloilo_Campus_2010.jpg)
University of Iowa. Photo: Billwhittaker ( talk ) at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iowa_Hall.JPG)
Francisco “Franz” Arcellana was a Filipino writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist, and teacher who helped shape the modern Filipino short story in English. A University of the Philippines educator and creative-writing mentor, he was proclaimed National Artist for Literature in 1990.
Background
Francisco Arcellana was born on September 6, 1916, in Manila, the fourth of eighteen children of Jose Arcellana and Epifania Quino. He grew up in the urban environment of Manila, where English-language education and an expanding Philippine press helped create new opportunities for Filipino writers.
Arcellana began writing while still a student at Torres High School. His first published story, “The Man Who Could Be Poe,” appeared in Graphic in 1932. During the 1930s he became associated with the Veronicans, a group of Filipino writers who experimented with English-language literary forms before the Second World War.
Education
Arcellana attended Torres High School, where his early writing was published in student and commercial venues. He later studied at the University of the Philippines, receiving a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1939. The University of the Philippines, founded in 1908, was the country's principal public university and a major center of Philippine intellectual and literary life.
In 1956–1957, Arcellana received a Rockefeller grant and pursued creative-writing study at the University of Iowa and attended the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. The University of Iowa had developed one of the United States' important university-based writing programs, while Bread Loaf was a long-established writers' conference that brought emerging and established authors together for workshops and literary exchange.
Arcellana's professional life combined literary authorship, journalism, editing, teaching, and criticism. Before and during the early postwar period, he wrote for Herald Midweek Magazine, where his “Art and Life” column appeared from 1939 to 1941, and worked for Philcross, the publication of the Philippine Red Cross, from 1945 to 1953. He also worked for the International News Service in 1947–1948 and for This Week, the Sunday supplement of The Manila Chronicle, where he served as a writer, columnist, editor, and literary editor from 1948 to 1950.
His journalism connected literary criticism with the development of Philippine writing in English. He later wrote the “Memo Pad” column for The Philippine Collegian and continued publishing stories, essays, poems, and criticism. His fiction was noted for musicality, rhythmic prose, emotional restraint, and careful revision, and he became an important pioneer of the modern Filipino short story in English.
At the University of the Philippines, Arcellana taught in the Department of English and Comparative Literature from 1979 to 1982, advised The Philippine Collegian, and served as founding director of the university's creative-writing center. His teaching and editorial work helped establish creative writing as an important part of the university's literary culture. He continued to be associated with the University of the Philippines as a professor emeritus until his death.
Achievements
Arcellana helped pioneer the modern Filipino short story in English and developed the short story as a lyrical prose-poetic form within Philippine literature.
He won second prize in the English short-story division of the 1951 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature for “The Flowers of May.”
Fourteen of his short stories were included in Jose Garcia Villa's honor roll of Filipino writing from the 1930s.
He received the first Art Association of the Philippines award for art criticism in 1954.
He received the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan award from the City Government of Manila in 1981.
He received the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for English fiction from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas in 1988.
(An early collection of Arcellana's short fiction, publish...)
1954
Views
Arcellana's literary practice treated the short story as a lyrical, prose-poetic form rather than merely a vehicle for plot. His fiction and essays emphasize rhythm, tone, memory, emotional restraint, and the complexity of ordinary human relationships. His repeated revision of stories and his attention to language suggest a philosophy of writing centered on precision, musicality, and disciplined craft.
Personality
Contemporaries and former students described Arcellana as attentive to younger writers, deeply engaged with literary conversation, and generous in sharing his knowledge of Philippine writing. His sustained work as a teacher, editor, critic, and mentor reflected an active interest in developing literary communities.
Quotes from others about the person
Jose Y. Dalisay Jr. described Arcellana's prose as musical and rhythmic, while Doreen Fernandez characterized him as a major source of knowledge about Filipino writers in English. Nick Joaquin remembered him as a devoted reader and believer in the power of the spoken and written word.
Interests
Literary criticism, journalism, creative-writing education, and the history of Philippine literature in English.
Writers
Jose Garcia Villa and Nick Joaquin were important literary contemporaries and correspondents in Arcellana's development as a Filipino writer in English.
Connections
Arcellana married Emerenciana Yuvienco, who became a professor emeritus of political science at the University of the Philippines. They had six children: Francisco Y. Arcellana, Elizabeth Y. Arcellana-Nuqui, Jose Esteban Arcellana, Maria Y. Arcellana-Panlilio, Juaniyo Y. Arcellana, and Meren Y. Arcellana-Hertzsprung.
His literary connections included Jose Garcia Villa, whose honor roll included fourteen of Arcellana's short stories from the 1930s, and fellow National Artist Nick Joaquin. Arcellana's family later helped preserve and publish materials relating to his life and work, including the tribute volume Regarding Franz.
Wife:
Emerenciana Yuvienco
Professor emeritus of political science at the University of the Philippines and author of The Relevance of Recto Today.
Son:
Francisco Y. Arcellana
A surgeon certified by the American Board of Surgery.
Daughter:
Elizabeth Y. Arcellana-Nuqui
A pathologist and professor associated with the University of the Philippines College of Medicine.
Son:
Jose Esteban Arcellana
An English graduate of the University of the Philippines who worked in information technology in California.
Daughter:
Maria Y. Arcellana-Panlilio
A food technologist and academic associated with the University of Calgary.
Son:
Juaniyo Y. Arcellana
A published poet and newspaper editor.
Daughter:
Meren Y. Arcellana-Hertzsprung
A clinical psychologist who practiced in Canada.
References
Francisco Arcellana
A National Commission for Culture and the Arts cultural biography documenting Arcellana's birth, education, early writing, literary associations, family, University of the Philippines career, and status as a National Artist for Literature.
Arcellana was proclaimed National Artist for Literature by President Corazon C. Aquino on May 23, 1990, in recognition of his distinguished contribution to Philippine literature.
Arcellana was proclaimed National Artist for Literature by President Corazon C. Aquino on May 23, 1990, in recognition of his distinguished contribution to Philippine literature.
Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature,
Philippines
Second prize in the English short-story division in 1951 for “The Flowers of May.”
Second prize in the English short-story division in 1951 for “The Flowers of May.”
Art Association of the Philippines Award for Art Criticism,
Philippines
He received the association's first award for art criticism in 1954.
He received the association's first award for art criticism in 1954.
Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan,
Philippines
Awarded by the City Government of Manila in 1981 for contribution to the city's artistic and cultural life.
Awarded by the City Government of Manila in 1981 for contribution to the city's artistic and cultural life.
Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas,
Philippines
Awarded by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas in 1988 for English fiction.
Awarded by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas in 1988 for English fiction.
Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa,
Philippines
The University of the Philippines conferred an honorary doctorate in humane letters on Arcellana in 1989.
The University of the Philippines conferred an honorary doctorate in humane letters on Arcellana in 1989.
