CLA faculty receives UMPIL Lifetime Achievement Award in Literary Education

DLSU College of Liberal Arts Associate Professor Dr. Shirley Lua received the Gawad Paz Marquez Benitez, a lifetime achievement award for educators in Philippine literature conferred by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL) last April 26  at University of the Philippines Diliman.

UMPIL, the Writers’ Union of the Philippines, is the country’s largest organization of creative writers. They honored nine distinguished literary individuals and a literary organization at the 38th Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas during its 51st National Writers Congress.

The annual awarding ceremony gives distinctions to literary luminaries for various categories including for poetry, screenplay, fiction, essay, play, and literary criticism.

Lua was recognized for her dedication and passion as a literary educator in shaping the younger generation as critical thinkers and creative writers.

A  full-time professor of literature and cultural studies, she concurrently sits on the board of the Filipino Critics Circle (formerly, the Manila Critics Circle), which hands out the National Book Awards annually to the best books published in the Philippines. She also heads the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, the premier Filipino film critics group that confers the annual Gawad Urian on the best Philippine movies.

She served as the coordinator for the Philippine PEN Civil Society Programme (2010-2019), managing projects such as “For Love of the Word: Workshops on Teaching Philippine Literature.”

Lua was the associate editor of Direk: Essays on Filipino Filmmakers (DLSU Publishing House and Sussex Academic Press, 2018). Her essays, articles, and creative works have appeared in anthologies, magazines, newspapers and journals. She is a former director of DLSU Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center (2011-2017).