Guest of the ilb 2005
Rofel G. Brion
was born in 1953 in San Pablo, in the Philippines. Although his mother
tongue is the local Filipino, he began to write in English, the
language of his early education, at 12 years of age. It was only as a
young adult that he started to consider Filipino as a literary
language. For this reason, after he had finished his economic studies,
he decided to study Philippine Literature at the Ateneo de Manila
University. His graduation from the Creative Writing Center of the
University of the Philippines was again in the fields of English
Language and Literature.
In 1982 Brion won the Gawad Galian sa Tula Poetry
Prize. His first volume of poetry, »Baka Sakali« (1990; t: Maybe by
Chance), was awarded the National Book Award. Seven years later his
second book »Story« was published. This title accurately identifies a
characteristic property of Brion’s poems. They are stories in verse
form – lyrical snapshots that capture special moments. Using this form
he mainly uses language to denote objects and occurences – as opposed
to modernistic and avantgarde trends – which takes on a characteristic
of ritual. »I write about my life, my family, my friends, my travels,
my loves; events that make me happy; events that make me cry; events
that may never really come to be. I write mostly about small, ordinary
events, and in doing so, I capture them. I hold on to them and never
let them go. And this, I guess, is how I pay homage to them.« This
admired designation reveals various aspects in Brion's bilingual
writings. In the as yet less appreciated mother tongue Filipino, the
denotation of the names of ordinary things and experiences, betokens a
conscious effort to overcome colonial repression. Simultaneously an
awareness of Philippino culture is created. The poems written in the
other official language of the Philippines, English, demonstrate a
confident exposure to the reality of a country which is widely
influenced by American culture. With their often humorous tone, the
poems give a forgiving and constructive example of creating an own
national identity. In the anthology »Returning a Borrowed Tongue«
(1995), Brion’s poems are arranged exemplarily in the rich tradition of
English-speaking Philippine and American-Philippine verse. He recently
published »Sandali: Mga Pili at Bagong Tula« (2006; t: Moment: Selected
and New Poems).
Brion has served as an editor, translator and
author of many publications. He has received three foreign scholarships
from the British Council, two Fulbright grants, and was twice Resident
Fellow at Hawthornden Castle in Scotland. He is Professor and academic
adviser to the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Ateneo de
Manila University.
© international literature festival berlin
Bibliography
Baka Sakali
Ateneo de Manila University
Manila, 1989
Story
University of the Phillipines Press
Manila, 1997
Sandali:Mga Pili at Bagong Tula
Ateneo de Manila University
Manila, 2006 | 
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