Peter Solis Nery
Encyclopedia
Hiligaynon language
Hiligaynon, often referred to as Ilonggo, is an Austronesian language spoken in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines.Hiligaynon is concentrated in the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Capiz but is also spoken in the other provinces of the Panay Island group, including Antique,...
, he is a Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the Cultural Center of the Philippines
Cultural Center of the Philippines
The Cultural Center of the Philippines is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines. The CCP was established through Executive Order No. 30 s. 1966 by President Ferdinand Marcos...
(CCP) Literary Grant, and the All-Western Visayas Literary Contest (National Commission for Culture and the Arts) awardee. Diversifying into English and Filipino, he has authored 14 books and had written award-winning screenplays. He wrote and edited newspapers in Iloilo City
Iloilo City
The City of Iloilo is a highly urbanized city in the Philippines and the capital city of Iloilo province. It is the regional center of the Western Visayas, as well as the center of the Iloilo-Guimaras Metropolitan Area...
before becoming a nurse in the United States.
As an actor, Mr. Nery briefly appears in Tikoy Aguiluz
Tikoy Aguiluz
Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz is an award winning Filipino film director, film producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.Aguiluz founded the Cinemanila International Film Festival in Manila in 1999....
's film on cybersex, www.XXX.com, of which he was also the assistant director. Presently, Peter works as an orthopedic nurse in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and continues to write in English and Hiligaynon.
Early life and education
He was born on January 6, 1969 and raised in the coastal town of Dumangas, IloiloIloilo
Iloilo is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Iloilo occupies the southeast portion of Panay Island and is bordered by Antique Province to the west and Capiz Province and the Jintotolo Channel to the north. Just off Iloilo's southeast coast is Guimaras Province,...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. He is the eldest among five siblings and his parents were both public school teachers. Peter attended primary school at the Dumangas Central Elementary School, completed his secondary education at the Dumangas Polytechnic College (now Iloilo State College of Fisheries), where he was consistently a first honor student from grade school to high school. He finished his degree in Biological Sciences from the University of the Philippines in the Visayas, where he was named Most Outstanding Student (1989) and Most Outstanding Graduate of 1990. He also received the President’s Award of Merit as Outstanding Student in his graduation year.
While at school, Peter honed his talent for writing. Under his editorship, he led the U.P.V. college publication Pagbutlak [Sunrise] to become the region’s best at the 1989 College Press Awards. Peter also had attended the SVD
Divine Word Missionaries
The Society of the Divine Word , popularly called the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a missionary religious congregation in the Latin Church, one of the 23 sui iuris churches which make up the Catholic Church. As of 2006 it consisted of 6,102 members composed...
Christ the King Mission Seminary in Quezon City
Quezon City
Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
where he took an Associate in Philosophy degree in 1992-1993. In 2004, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the West Negros College (now West Negros University
West Negros University
West Negros University, also referred to as WNU, is a university located in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. The university is a second level-accredited school by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities - Commission On Accreditation and awards degrees in associate,...
) in Bacolod City
Bacolod City
The City of Bacolod , is a highly urbanized midsize Philippine city. It is the capital of the Negros Occidental province. Having a total of 499,497 inhabitants as of August 1, 2007, it is the most populous city in the Western Visayas Region. It is currently ranked as the 17th most populous city in...
, Negros Occidental
Negros Occidental
Negros Occidental is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is Bacolod City and it occupies the northwestern half of Negros Island; Negros Oriental is at the southeastern half...
.
Early Works
After the EDSA Revolution of 1986, Peter found himself in a new wave of Philippine literature. There was a resurgence of interest in nationalistic writing. At U.P., Peter was lucky to meet Leoncio Deriada (2001 Palanca Hall of Fame awardee) who encouraged him to write in Hiligaynon. Peter won his first national award in writing for his poetry in Hiligaynon, Mga Ambahanon kag Pangamuyo sang Bata nga Nalimtan sa Wayang (Songs and Prayers of a Child Forgotten in the Fields)in 1992. For his performance poetry Si Eva, si Delilah, si Ruth, kag ang Alput (Eva, Delilah, Ruth, and the Prostitute) at the Premio Operiano Italia, he was named Hari sang Binalaybay (King of Hiligaynon Poetry) in 1993, a title he held until 1998. During his student activism days at the university, he wrote his first book, I Flew a Kite for Pepe, in 1993. He admits, “I cringe now at my boldness to call it poetry then but I always thought that the book had a big heart. I still cry when I read it.” It was followed by his earth song and hymn to the planet, First Few Notes of a Green SymphonyTransition
While working as a religious missionary in MacauMacau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
, Peter became more introspective and started his memoirs. The Essential Thoughts of a Purple Cat was published by Giraffe Books in 1996; Moon River, Butterflies and Me in 1997; and My Life as a Hermit again by Giraffe in 1998. In 1995, he won the NCCA Western Visayas Poetry Competition for his collection Umanhon nga Gugma (Love of the Rural Folks). Some of the poems were translated, reworked, and included in his provocative collection, Rated R (Giraffe Books, 1997).
Peter published four titles in 1997: the playful poetry collection Shy Evocations of Childhood and Other Poems that Came under Hypnosis, and Rated R for Giraffe; Shorts, a collection of haiku
Haiku
' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...
-like poems, and the memoir Moon River, Butterflies and Me for New Day.
He won his first Palanca gold medal for his magical realist Hiligaynon Short Story Lirio about a deaf-mute who is a victim of marital rape. Furthermore, his first screenplay, Buyong, about a Katipunero revolutionary from Aklan
Aklan
Aklan is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas. Its capital is Kalibo. It is located at the northwest portion of Panay Island, bordering Antique Province to the southwest, and Capiz Province to the east...
won third prize in the screenplay category of the Centennial Literary Prize. Later that year, his second screenplay, Tayo na sa Buwan (Let’s Go to the Moon), won an honorable mention at the Film Development Foundation of the Philippines.
Eventually, he started his own publishing company and produced A Loneliness Greater than Love (2000), an exploration of homoerotic themes; and Fantasia (2000), a collection of his Palanca-winning fiction. In 2001, he published Rain as Gentle as Tears, a sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to his 1997 Shorts collection, and The Prince of Ngoyngoy (The Prince of Sob), a collection of lyric poems in Hiligaynon that established Peter as the Ilonggo epitome of emotional poetry.
In 2003, he launched Pierre: The Magazine of Peter Solis Nery. It delivered three monthly issues.
When opportunity came in 2006, he went to the United States to work as a nurse. For 100 days in 2005, Peter endeavored to write 100 erotic sonnets in Hiligaynon. He called it Kakunyag (Thrill). It was launched during the National Arts Month 2006 in Iloilo, and was serialized in a newspaper. He won a Palanca in 2006 for his Hiligaynon psycho-thriller short story, Ang Kapid (The Twins). The win provided him another encouragement to persevere in writing in the Hiligaynon. In 2007, Peter won his second Palanca gold for his historical Hiligaynon Short Story Candido, about the anting-anting (amulet) of the revolutionary Candido Iban. The following year, he won his third Palanca gold for his play in English, The Passion of Jovita Fuentes, about the tragic love of the first Filipino international opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
diva and first female National Artist
National Artist
National Artist is a honorary title issued by some states as a highest recognition of artists for their significant contributions to the cultural heritage of the nation....
in Music. Peter also completed translation of his 100 Erotic Sonnets in the Hiligaynon into English in 2008.
Nursing career
Mr. Nery enrolled in Nursing as he continued to write for the newspaper. He graduated his Bachelor of Science in NursingBachelor of Science in Nursing
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing is an American four year academic degree in the science and principles of nursing, granted by a tertiary education university or similarly accredited school...
in October 2004. He went to the U.S. in February 2006, became a Registered Nurse in California in May of the same year and started working as an orthopedic nurse in Los Angeles in 2007. In October 2008, he was given various awards for his commitment to his nursing profession including the Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nurses.
Works
I Flew a Kite for Pepe (New Day Publishers. Quezon City: 1993.) ISBN 971-10-0542-5First Few Notes of a Green Symphony (Giraffe Books. Quezon City: 1994.) ISBN 971-8967-06-0
The Essential Thoughts of a Purple Cat (Giraffe Books. Quezon City: 1996.) ISBN 971-8967-31-1
Rated R (Giraffe Books. Quezon City: 1997.) ISBN 971-8967-62-1
Shorts (New Day Publishers. Quezon City: 1997.) ISBN 971-10-1012-7
Moon River, Butterflies, and Me (New Day Publishers. Quezon City: 1997.) ISBN 971-10-1013-5
Shy Evocations of Childhood (Giraffe Books. Quezon City: 1997.) ISBN 971-8967-67-2
My Life as a Hermit (Giraffe Books. Quezon City: 1998.) ISBN 971-8967-74-5
Fireflies for a Yuppie (Giraffe Books. Quezon City: 1998.) ISBN 971-8967-75-3
A Loneliness Greater than Love (DreamWings Publishing. Iloilo: 2000.) ISBN 971-92146-0-0
Fantasia (DreamWings Publishing. Iloilo: 2000.) ISBN 971-92146-1-9
Rain as Gentle as Tears (DreamWings Publishing. Iloilo: 2001.) ISBN 971-92146-2-7
The Prince of Ngoyngoy (DreamWings Publishing. Iloilo: 2001.) ISBN 971-92146-3-5
The Passion of Jovita Fuentes (New Day Publishers. Quezon City: 2009.) ISBN 971-10-1206-9
100 Erotic Sonnets from the Hiligaynon (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2010.) ISBN 1-453-71071-X