Rene O. Villanueva was a Filipino

Filipino people

The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....

 playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

. He is famed for his deep involvement in theater and television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 and in children's literature

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

, whether it be on television, in books or on stage.

Awards

He won the following awards: TOYP, New York Film and TV Festival, First Latin American Video and Film Festival (Columbia), Japan Prize (Preschool Category), Prix Juenesse Winner (Germany), TOYM, CCP, Gawad Collantes, Gantipalang Quezon, National Book Award

Philippine National Book Awards

The Philippine National Book Awards, or simply the National Book Awards, is a Philippine literary award sponsored by the NBDB and the MCC . It is the national book award of the Philippines...

, and Palanca.

His short play, Kumbersasyon (1980), won him the first of many Palanca Awards

Palanca Awards

The Palanca Awards or Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature is the Philippines' most prestigious and most enduring literary awards and is dubbed as the "Pulitzer Prize" of the Philippines...

. His award-winning plays include May isang Sundalo (1981, first prize), Huling Gabi sa Maragondon (1983, first prize), Punla ng Dekada (1984, second prize), Ang Hepe (1986, third prize), Asawa (1987, second prize) and Awit ng Adarna (1987, second prize).

Biography

Rene O. Villanueva was born in the La Loma neighborhood of 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...

 in the 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...

 to Francisco and Vicenta Villanueva.

He graduated with a History degree in 1975 from the Lyceum of the Philippines University. He died on December 5 2007 at the Philippine Heart Center

Philippine Heart Center

The Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City was established through Presidential Decree No. 673 issued by president Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1975. Its original name was the Philippine Heart Center for Asia and was changed to its current form in 1975. It was inaugurated on Valentine's Day, February 14,...

 due to sudden cardiac death. His last blog post on his personal blog is here

Posthumous

The UPAlumni.net wrote on Villanueva: “…Villanueva, a playwright, was among the leading figures in children's literature in the Philippines. He was in the hall of fame list of the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. He graduated with a degree in history at the Lyceum of the Philippines in 1975.” Villanueva was awarded the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining (Literature) in 2004 and the Gawad Chanselor sa UP in 2005.

Full Length Plays

• Sixteen and Three Fourths (1975)
• Burles (Burlesque) (1977)
• Tribu (Tribe) (1979)
• Kontsabahan sa Tirarang (Conspiracy in Tirarang) (1979)
• Hiblang Abo (Strands of Gray) (1980)
• Sinakulo (1981)
• Sandaang Panaginip (A Hundred Dreams) (1981)
• Samperang Muta (Cheap Thrill) (1982)
• Madyik (Magic) (1983)
• Sigwa (Storm) (1984)
• Huling Istasyon (Last Station) (1983)
• Ang Hepe (The Chief) (1986)
• Awit ng Adarna (Song of the Adarna) (1987)
• Botong (1989)
• Tonyo (1990)
• Kalantiaw (1994)
• Bintao (1995)
• The Bomb! (2003)

One Act Plays

• Kumbersasyon (Conversation) (1980)
• May Isang Sundalo (There Is A Soldier) (1981)
• Nana (Mother) (1982)
• Huling Gabi sa Maragondon (Last Night at Maragondon) (1983)
• Punla ng Dekada (Seedlings of the Decade) (1984)
• Kaaway sa Sulod (Enemy Within) (1986) (with Rolando S. Dela Cruz)
• Mabuhay ang Pangulo (Long Live the President) (1987) (with Rolando S. Dela Cruz)
• Asawa (Spouse) (1987) (with Rolando S. Dela Cruz)
• Teodora (1993)
• Gregoria (1993)
• Dobol (Double) (1994)
• Watawat (Flag) (1999)
• White Love (2004)
• Bertdey ni Guido (Guido's Birthday) (2007)

Translations and Adaptations

• Florente at Laura (Florente and Laura) (1988)
• Ang Napigil-Sanang-Paghahari ni Arturo Ui (Bertolt Brecht
  Bertolt Brecht
  Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
  
  's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
  The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
  The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui is a play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, originally written in 1941...
  
  ) (1987) (with Joey Baquiran)
• Sutsot sa Dilim (Whistle in the Dark) (1985)
• Crimes of Passion (1985)
• Awit ng Adarna (Song of Adarna) (1984)
• Sa Kuko ng Liwanag (In the Claws of Neon Light) (1993)
• "Isperekengkeng Isperekangkang" (A Comedy of Errors) (2005)

Children’s Plays

• Tiktipak-long (Grasshoppers) (1984)
• Si Pagong at si Matsing (The Turtle and the Monkey) (1984) (an opera with music by Lucrecia Kasilag)
• Ang Apoy ng mga Hayop (The Fire of the Animals) (1987) (music by Kasilag)
• Aguinaldo sa Niño (Gift for the Infant) (1987)
• Noong Unang Panahon (In the Beginning) (1988)

Screenplays

• Gabi na Kumander (It’s Night Commander) (1986)
• Kamagong (Mahagony) (1987)
• Anak ng Lupa (Child of the Earth) (1987)

Teleplays

• Gabay Sa Pagsulat At Anim Na Dulang Pantelebisyon
• Literature Eksena't Saknong (with Ligaya G. Tiamson Rubin)

Children's Books

• Ang Pamilyang Ismid (The Family Ismid) co-published by Cacho Publishing House and Philippine Children’s Television Foundation
• Ang Patsotsay Na Iisa Ang Pakpak (The Patsotsay With Only One Wing) co-published by Cacho Publishing House and Philippine Children’s Television Foundation
• Ang Prinsipeng Ayaw Maligo (The Prince Who Hated Taking Baths) published by Cacho Publishing House.
• Ang Unang Baboy Sa Langit (The First Pig In Heaven) published by Cacho Publishing House. [1st Prize, Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature, children's story, (Tagalog) 1990]
• Ayokong Pumasok Sa Paaralan (I Don't Want to Go to School) published by Cacho Publishing House.
• Dagat Sa Kama Ni Troy (The Sea in Troy's Bed) published by Cacho Publishing House.
• Gusto Kong Kumain Ng Pansit Ngayon (I Want to Eat Noodles Now) published by Cacho Publishing House.
• Kung Bakit Umuulan (Why It Rains) published by Cacho Publishing House.
• Nagsasabi Si Patpat (Patpat Says When) published by Cacho Publishing House.
• Nasaan Ang Tsinelas Ko? (Where Are My Slippers?) published by Cacho Publishing House.
• Okaka-okaka published by Cacho Publishing House.
• Sina Elephas At Estegodon Noon Unang Panahon (Elephas and Estegodon [Two Mammoths during Primeval Times]) published by Cacho Publishing House.
• Si Inggolok At Ang Planeta Pakaskas (Inggolok and the Planet Pakaskas) co-published by Cacho Publishing House and Philippine Children’s Television Foundation
• Si Paula Oink-oink published by Cacho Publishing House
• Sina Linggit Laban Kay Barakuda (Linggit against Barracuda [A retelling of a folktale]) co-published by Cacho Publishing House and Philippine Children’s Television Foundation
• Lumikha Ng Kuwento, Tula At Laruang Pambata (with Virgilio Almario, Annaleah Habulan, Michelle Parazo Manual)
• The Rene O. Villanueva Children's Reader (the author's own selection of his favorite stories, poems, plays and lyrics [English and Filipino]) published by Cacho Publishing House.

Sources

• Tiongson, Nicanor G., ed. CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art; Volume VII: Philippine Theater. 1994

http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/palanca_awards/index.html&date=2009-10-25+02:21:55 The Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature] (Unofficial website). Retrieved August 27, 2005

• "Ode to a Mentor and a Friend" The Official Blog of Ian del Carmen (December 8, 2007)

External links

• Full text: May Isang Sundalo by Rene Villanueva