Today’s readers have much to learn from reading National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin. Ateneo Assistant Professor Jonathan Chua, who curates the upcoming exhibit on Joaquin, notes that aside from “the art of writing well,” readers will learn about Philippine history and culture from this literary icon’s works.
“I think some of his works speak beyond their original audience,” Chua says. For SIM readers, Chua has selected, in no particular order, the 10 written works by Joaquin that all Filipinos should read.
1. The Woman Who Had Two Navels (novel, 1961)
2. May Day Eve (short story, 1947)
3. Candido’s Apocalypse (short story, 1965)
4. Guardia de Honor (short story, 1949)
5. Three Generations (short story, 1940)
6. The Innocence of Solomon (poem, 1937)
7. Culture as History (essay, 1975)
8. A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (play, 1952)
9. Joaquinesquerie: Myth a la Mod (children’s stories, 1983)
10. Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young (nonfiction, 1990)