Anvil Publishing, Inc., will be named Publisher of the Year at the 33rd National Book Awards on Nov. 22 at the National Museum. Handed out yearly by the Manila Critics Circle (MCC) and the National Book Development Board (NBDB), the National Book Awards recognize the best of the previous year’s locally published books. The 33rd National Book Awards feted the best books published in 2013. The winners were announced Tuesday, Oct. 28, at the NBDB offices in Pasig City by MCC chair Dr. Isagani R. Cruz and NBDB chair Flor Marie Sta. Romana-Cruz. The winners will receive a cash prize as well as trophies made by artist Pete Jimenez.
The inaugural winner of the Coyiuto Prize for Biography will also be announced at the ceremony.
Anvil books received the most number of awards with five. It will be Anvil’s 11th time to be named Publisher of the Year, the most of any Philippine publisher. University of Santo Tomas (UST) Publishing House won three awards while Ateneo de Manila University (Admu) Press, Ateneo de Naga University Press, The University of the Philippines (UP) Press and Visprint, Inc., each won two awards.
The complete list of winners: Juan C. Laya Prize for Best Novel in a Philippine Language: “Ang Banal na Aklat ng mga Kumag” by Allan N. Derain (Anvil Publishing, Inc.); Juan C. Laya Prize for Best Novel in a Foreign Language: “Fish-Hair Woman” by Merlinda Bobis (Anvil); Best Book of Short Fiction in Filipino: “Sa Himaymay ng Puso at iba pang Kuwento” by Macario Pineda (Admu Press); Cirilo F. Bautista Prize for Best Book of Short Fiction in English: “Now, Then, and Elsewhen” by Nikki Alfar (UST Publishing House); Best Anthology in English: “Manila Noir” edited by Jessica Hagedorn (Anvil); Best Anthology in Bikol: “Hagong: Mga Osipon” edited by Paz Verdades M. Santos and H. Francisco V. Peñones Jr. (Ateneo de Naga University Press); Best Book of Non-Fiction in Filipino Language: “Anim na Sabado ng Beyblade at iba pang Sanaysay” by Ferdinand Pisigan Jarin (Visprint Inc.); Best Book of Non-Fiction in English: “Mona Lisa: A Portrait from the Memoirs of a Grandmother” by Celine Beatrice Fabie (Mona Lisa Publication); Best Book of Poetry in Filipino: “Labi” by Kristian Sendon Cordero (Admu Press); Philippine Literary Arts Council Prize for Best Book of Poetry in English: “m’mry wire” by Ricardo M. de Ungria (UST Publishing House); Best Book of Poetry in Bikol: “Canticos: Apat na Boses” by K.S. Cordero (UST Publishing House); Best Book of Graphic Literature in Filipino: “PilandoKomiks Isyu 2: Mga Pagsubok ng Karagatan” by Borg Sinaban (Adarna House, Inc.); Best Book of Graphic Literature in English: “The Dark Colony Book I: Mikey Recio & The Secret of the Demon Dungeon” by Budjette Tan, Bow Guerrero, and J. B. Tapia (Visprint); Best Translated Book: “Doros Asín Mga Anghél: Translations in Bikol of John Donne’s Holy Sonnets and Selected Works” translated by Victor Dennis T. Nierva (Ateneo de Naga University Press); Alfonso T. Ongpin Prize for Best Book on Art: “Balay Ukit: Tropical Architecture in Pre-WWII Filipino Houses” by Maria Virginia Yap Morales (Anvil); Elfren S. Cruz Prize for Best Book in the Social Sciences: “Tapping Ink, Tattooing Identities: Tradition and Modernity in Contemporary Kalinga Society, North Luzon, Philippines” by Analyn V. Salvador-Amores (UP Press); Best Book in History and Journalism: “Story Book: Essays on the History of the Book in the Philippines” by Patricia May B. Jurilla (Anvil); Best Book on Food: “Milk Pigs & Violet Gold: Philippine Cookery” by Bryan Koh (Holy Angel University Press); Best Book on Science: “Science Philippines: Essays on Science by Filipinos, Volume II” edited by Gisela P. Padilla-Concepcion (UP Press); Best Design: “Made of Gold” by Cid Reyes, designed by Aman Santos (Metrobank Foundation); and Publisher of the Year: Anvil Publishing, Inc.
Founded in 1981, the MCC is a non-profit, non-stock organization of professional literary critics and newspaper columnists who believe that Philippine books deserve much more attention than they usually get from business, media and the general public. Membership in the Circle is strictly by invitation: a unanimous vote is required before anyone is invited to become a member. Current members are: National Artists for Literature Virgilio S. Almario and Cirilo F. Bautista; Juaniyo Arcellana, Roger J. Bresnahan, Isagani R. Cruz, Ruel S. De Vera, Shirley O. Lua, Resil B. Mojares, Danton Remoto, Soledad S. Reyes and Joel Pablo Salud. In 2008, the MCC entered into an agreement with the NBDB to institutionalize the National Book Awards with the NBDB to better honor Philippine publishers and authors.
