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It was the end when he lost "the secret of living". National Artist for Literature Francisco Arcellana, fictionist, essayist and poet, passed away at 11:45 a.m. Thursday at the age of 85. "The fiction writer seems to me to possess a starred life, to hold the secret of living, to carry about with him that sense of glory that we all of us seek and never find, the feeling that he is onto things, ahead as in a poker game, on top as though it were always morning, in control with everything going for him," Arcellana said in a 1969 lecture. His daughter-in-law Lydia Arcellana, a professor of English at the University of the Philippines (UP), said he had lost his will to live because of his old age, causing his resistance to break down. Arcellana was taken on June 30 to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City where he was treated for pneumonia. But his condition worsened, and he died of multiple organ failure in his room at the Quezon City hospital. President Corazon Aquino proclaimed Arcellana National Artist for Literature in 1990. The citation described him as "one of the most important progenitors of the modern Filipino short story in English" and as one who "pioneered the development of the short story as a lyrical expression." It also extolled him as "a brilliant craftsman" who "built a body of works that are now an indispensable part of tertiary-level syllabi all over the country." His work has been translated into Malaysian, Italian, German and Russian. Arcellana had a long and fruitful relationship with the UP, where he was recognized as an influential teacher. He began teaching at the UP Department of English and Comparative Literature in 1953 and eventually became professor VII. He was named professor emeritus in 1983 and, in 1989, received UP's highest honor, a doctorate in humane letters, honoris causa. Arcellana also chaired the first UP National Writers Workshop in 1965. In 1979 he was founding director of the UP Creative Writing Center (CWC), of which he remained director until 1982. Zacarias Eugenio Francisco Quino Arcellana was born on Sept. 6, 1916, in Santa Cruz, Manila. He was the fourth child in the brood of 18 of Jose Cabaneiro Arcellana and Epifania Quino. He published his first short story, "The Man Who Would Be Poe", while still a 16-year-old student at the Manila West (later Torres) High School. He would edit Expression, a quarterly journal of experimental writing, two years later. Arcellana began his stay at UP in 1932 as a pre-medicine student, but changed academic directions and completed a degree in philosophy in 1939. His short fiction would be recognized as among the best in the country. Among his most famous stories are "Divide By Two", "Trilogy of the Turtles", "The Mats", "The Wing of Madness: I", and "The Flowers of May". Arcellana was also involved in journalism, as staffwriter of the Woman's World, columnist of the Herald Midweek Magazine, copy editor of the Acta Medica Philippina, editor of the Philcross, bureau manager of the International News Service's Manila bureau, literary editor of the Manila Chronicle's This Week supplement, and adviser of the UP's Philippine Collegian. He received the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature, Philippines Free Press Literary Award, First Art Association of the Philippines Award in criticism, Patnubay ng Kalinangan Award for Literature from the City of Manila, and Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for English fiction from the Writers' Union of the Philippines. He held as well a Smith-Mundt Grant for teaching creative writing. In 1956, he was a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Iowa and Breadloaf Writers Conference. He also held the Hans Menzi Professorial Chair in Creative Writing. UP Creative Writing Center (CWC) director Virgilio Almario said Arcellana would be remembered "for his intense desire to master the language, (to come) out with the most polished story or work." "He really valued craftsmanship," Almario said, adding that beyond the writing, Arcellana would be "best remembered as a very good mentor, person and teacher" who was "loved by all his students." UP Press director Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo noted that it would be "almost impossible to disassociate Franz from Philippine literature in English." "He was so influential to many writers of his generation and after," Hidalgo said. "He revived writing in UP and remained a moving force for writing in the university." Arcellana left behind his wife Emerenciana Yuvienco-Arcellana, their six children, among them awarded writer Juan Eugenio "Juaniyo" Arcellana, and grandchildren. His body will lie in state starting Friday at the Delaney Hall of the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice on the UP campus in Diliman, Quezon City. The UP CWC will hold a tribute in his memory on Aug. 16 at the UP Main Library. With a report from Agnes E. Donato ©2002 www.inq7.net all rights reserved |
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