PDI columnist, editor win book awards
By Allison Lopez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:05:00 11/18/2008
Filed Under: Awards and Prizes, Books
MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist Conrado de Quiros and Editor Lito B. Zulueta have won the National Book Awards (NBA), the book publishing industry’s top prize.
De Quiros, who writes the column “There’s the Rub,” won the Best Book of Essays award for “Tongues of Fire,” while Zulueta won the Best Book in History prize for co-authoring and editing “The Saga of La Naval: Triumph of a People’s Faith.”
The awards are given jointly by the Manila Critics’ Circle and the National Book Development Board. The award ceremonies for the 27th NBA were held on Saturday night at the Yuchengco Museum of the RCBC Plaza in Makati City.
Released by Anvil Publishing, De Quiros’ book is a collection of essays and speeches he had given in various engagements across the nation.
In choosing his book for the prize, the NBA noted the “timeless appeal” of his writings and agreed with the author’s observation on the relevance of speeches.
“Speeches are not just about unburdening oneself of pearls of wisdom, or, horrors, about regaling audiences with tales of one’s travels abroad—which for some reason, probably pathological, owing to the colonial experience—seems to be a favorite among local speakers,” De Quiros has said.
“They are about doing so entertainingly, divertingly, artfully. Speeches are not just sense, they are also sound. They are not just meant to inform, or impart insight, they are meant to inspire, terrify, spark in the audience’s hearts more turbulence than have been wrought by super storms.”
‘A celebration of history’
Zulueta’s massive coffee-table book chronicles the history and heritage of La Naval de Manila, as the centuries-old image of, as well as religious devotion to, Our Lady of the Rosary is popularly known in the Philippines.
The book was published by the Philippine Dominican Province in October 2007 to mark the centennial of the canonical coronation of La Naval de Manila by papal edict, the first Marian icon to be so crowned in Asia.
The book was praised by the NBA for being both “a celebration of history and spirituality.”
In his acceptance speech, Zulueta said he was sharing the award with top historian Benito Legarda, whose book, “Occupation: The Later Years,” was a nominee for the category.
He said he was “merely the representative of a vast network of authors, editors and creative persons who worked on ‘La Naval’ for three years.”
Award is for Mary
Zulueta, a University of Santo Tomas journalism professor, also thanked Fr. Bienvenido Trinilla, OP, rector of the shrine of La Naval and the Dominican provincialate in Santo Domingo Church for entrusting him with the editorship of the project.
“The book pays tribute to Our Lady of the Rosary, and I would like to dedicate this award to her,” Zulueta said.
He also thanked his coauthors—UST Rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, UST secretary general Fr. Isidro Abano, UST archivists Fathers Fidel Villarroel and Lucio Gutierrez, heritage experts Regalado Trota Jose and Ramon Villegas, and teachers Florentino Hornedo, Eloisa de Castro and Jose Victor Torres—and the memorabilia contributors, photographers, illustrators, artists and book designers (the work was also nominated for Best Book Design), “who made ‘La Naval’ such a handsome book.”
Critics’ partner
“The Saga of La Naval” was also a finalist for the 2008 Cardinal Sin Book Award (Spirituality category) in the recent 30th Catholic Mass Media Awards.
For this year’s NBA, the Manila Critics’ Circle (MCC)—a group of writers, critics and academics—partnered with the National Book Development Board (NBDB) to establish the awards as the definitive industry prize.
An innovation was the appointment by the NBDB of several judges for each category to advise the MCC on the selection of finalists.
In his keynote address, Sen. Edgardo Angara, author of the law that created the NBDB, urged publishers to put out more books about the Philippines and expand the range of Filipiniana titles.
Angara himself was delighted when a book he helped publish and write, “Bale, Aurora,” about his home-province and birthplace of President Manuel Quezon, won the Best Book of Travel prize.
The full list of book winners will be published in the Inquirer’s Art and Books section on Nov. 24.
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