In the Name of the Trees

by Merlinda Bobis

150 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2025

About the author

Merlinda Bobis is an award-winning contemporary Philippine-Australian writer who has had 4 novels, 6 poetry books and a collection of short stories published, and 10 dramatic works performed. For her, ‘Writing visits like grace. Its greatest gift is the comfort if not the joy of transformation. In an inspired moment, we almost believe that anguish can be made bearable and injustice can be overturned, because they can be named. And if we’re lucky, joy can even be multiplied a hundredfold, so we may have reserves in the cupboard for the lean times.’

Born in Tabaco in the Philippines province of Albay, Merlinda Bobis attended Bicol University High School then completed her B.A. at Aquinas University in Legazpi City. She holds post-graduate degrees from the University of Santo Tomas and University of Wollongong where she taught Creative Writing for 21 years. She now lives and writes on Ngunnawal land (Canberra, Australia).

Her literary awards include the 2016 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction NSW Premier's Literary Award for her novel 'Locust Girl. A Lovesong'; three Philippine National Books Awards (2016: 'Locust Girl', 2014: 'Fish-Hair Woman', 2000: 'White Turtle'); 2013 MUBA: 'Fish-Hair Woman'; 2000 Steele Rudd Award for the Best Published Collection of Australian Short Stories: 'White Turtle'; 2006 Philippine National Balagtas Award for her poetry and prose (in English, Filipino and Bikol); 1998 Prix Italia, 1998 Australian Writers' Guild Award and 1995 Ian Reed Radio Drama Prize for her play 'Rita's Lullaby'; three Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards in Literature Poetry Category (2016: Second prize, 1989: Second, 1987: First). Her poetry collection, 'Accidents of Composition' was Highly Commended for the 2018 ACT Book of the Year.

Reviews

[Miguel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Banaba, narra, pili, dao. Trees and names.

Doesn’t quite reach the heights I expect it to, but nonetheless a beautifully told interwoven tale of women, trees, and history. There’s also a gentle, almost lulling, quality to Bobis' writing that makes me feel like I’m reading about home, even if I’m not from Bicol though I’d love to make that trip soon.

[mynee · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow

[Julianne Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a homecoming, hitting even closer to home with the smattering of Bikolnon across its pages and the familiar landscapes of Bikol, my mother’s land.

[Iv · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spiritual experience.

Ms. Merlin has a way with words and with knowing how to connect with her readers like a mother reading a book to her sleepy child. Safe, comforting, intimate, and inevitably leaves you with a sense of longing after you close a chapter. A personification of a warm hug after a long day. You feel the pain of the characters as if it were your own. She knows how to craft an extraordinary experience out of ordinary subjects. This has become one of my sentimental favorites. It has unexpectedly made my banaba flower tattoo more magical, spiritual, and personal to me.

[Nico · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rich cross-generational story about land ownership and family.

Just like the trees mentioned, their branches and roots weave in and out of the soil along with their histories.

Such warmth this book offers.