Tinalunay: Hinugpong nga Panurat nga Winaray

by Merlie M. Alunan

Tinalunay is what Waray students and scholars have been wishing for. This anthology will make Leyte-Samar readers proud of their enduring literary artistry: from the “lost” epics of the early inhabitants of Leyte-Samar to the lyrics and narratives of contemporary Waray writers, from the puplonganon and karantahon of the folk to the traditional poems of the Sanghiran writers, and from the songs of the revolutionary movement to the visual poetry and formal experimentation of today’s young writers. This will certainly be the go-to source for Waray writing and poetics.
—Nino Soria de Veyra
Waray poet and literary critic
UP-Mindanao, Davao City

Once again, multi-awarded poet and scholar, Merlie Alunan, brings us groundbreaking work, weaving into one book a crucial history and scholarship, literary translation, and critical anthology of literature from the Eastern Visayas region. The works go as far back as “antiquity,” with folklore from oral tradition and the earliest documented epics (1600s), and ends with samples from contemporary Waray literature. The diversity in form and subject matter, as well as languages used; the wide range and unique employment of metaphors and symbols; the cultural practices evoked and colorful responses to the times which these works in Tinalunay make available, should offer more than a glimpse into the soul of this region. More than just a legacy for and of the Waray people, this book is a significant contribution to our country’s literature, and a gift to those who study it.
—Daryll Jane S. Delgado
Award-winning fictionist and poet in Waray

500 pages

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

MERLIE M. ALUNAN spent time in different places in the Visayas and Mindanao at different times in her life and thus acquired a level of fluency in the major Visayan languages. She finished the Bachelor’s Degree in Education at the University of the Visayas, major in English and her Master’s Degree at Silliman University as a Fellow for Literature. She taught in several schools all over the Visayas: Silliman University itself as part of her Fellowship deal; Divine Word College in Tagbilaran City (now Holy Name University); and finally as faculty of UPV Tacloban College where she initiated creative writing workshops and intensified her advocacy to encourage the young to write in the native language. While doing her workshops with its specific advocacy, she became sharply aware of the lack of models for the aspiring Waray writer and the literal absence of any reading materials in the language. She has since published a collection of oral narratives entitled Susumaton issued by Ateneo de Manila University Press. Tinalunay joins the sparse titles on Waray literature authored by Fr. Raymond Quetchenbach, SVD, Gregorio Luangco, and Victor Sugbo. Aside from the works of young writers, she would like to see the publication of pioneers of Waray writing.