Bienvenido N. Santos
Bienvenido N. Santos was a prominent Filipino-American novelist and short story writer, born in Tondo, Manila, in 1911. He pursued higher education in the Philippines, earning a bachelor's degree in education before traveling to the United States on a scholarship, where he obtained a master's degree in English. His literary career began amidst the backdrop of World War II, which forced him into exile and shaped much of his writing, particularly in his first collection, *You Lovely People* (1955). Santos contributed significantly to the literary landscape, producing works that reflect the complexities of postcolonial identity and the Filipino American experience, including novels such as *Villa Magdalena* (1965) and *Scent of Apples* (1979), the latter winning the American Book Award.
Throughout his career, he held various academic positions, including a professorship and presidency at Legazpi College, and he participated in prestigious writers' workshops. Santos's writing not only addressed themes of alienation and cultural identity but also provided a voice for the Filipino diaspora. His recognition includes multiple awards like the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature and the Philippine Republic Cultural Heritage Award, underscoring his influence on both Philippine and American literature. Santos's legacy endures as an important figure in understanding the cultural nuances of Filipino literature and identity.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Bienvenido N. Santos
Philippine-born novelist, poet, and writer
- Pronunciation: BEE-ehn-veh-NEE-doh NEW-kee SAN-tohs
- Born: March 22, 1911
- Birthplace: Manila, Philippines
- Died: January 7, 1996
- Place of death: Legazpi, Philippines
The author of several novels and numerous short stories and poems, Santos is best known for works such as the American Book Award–winning collection Scent of Apples. His writings chronicle the development of Filipino American identity amid the political upheaval of the twentieth century.
Area of achievement: Literature
Early Life
Bienvenido Nuqui Santos was born and raised in Tondo, a low-income district in Manila, Philippines, then a US territory. He received a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of the Philippines in 1932 and taught school while also writing short stories. Santos traveled to the United States on a student scholarship in 1941 and earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Illinois, also studying at Columbia University.
Life’s Work
Santos’s plans to return to the Philippines after completing his studies were thwarted by World War II, and he instead took a position in the Washington, DC, office of the Philippine government. His first collection of short stories, You Lovely People (1955), draws heavily on this period of exile and alienation. After the war, Santos attended Harvard University and then returned to the Philippines, becoming a professor at Legazpi College and later its president (1957–58). He became a fellow of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1958. In the 1960s, Santos was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and completed the novel Villa Magdalena (1965) and the collections Brother, My Brother (1960) and The Day the Dancers Came (1967).
During the regime of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Santos went into exile in the United States, where he became a citizen and served as distinguished writer in residence at Wichita State University for nearly a decade. He began to split his time between the United States and the Philippines in the 1980s. In 1981, his short fiction collection Scent of Apples (1979) won the American Book Award. He went on to publish the novels The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like Robert Taylor (1983) and What the Hell for You Left Your Heart in San Francisco (1987), among other works.
Significance
Santos’s work spans the postcolonial decades of the twentieth century, from Philippine independence through the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, and gives voice to the emerging Filipino American community. In recognition of his accomplishments in the field of literature, Santos was awarded several honorary doctorates and received numerous awards, including four Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature and the Philippine Republic Cultural Heritage Award.
Bibliography
Cruz, Isagani R. The Lovely Bienvenido N. Santos. Quezon: U of the Philippines P, 2005. Print. Includes two biographical plays that feature quotes from Santos’s works as well as from his unpublished manuscripts, letters, and other primary sources.
Espiritu, Augusto Fauni. “Fidelity and Shame: Bienvenido Santos.” Five Faces of Exile: The Nation and Filipino American Intellectuals. Stanford: Stanford UP, 2005. Print. Discusses Santos’s relationship with the United States and the Philippines, his experiences with colonialism, and his identity as an expatriate.
Palomar, Al Camus. “World Literature in Review: Philippines.” World Literature Today 67.2 (1993): 455. Print. Provides a portrait of Santos based on the autobiographical component of his poetry collection The Wounded Stag (1956).