Nick Joaquín and the Premio Zóbel

Pepe Alas

May 4

National Artist Nick Joaquín, considered as our country's best writer in the English language, received numerous writing awards during his lifetime. However, he argued that all these award-giving bodies for Filipino writers in English —including today's famous Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards of which he himself had won a couple of medals— pale in comparison to the Premio Zóbel, the country's oldest literary award for those who write in Spanish. Wrote Joaquín:

"...there is no other literary prize in the country that enjoys the aura, the distinction, the glory of Premio Zóbel. Filipino writers who write in English and have won the Commonwealth Award, the Palanca or Stonehill do not realize the apotheosis of the awardee. To win a prize is simply news. To win the Premio Zóbel is an event."

This is because Joaquín, a native Spanish speaker, perfectly understood the weight, the significance, the irreplaceable value of the language which the Premio Zóbel sought to uphold and promote. He understood that the cultural background which the Spanish language had brought with it proved to be a rich wellspring of ideas for the Filipino writer, more than what English could have possibly provided. He understood the national identity of the language which served as the engine of the Premio Zóbel.

There is no bias here; Joaquín never published anything in Spanish. He was offered the Premio Zóbel, but he declined it.

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