LEMLUNAY: PAGUNITA SA GUNITA

SKU: CB-VSA-005

ISBN: CBVSA005

Published: 2023 (by Virgilio S. Almario and Marne Kilates for the English Translation)

156 pages | 1000 grams | 11.4 x 8.9 x 0.6 inches

The perspective presented by National Artist Almario in this book offers a unique and refreshing take on our past. Unlike conventional historical narratives, NA Almario emphasizes the role of culture in shaping our identity and understanding of ourselves. Each poem portrays art and culture as expressions of our national soul. Marne Kilates deserves commendation for translating and enhancing the impact of NA Almario’s poetry.

I support NA Almario’s book as it aligns with my own belief in the significance of our native culture. It is high time we give it the attention, appreciation, and love it rightfully deserves. Almario’s commitment to account for our historical narratives and his unwavering dedication to our national culture and the nation itself is commendable. I sincerely urge our readers to join us in recognizing the importance of the ideas advocated in this book.

---Senator Loren Legarda

Lemlunay, as we now know, should be celebratory and full of smiles. But the voice or voices in many of these poems is/are elegiac. The visual reality apparently would give us – eye-witness reader and listener-over-the-shoulder–no quarter from the growing realization that, either by slow on-coming tide or the rush of tsunami, sorrow is at hand. On the other hand, as the poet sings the Songs of the Ordinary (from the contemplation of art to the flying of the child’s kite) and holds in front of himself the Mirror of History, Lemlunay demands the re-visioning and the re-education of the Filipino- under centuries of dross of post-colonial oppression and no little deceit- into a state of real self-pride, national self-respect, and true human dignity.

---Marne Kilates