XI. Who Is Paz Latorena

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Paz Latorana is one of the foremost writers of the first generation of Filipino English writers, both in literary writing and education was a poet, editor, author and teacher. Paz was born in Boac, Marinduque in 1907. She was brought to Manila at a young age and finished her basic schooling; first at St. Scholastica and later at South High School. She attended University of the Philippines in College and took a degree of education. She works as an elementary school teacher in the morning and attends class in the evening. In 1927, she joined some campus writers and formed the U.P Writers Club and contributed a short story, "A Christmas Tale" to the maiden issue of "The Literary Apprentice". Her short story, "The Small Key"won the third place in the same year in Jose Garcia Villa's Roll of the Honor for the year's best short stories. Some of her other stories received similar prizes over the next several years.

In her senior year, she transferred to the University of Sto. Tomas, from which institution she graduated in 1930 and where she subsequently enrolled for graduate studies. Her dissertation entitled “Philippine Literature in English: Old Voices and New” received a grade of sobre saliente, qualifying her for a doctoral degree in 1934. By this time, Latorena had already joined the faculty, earning a reputation as a dynamic teacher. Among her many students were then-aspiring writers Juan Gatbonton, F. Sionil Jose, Nita Umali, Genoveva Edroza Matute and Zeneida Amador. Increasingly involved in academic work, Latorena wrote fewer stories and at longer intervals, publishing her last known story, “Miguel Comes Home”, in 1945. In 1953 while proctoring a final examination, Latorena suffered a cerebral hemorrhage which proved fatal.

Thirty-five of her stories have recently been collected in a single volume: Desire and Other Stories, edited by Eva V. Kalaw (U.S.T., 2000).