The Best Filipino Writers Of All Time

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Love to read? Many of us do. Great writers can take us into realms that we have never seen in real life. Filipino authors have also contributed greatly to the world’s greatest literature. They have truly created some of the most magical works of literature.

Here are some of the best Filipino authors of all time:


Jessica Hagedorn

This female author is namely known for her novel Dogeaters which came out in 1990. She was born and she grew up in the Philippines but then she moved to San Francisco as a teenager. Her book won the American Book Award and also almost won the National Book Award.  Her heritage is largely a mix between Spanish, Philippino, French, Irish and Chinese. This book shows that there are many layers of Filipino people and society as well as that there is a huge American influence on the entertainment market. She also writes poetry and plays.

Her play, Mango Tango was created and produced in the 1978 when she moved to New York where she currently resides with her daughters.


Nick Joaquin

Nick Joaquin won the National Artist Award For Literature and he is probably one of the most esteemed writers in Philippines. He came from an educated family and his first written work was published when he was only 17. Then he won a scholarship that took him to Hong Kong. When he returned to Manilla he worked as a journalist for many years, sharing his intellectual work with the country and rising the standards of journalism. When he returned to writing intellectual work, he wrote a book called The Woman With Two Navels which became essential reading in Philippines. He also wrote a lot of short stories which are interesting and more approachable to the newcomers.


F. Sionil Jose

“This writer reveals a lot about the social justice and his books have been translated into 22 languages. The Rosales Saga is a a five-part book that follows a family and how their life changes over 100 years. His other books are enlightening because they show the world the life in Philippines, especially the provincial parts. He was an anti-elitist and this made him quite unpopular in the past but he later received high acclaim and he became internationally popular.”, says Andy Sachs, a regular contributor to Draftbeyond and Writinity.



Luis Francia

Luis Francia is an award-winning author who lived in New York for many years but he was still under a strong impression of his life and upbringing in Philippines which continued to influence his work and his stories. He was a poet, an author and a teacher since he went to New  York after finishing college. There he wrote the Village Voice newspaper and Eye Of The Fish, his memoir which won many awards.

Jose Rizal

“This is a Philippines’ national hero and a writer as well as poet and essay writer. His novels Noli me Tangere or El Filibusterismo revealed the injustice of colonization and praised the Philippines in its most organic state. These novels paint a great picture of the culture, people, history and how it all reflects today,” says Isabelle Fidel, an author at Researchpapersuk and Last Minute Writing.

Unfortunately, Jose Rizal was executed when he was 35 for these books which were also banned but he also started a revolution that created a way for Philippines to have their independence. However, his books and poems are more than just history, they are also literary masterpieces that influenced writers across the globe and especially Filipino writers.

There are many great Filipino authors out there, some old and some still creating great work. These have been just some of the greatest and the most popular authors from Philippines

Martina Sanchez works as an entrepreneur and a content marketing specialist with Lucky Assignments (https://luckyassignments.com/) and Gum Essays (https://gumessays.com/). She loves writing and contributing to her blog where she talks about digital marketing, SEO tips and tricks etc.