Ricardo de Ungria

Ricardo de Ungria
Born1951 (age 74–75)
OccupationPoet, professor
EducationDe La Salle University
Washington University in St. Louis

Ricardo "Ricky" Monreal De Ungria (born 1951) is a Filipino poet.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

De Ungria was born in 1951 and raised in Paco, Manila.[2][4] He did spoken word poetry and performed in a rock band in the 1970s.[1] He graduated with a Bachelor's degree cum laude in Literature from the De La Salle University. In 1990, while on a Fulbright Scholarship in the United States, he was awarded an MFA in creative writing from Washington University in St. Louis.[5][6][7] He received writing residency fellowships at the Hawthornden Castle International Retreat for Writers in 1991 and the Bellagio Study of Conference Center in 1993.[5][8][9]

Career

In 1999, he moved to Davao City to become the first dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences of the newly established University of the Philippines Mindanao campus.[10][5] In the same year, he founded the Davao Writers Guild, which publishes the works of its members; holds poetry readings;[5][11] and hosts the Davao Writing Workshops, which started in 2005. The Guild has been publishing Cebuano, Filipino, Davaoeño, Karay-a, and English works in the literary journal Dagmay since 2001.[5][11] In 2006, they began publishing a monthly literary supplement in SunStar Davao.[11] While serving as Chancellor of UP Mindanao (2001-2007),[12][5] he also organized the Davao Colleges and Universities Network (DACUN) in 2001 and the Mindanao Studies Consortium Foundation, Inc. (MSCFI) in 2003, both being a consortium of universities in the Davao and Mindanao regions, respectively. In 2004, he also organized the Mindanao Science and Technology Park Consortium Foundation, Inc. that was a consortium of academic institutions and government agencies in the Mintal area of Davao. He had retired from formally teaching creative writing and literature at U.P. Mindanao by 2018.[1]

From 2007 to 2010, de Ungria served as Festival Director of Philippine International Arts Festivals.[7] Around this time, he also sat on the board of judges for the Palanca Awards and chaired the Mindanao Science and Technology Park Consortium.[13] He was a founding member of Philippine Literary Arts Council (PLAC) in 1981,[7][5][14][13] and a member of the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL).[7] He headed the Committee on Literary Arts at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), where he became a Commissioner for the Arts in 2009.[15][7][5][9][16] In 2015 and 2016, he served as director-in-residence of Silliman University's National Writers Workshop.[9][5][17] For many years, he was a fellow of the University of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing in UP Diliman.[6] He has served as a panelist in various writing workshops, including the UP Diliman, Silliman University, Davao Writers Guild, and the Ateneo de Davao Writers workshops.[18] For his achievements in literature and writing, he was awarded the Gawad Balagtas by the UMPIL in 1999[19] and the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan (Literature) by the City of Manila in 2007. He was also UP Artist 1 from 2009 to 2011 and 2012 to the present time and the recipient of nine National Book Awards as of 2025.[10]

Selected works

Poetry

  • R+A+D+I+O (1986)
  • Decimal Places (1991), ISBN 9789712701030
  • Voideville: Selected Poems, 1974–79 (1991), ISBN 9789718577851
  • Nudes: Poems (1994), ISBN 9789712703324
  • Body English (1996), ISBN 9789715421034
  • Waking Ice: Poems (2000), ISBN 9789712709913
  • Pidgin Levitations (2004), ISBN 9789715424110
  • m'mry wire (2013), ISBN 9789715067089

Anthology (as editor)

  • Luna Caledonia: Five Filipino Writers in Hawthornden Castle (1992), ISBN 9789718872000
  • Passionate Patience: Ten Filipino Poets on the Writing of Their Poems (1995), ISBN 9712704297 and 9789712704284
  • Catfish Arriving in Little Schools (1996), ISBN 9789712705106
  • The Likhaan Book of Poetry and Fiction 1996 (1997), ISBN 9789715421997
  • The Likhaan Book of Poetry and Fiction 1999 (2001) with Jose Dalisay Jr., ISBN 9789715423328
  • The Likhaan Anthology of Philippine Literature in English from 1900 to the Present (2002) with Gémino Abad, ISBN 9715422144
  • Fallen Cradle: Parents on the loss of a child (2006) with Agnes Prieto, ISBN 9789712717321
  • Davao Harvest 2 (2008) with Tita Lacambra-Ayala, ISBN 9711006553
  • The Best of Dagmay (2007–2009) (2010), ISBN 9718142231
  • Tala Mundi: The Collected Poems of Tita Agcaoili Lacambra Ayala (2011), ISBN 9789715065924
  • Habagatanon: Conversations with Six Davao Writers (2015), ISBN 9789715427746
  • Voices on the Waters: Conversations with Five Mindanao Writers (2018), ISBN 9789715508650
  • Songs Sprung from Native Soils (2019), ISBN 9789719094319
  • Mindanao Harvest 4: A 21st Century Literary Anthology (2022) with Jaime An Lim and Christine F. Godinez-Ortega, ISBN 9789716780628
  • Kalandrakas Part 1, 1890-1945: Stories and Storytellers of/on Regions in Mindanao, 1890-1990 (2022), ISBN 9786214482016
  • Kalandrakas Part 2, 1946-1990: Stories and Storytellers of/on Regions in Mindanao, 1890-1990 (2022), ISBN 9786214481996

Honors and awards

Year Award Work Awarding body Notes Ref
1974 Palanca Awards Second Prize in Poetry Boxes Palanca Memorial Awards Committee Tied for second with Gilbert Luis R. Centina III [20]
1976 Poyms Tch Tch Passwords [20]
1979 Nova Blum [20]
1980 R+A+D+I+O Tied for second with Gémino Abad [20]
1987 Fulbright Scholar Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Earned his MFA at Washington University in St. Louis [9][5]
1988 Academy of American Poets Prize: Honorable Mention Academy of American Poets [13][6][7]
State Street Poetry Contest: Honorable Mention Florida State University [6][7][13]
1989 First Prize Saint Louis Poetry Center Annual Contest [6][7][13]
1990 Palanca Awards First Prize in Poetry Body English and Decimal Places Palanca Memorial Awards Committee [20]
1991 Hawthornden Writing Residency Hawthornden Foundation [5][21][9][22]
1993 Bellagio Writing Residency Rockefeller Foundation Worked on two volumes of poetry, Nudes and Body English [5][8]
1994 National Book Awards: Poetry Nudes: Poems Manila Critics' Circle and National Book Development Board [13][23]
1996 Body English [13][24]
1999 Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas [19]
2000 National Book Awards: Poetry Waking Ice Manila Critics' Circle and National Book Development Board [13]
2005 National Book Awards: Design [13]
2007 Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan (Literature) City of Manila
2012 National Book Awards: Poetry in English Tala Mundi: The Collected Poems of Tita Agcaoili Lacambra Ayala Manila Critics' Circle and National Book Development Board [25]
2013 UP Artist I for Literature University of Philippines [26]
2014 National Book Awards: Poetry in English m’mry wire Manila Critics' Circle and National Book Development Board [27]
2015 International Writers’ Residency Sun Yat-sen University [28]
2016 National Book Awards: Best Anthology in English Habagatanon: Conversations with Six Davao Writers Manila Critics' Circle and National Book Development Board Editor [29]
2018 Southeast Asian Writers Award ASEAN [30][12]
2019 National Book Awards: Best Anthology in English Voices on the Waters: Conversations with Five Mindanao Writers Manila Critics' Circle and National Book Development Board Editor [12][31]
2020 Ani ng Dangal for Literary Arts National Commission for Culture and the Arts [32]
2022 National Book Awards: Best Anthology in English Mindanao Harvest 4 Manila Critics' Circle and National Book Development Board Editor [33]
2023 Kalandrakas: Stories and Storytellers of/on Regions in Mindanao, Parts I and II [34][10]
? CCP Verse-Writing Contest [6][7]
? Philippines Free Press Awards Philippines Free Press [6][7]

Personal life

De Ungria's son Nikos died by suicide in 1998. Several of his subsequent poems focus heavily on this topic.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Ricardo Monreal de Ungria" (PDF). S.E.A. Write Awards. 2019-11-25. p. 62. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  2. ^ a b Poon, Angelia (ed.). "Ricardo De Ungria". The Literary Encyclopedia. Vol. 10.4.3. Philippine Writing and Culture. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
  3. ^ Buhain, Dominador D., ed. (1998). A History of Publishing in the Philippines. p. 116. ISBN 978-9712323249. Contemporary Philippine poetry books were also published by Anvil such as Decimal Places: Poems, a recipient of the National Book Award by Ricardo M. De Ungria"
  4. ^ Bolasco, Maria Karina Africa (2023-03-04). "BOOK REVIEW: A library, an archive, a literary map, a community of storytellers, a history of the islands we from the Center hardly, rarely know, and care about". Minda News. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "De Ungria is 2015 Silliman Nat'l Writers Workshop Director". Silliman University. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "Fellows: Ricardo M. de Ungria". Likhaan. Institute of Creative Writing, University of the Philippines Diliman. August 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Authors: Ricardo M. de Ungria". Panitikan.com.ph. Institute of Creative Writing, University of the Philippines Diliman. 2005. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  8. ^ a b President's Review & Annual Report (PDF) (Report). The Rockefeller Foundation. 1993. p. 107. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Banzon, Isabela (December 2011). "Ricardo de Ungria and Philippine Poetics". Asiatic. 5 (2): 99, 101–103. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  10. ^ a b c "Six Mindanao books win National Book Awards". Davao Today. 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
  11. ^ a b c "Dagmay". Sun.Star Davao. 2018-05-18. p. B1. Retrieved 2026-02-18 – via PressReader.
  12. ^ a b c "Mindanawon writer among S.E.A.Write awardees for 2018". Minda News. 2019-12-08. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Award-winning Pinoy writer-poet joins Sydney Writers' festival". GMA News Online. 2007-05-17. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  14. ^ Cruz, Elfren S. (2018-05-13). "Cirilo F. Bautista: A true man of letters". PhilStar. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
  15. ^ Dalisay, Butch (2010-02-15). "Building the national". PhilStar. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
  16. ^ "Regional Festivals" (PDF). Art Archive 02. Japan Foundation, Manila. October 2019. p. 97. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  17. ^ Yuson, Alfred A. (2016-05-30). "Another summer of words". PhilStar. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
  18. ^ "UP Mindanao (History)". University of the Philippines Mindanao. 8 November 2013 [28 May 2009]. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  19. ^ a b "Editorial Introduction: Contributors" (PDF). Kinaadman. XXXVII: v. Retrieved 2026-02-18 – via Xavier University.
  20. ^ a b c d e "Directory of Palanca Winners". Palanca Awards. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  21. ^ Sarmiento, Maria Carmen. "My month by the lake". Positively Filipino. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  22. ^ Yuson, Alfred A. (2017-10-08). "Be a writer and see the world…". Phil Star. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
  23. ^ Remoto, Danton R. (2012-05-14). "Choice Books of 1995". Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints. 44 (1): 146. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  24. ^ Reaping Laurels: Awards & Achievements (PDF). University of Philippines. 1997. p. 6. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  25. ^ "No winners for ebooks, novels in 31st National Book Awards". GMA News Online. 2012-11-19. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  26. ^ Jordan, Justine (2013-08-09). "6 CMC profs awarded UP Artist titles". Tinig ng Plaridel. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
  27. ^ Yuson, Alfred A. (2014-12-01). "Pepito & Pandy". PhilStar. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
  28. ^ Fan, Dai; Graham, Phfilip; Woerner, Austin; İnal, Nazli; Yanfang, Zheng (2015). "A celebration of the Sun Yat-sen University International Writers' Residency". Sun Yat-sen University School of Foreign Languages. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  29. ^ "Winners of the 35th National Book Awards announced". Business World. 2016-11-17. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  30. ^ Vicencio, Ronarose Mae (2019-12-19). "Filipino authors Bien Lumbera, Ricardo de Ungria, Kristian Cordero awarded Southeast Asian Write prize in Thailand". Good News Pilipinas. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
  31. ^ Cruz, Elfren S. (2019-11-07). "38th National Book Award winners". PhilStar. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  32. ^ San Juan, Ratziel (2020-02-26). "Alden Richards, Judy Ann Santos among 12th Ani ng Dangal award recipients". PhilStar. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
  33. ^ De Vera, Ruel S. "Ateneo Press is publisher of the year at 39th Nat'l Book Awards". Inquirer. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
  34. ^ Gargantiel II, Franco (2023-12-13). "UP faculty and alumni, UP Press, win 41st National Book Awards". University of the Philippines. Retrieved 2026-02-16.
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