By: Garcia, Puig, Samelin, Salmo, Tanedo and Tuibeo
“I write because I want to explore the things that have been ignored.” –
This principle makes Dr. Soledad S. Reyes different from other writers, critics, and editors.
Dr. Soledad Sarmiento Reyes was born on March 5, 1946. At a young age, she dreamt of becoming a teacher. To further pursue her dreams, young
Looking back on her college years, Dr. Sol Reyes was exposed to a lot of literary works and most of them were western works which she finds very interesting. She enjoyed classical works by Homer, Dante (Alighieri), and Shakespeare. When she was still in high school, she was already interested in reading old novels such as the Harvard Classics (a 51-volume anthology of classical works) although she knew at that time; she didn’t fully understand that novel in particular. Furthermore, she would opt to read novels written by famous English writers even though they were not required by their high school teachers. These are to name but a few of the instances illustrating how Dr. Sol Reyes has been hooked in reading and reading unceasingly.
She’s an example of a Filipino writer who doesn’t just take life sitting down but living out each day fulfilling her dreams by means of writing. Her college days consist of reading, writing, teaching and criticizing. Back then, she had to write and submit papers to her professors.
Unevidently it may seem, she speaks with a distinct aura and a certain passion in her voice. Nevertheless, Dr. Soledad S. Reyes fondly shared the people and things that motivated her to become the person she is at the present. “I read a lot,” uttered Dr. Sol. “There was a paper I had to write for Ms. Reggie Garcia. It was my attempt to understand the works of Quijano de Manila who is Nick Joaquin. So, I wrote a paper on his essays in the
The award-winning essayist and critic Dr. Sol Reyes has published over a hundred literary works on popular culture and literature. She received numerous recognitions and awards in her entire career as a writer, critic, and editor. Some of her awards are Manila Critic’s Circles Awards for Outstanding Achievements in Theory and Criticism (1984, 1991, 1993) and Writer’s
Dr. Reyes has done lots of novels, books, and essays in her entire career. Among all her works, what she personally like very much is the biography of a marginalized woman writer, Rosario de Guzman Lingat. “This is a literary biography of a woman who led a very difficult life,” she said. “Then I contextualized the work that she did against her own biography: the courtship, the marriage, the children, the betrayal, the separation which are reflected, I think, and mirrored in the variety of works that she wrote. It is very contemporary so that is a favourite of mine because there were echoes of my own family life in the life of this woman,” Dr. Reyes fondly elaborated.
“The shock of realizing that very few people are interested in Philippine literature and comics... They have difficulties on working on our own in a colonial context wherein people who is down on their own language and their own culture, it is very difficult to go against the tide.” Working on Philippine literature and text back in the 1930’s and 1940’s was really very difficult for her because there were few books written by Filipino authors. When she wanted to read a particular work, she had to locate for it in national libraries, in the University of the
“Ang kelangan readers eh, Readers to appreciate what our writers are writing.” This line summarizes her perspective on Philippine Literature’s status today. She even stated that people especially the Y-generation would rather patronize and read foreign works such as Twilight, The Dawn, Harry Potter, etc. rather than to consume and read our own. The colonial influence affects the interests of the people .She has been going against the tide for forty years trying to scribble pieces that will embody love for one’s culture, pride and nationality.
Her college years in Miriam served as her preparation to her fulfilled career in the world of Philippine literature today. Those years were her first tentative steps in moulding her mind. She even recalls that the presence of the nuns during her college years who were also teachers. “They [nuns] were very good teachers,” Dr. Reyes shared. Her college years in Miriam expanded her world. Her first formal course in Philippine literature was under Ms. Reggie Garcia. This shaped the trajectory which she eventually followed. Her Miriam education did several things for her, it opened her eyes to the fact that the world is much bigger and that there is a still a lot more to discover, much more to learn.
Dr. Soledad S. Reyes’ advice to everyone especially to the aspiring writers is to, “I think they have to read a lot. You have to read, read, read and write, write, write,” she emphasized. “You cannot write without knowing. And you have to develop your craft of writing. You have to be very careful with words you use, the phrases, the style. Your work should reflect your deep insights into facets of our experience both personal and social. You can write about the death of your father and about the poverty in Sapang Palay. There’s got to be fusion of the experiences which are raw and the experiences must be process through the craft of writing. Hindi mo makukuha yan kung tamad. You have to have discipline and must strive to improve the way you use language and the way you view reality,” added Dr. Sol.
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