Philippines: PEN mourns the passing of poet and PEN Philippines member, Santiago B. Villafania
Santiago chairing session at PEN International Workshop in Manila in 2023. Courtesy of Olha Mukha
The PEN community mourns the sudden passing of poet, translator and PEN member, Santiago B. Villafania.
26 February 2024: In the early morning of 26th February Santiago B. Villafania (known by many as Santi) passed away at Nazareth General Hospital in the Philippines. Santi was a committed member of PEN Philippines and PEN International’s Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee and was deeply respected across the PEN community for his tireless work to promote the use of indigenous languages in literature.
Following the news of Santi’s passing, PEN Philippines has published a statement paying respects to their dear friend and colleague:
Urtzi Urrutikoetxea, Chair of PEN International’s Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee (TLRC), said:
‘Santiago Villafania has been one of the pillars of the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee of PEN International… His devotion to literature, his love for indigenous peoples and languages, starting with his native Pangasinan language, and his great sense of humour will be deeply missed… Thank you, Santi. Salamat’.
In recognition of Santi as one of the pillars of the TLRC, Urtzi has shared a video of Santi reciting a poem in his native Pangasinan language which he submitted for the 1st edition of the TLRC’s annual poetry marathon to mark International Mother Language Day:
In memoriam:
Santi lived as a poet, editor and translator. He is the author of six poetry collections, including As I Tango (2016), Ghazalia: Maralus ya Ayat (2013), and Balikas na Caboloan (2005) which was published by the Philippine government’s National Commission for the Culture and the Arts.
As a bilingual poet, writing in both English and Pangasinan, Santi was a champion in the use of indigenous languages and is well-known for his work to revive Pangasinan as a literary language, with his second book Malagilion (2007), winning the Gawad Komisyon (Tamayo Poetry Prize) for Pangasinan poetry and being placed as a finalist in the Philippines’ 2007 National Book Award for Best Book of Poetry. His poetry has been translated into several languages and has appeared in international print and online publications.