MikeLigalig.com

Multi-awarded writer-poetess-educator Dr. Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) passed away Thursday evening, November 4, UST officials confirmed Friday.

Dimalanta was born June 16, 1934 in San Juan City. She was an editor, poet, author, and teacher. Interment will be announced later.

She has many protégés such as Prof. Jose Wendell Capili, Prof. Lito Zulueta, Recah Trinidad, Arnold Azurin, Cirilo Bautista, Albert B. Casuga, Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo, Eric Gamalinda, Jose Neil Garcia, Mike Coroza, and Lourd de Veyra.

Dimalanta was a full professor of English and has held the position of Dean of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Faculty of Arts and Letters.

She has been a panelist in the UST, UP, Dumaguete and Iligan writers' workshops and a judge in prominent literary award-giving bodies such as the Manila Critics' Circle, Free Press, and Palanca.

Dimalanta has several works anthologized in local and foreign journals; has published three books: Anthology of Philippine Contemporary Literature, Readings from Contemporary English and American Literature, and The Philippine Poetic; and a collection of poems, Montage, which won the Iowa State University best poetry award(1969), and first prize in the Palanca Memorial awards for literature (1974).

She was a founding member of the Manila Critics Circle and an honorary fellow of the Philippine Literary Arts Council. In 1999, she founded the UST Center for Creative Writing and Studies and presently serves as its dynamic director.

Dimalanta believes that "The older you become and the more mature your art becomes, the more you realize that you have your own identity."

Dimalanta also wrote books and critical reviews, handled literature and creative writing classes at the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School, Faculty of Arts and Letters, and De La Salle College. She also acquired a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of Santo Tomas.

In 2002, UST published Dimalanta's verse drama, "Lorenzo Ruiz, Escribano: A Play in Two Acts", with a Filipino translation by Florentino H. Hornedo and Michael M. Coroza.

It was premiered on 22-24 February 1994 at UST in a production directed by Isagani R. Cruz. (PNA)

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