Peter Solis Nery is a Filipino poet, fictionist, author, and filmmaker. Writing in
Hiligaynon, he is a
Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature
The Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, popularly known as the Palanca Awards, are a set of literary awards for Philippine writers. Usually referred to as the "Pulitzer Prize of the Philippines", it is the country's highest literary ...
Hall of Fame Awardee, the
Cultural Center of the Philippines
The Cultural Center of the Philippines ( fil, Sentrong Pangkultura ng Pilipinas, or CCP) is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines.Presidential Decree No. ...
(CCP) Literary Grant, and the All-Western Visayas Literary Contest (National Commission for Culture and the Arts) winner.
In 2015, he became the first Filipino author to be invited to the
Sharjah International Book Fair
Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) is an 11-day international book fair held annually in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Its debut edition was launched in 1982 under the guidance and patronage of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al ...
in the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
. Writing in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
, and
Hiligaynon, he has authored at least 20 books, and has written screenplays. He wrote and edited newspapers in
Iloilo City
Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on t ...
before becoming a nurse in the United States.
As an actor, Nery briefly appeared in
Tikoy Aguiluz's film on cybersex, ''www.XXX.com'', of which he was also the assistant director. He has also written, produced, and directed a full-length feature film in Hiligaynon, ''Gugma sa Panahon sang Bakunawa'' (Love in the Time of the Bakunawa), which was a finalist at the 1st Sineng Pambansa National Film Competition of the
Film Development Council of the Philippines
The Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) is the national film agency under the Office of the President of the Philippines responsible for film policies and programs to ensure the economic, cultural and educational development of th ...
. Nery resides in
Reisterstown,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, and continues to write in at least three languages.
Early life and education
Peter Solis Nery was born on January 6, 1969 and raised in the coastal town of
Dumangas,
Iloilo
Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. He is the eldest among five siblings and his parents were both public school teachers. Peter attended primary school at the Dumangas Central Elementary School, completed his secondary education at the Dumangas Polytechnic College (now
Iloilo State College of Fisheries), where he was consistently a first honor student from grade school to high school. He finished his bachelor of science degree in Biology from the
University of the Philippines in the Visayas, where he was named ''Most Outstanding Student'' (1989) and ''Most Outstanding Graduate of 1990''. He also received the ''President’s Award of Merit as Outstanding Student'' in his graduation year.
While at school, Peter honed his talent for writing. Under his editorship, he led the UPV College of Arts and Sciences' official publication, ''Pagbutlak'' (Sunrise) to become the region’s best at the 1989 College Press Awards.
Peter also had attended the
SVD
''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden.
History and profile
The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the ...
Christ the King Mission Seminary in
Quezon City
Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...
where he took an Associate in Philosophy degree in 1992-1993. In 2004, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the West Negros College (now
West Negros University) in
Bacolod,
Negros Occidental
Negros Occidental ( hil, Nakatungdang Negros; tl, Kanlurang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Occidental, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region. ...
.
Writing career
Early works
After the
EDSA Revolution
The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of c ...
of 1986, Peter found himself in a new wave of
Philippine literature
Philippine literature is literature associated with the Philippines from prehistory, through its colonial legacies, and on to the present.
Pre-Hispanic Philippine literature was actually epics passed on from generation to generation, o ...
. There was a resurgence of interest in nationalistic writing. At U.P., Peter was lucky to meet Leoncio Deriada (2001 Palanca Hall of Fame awardee) who encouraged him to write in Hiligaynon. Peter won his first national award in writing for his poetry in Hiligaynon, ''Mga Ambahanon kag Pangamuyo sang Bata nga Nalimtan sa Wayang'' (Songs and Prayers of a Child Forgotten in the Fields)in 1992. For his performance poetry ''Si Eva, si Delilah, si Ruth, kag ang Alput'' (Eva, Delilah, Ruth, and the Prostitute) at the Premio Operiano Italia, he was named ''Hari sang Binalaybay'' (King of Hiligaynon Poetry) in 1993, a title he held until 1998. During his student activism days at the university, he wrote his first book, ''I Flew a Kite for Pepe'', in 1993. He admits, “I cringe now at my boldness to call it poetry then but I always thought that the book had a big heart. I still cry when I read it.” It was followed by his earth song and hymn to the planet, ''First Few Notes of a Green Symphony''.
Transition
While working as a religious missionary in
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
, Peter became more introspective and started his
memoirs. ''The Essential Thoughts of a Purple Cat'' was published by Giraffe Books in 1996; ''Moon River, Butterflies and Me'' in 1997; and ''My Life as a Hermit'' again by Giraffe in 1998. In 1995, he won the NCCA Western Visayas Poetry Competition for his collection ''Umanhon nga Gugma'' (Love of the Rural Folks). Some of the poems were translated, reworked, and included in his provocative collection, ''Rated R'' (Giraffe Books, 1997).
Peter published four titles in 1997: the playful poetry collection ''Shy Evocations of Childhood and Other Poems that Came under Hypnosis'', and ''Rated R'' for Giraffe; ''Shorts'', a collection of
haiku
is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or s ...
-like poems, and the memoir ''Moon River, Butterflies and Me'' for New Day.
He won his first Palanca gold medal for his
magical realist Hiligaynon Short Story ''Lirio'' about a deaf-mute who is a victim of
marital rape.
Furthermore, his first screenplay, ''Buyong'', about a Katipunero revolutionary from
Aklan
Aklan, officially the Province of Aklan ( Akeanon: ''Probinsya it Akean'' k'ɣan hil, Kapuoran sang Aklan; tl, Lalawigan ng Aklan), is a province in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Its capital is Kalibo. The province is situa ...
won third prize in the screenplay category of the Centennial Literary Prize. Later that year, his second screenplay, ''Tayo na sa Buwan'' (Let’s Go to the Moon), won an honorable mention at the Film Development Foundation of the Philippines.
Eventually, he started his own publishing company and produced ''A Loneliness Greater than Love'' (2000), an exploration of
homoerotic
Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...
themes; and ''Fantasia'' (2000), a collection of his Palanca-winning fiction. In 2001, he published ''Rain as Gentle as Tears'', a
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to his 1997 Shorts collection, and ''The Prince of Ngoyngoy'' (The Prince of Sob), a collection of
lyric poems in Hiligaynon that established Peter as the Ilonggo epitome of emotional poetry.
In 2003, he launched ''Pierre: The Magazine of Peter Solis Nery''. It delivered three monthly issues.
When opportunity came in 2006, he went to the United States to work as a nurse. For 100 days in 2005, Peter endeavored to write 100 erotic sonnets in Hiligaynon. He called it ''Kakunyag'' (Thrill). It was launched during the National Arts Month 2006 in Iloilo, and was serialized in a newspaper. He won a Palanca in 2006 for his Hiligaynon psycho-thriller short story, ''Ang Kapid'' (The Twins).
The win provided him another encouragement to persevere in writing in the Hiligaynon. In 2007, Peter won his second Palanca gold for his historical Hiligaynon Short Story ''Candido'', about the ''anting-anting'' (amulet) of the revolutionary Candido Iban.
The following year, he won his third Palanca gold for his play in English, ''The Passion of Jovita Fuentes'', about the tragic love of the first Filipino international
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
diva and first female
National Artist in Music.
Peter also completed translation of his 100 Erotic Sonnets in the Hiligaynon into English in 2008.
Nursing career
Nery enrolled in Nursing as he continued to write for the newspaper. He graduated his
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN, BScN) also known in some countries as a Bachelor of Nursing (BN) or Bachelor of Science (BS) with a Major in Nursing is an academic degree in the science and principles of nursing, granted by an accredited ...
in October 2004. He went to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in February 2006 and became a Registered Nurse in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
in May of the same year and started working as an orthopedic nurse in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
in 2007. In October 2008, he was given various awards for his commitment to his nursing profession including the Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nurses.
Peter Solis Nery Foundation
The Peter Solis Nery Foundation, or The Peter Solis Nery Foundation for Hiligaynon Literature and the Arts, Inc. was established in September 2012 by Nery, right after his induction into the
Palanca Awards
The Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, popularly known as the Palanca Awards, are a set of literary awards for Philippine writers. Usually referred to as the "Pulitzer Prize of the Philippines", it is the country's highest literary ...
Hall of Fame. The foundation, which aims to promote, preserve, and propagate Hiligaynon literature, and Filipino art and culture, through research, publications, productions, education, and cultural dissemination, was incorporated by the ''Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission'' on November 5, 2012.
Following immediately, the foundation created the
Peter’s Prize for Excellence in Hiligaynon Writing that first gave out awards in September 2013.
In May 2014, the foundation sponsored a month-long online Hiligaynon poetry workshop called ''Poem-a-thon with Peter Solis Nery''.
In August 2014, the foundation published five anthology books of ''new Hiligaynon writings'' culled from the Peter’s Prize competitions and the Poem-a-thon workshop.
Personal life
Nery is
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
, and was married to an American man from 2008 until the latter's death when Nery was 46.
Nery is a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
despite the
church’s stand on homosexuality.
Published works
*''I Flew a Kite for Maria'' (New Day Publishers. Quezon City: 1993.)
*''First Few Notes of a Green Symphony'' (Giraffe Books. Quezon City: 1994.)
*''The Essential Thoughts of a Purple Cat'' (Giraffe Books. Quezon City: 1996.)
*''Rated R'' (Giraffe Books. Quezon City: 1997.)
*''Shorts'' (New Day Publishers. Quezon City: 1997.)
*''Moon River, Butterflies, and Me'' (New Day Publishers. Quezon City: 1997.)
*''Shy Evocations of Childhood'' (Giraffe Books. Quezon City: 1997.)
*''My Life as a Hermit'' (Giraffe Books. Quezon City: 1998.)
*''Fireflies for a Yuppie'' (Giraffe Books. Quezon City: 1998.)
*''A Loneliness Greater than Love'' (DreamWings Publishing. Iloilo: 2000.)
*''Fantasia'' (DreamWings Publishing. Iloilo: 2000.)
*''Rain as Gentle as Tears'' (DreamWings Publishing. Iloilo: 2001.)
*''The Prince of Ngoyngoy'' (DreamWings Publishing. Iloilo: 2001.)
*''The Passion of Jovita Fuentes'' (New Day Publishers. Quezon City: 2009.)
*''100 Erotic Sonnets from the Hiligaynon'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2010.)
*''Love in the Time of the Bakunawa'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2012.)
*''If the Shoe Fits: Or, The Five Men Imelda Marcos Meets in Heaven'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2012.)
*''Cory, Full of Grace'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2012)
*''Kakunyag: Erotic Sonnets in Hiligaynon'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2012)
*''Stories in a Mellifluous Language'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2012)
*''Peter’s Prize Very, Very Short Stories in Hiligaynon'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2014)
*''Peter’s Prize Love Poems in Hiligaynon'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2014)
*''Peter’s Prize Children’s Stories and Poems in Hiligaynon'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.:2014)
*''Peter’s Prize The Saddest Love Stories Ever Told in Hiligaynon'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2014)
*''The Poem-a-thon Anthology: Mga Binalaybay sang Mayo 2014'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2014)
*''The Passion of Jovita Fuentes: International edition'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2015)
*''Welcome to Grindr'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2016)
*''Creative Writing: DIWA Senior High School Series'' (Diwa Learning Systems, Inc. Makati City: 2017)
*''At My Father's Wake: 10 Elegies in 3 Languages'' (CreateSpace. U.S.A.: 2019)
*''After: Prose Poems'' (KDP. U.S.A.: 2019)
*''Funny, Sad, and Dangerous'' (KDP. U.S.A.: 2019)
*''Nothing’s Lost: Stories by Peter Solis Nery'' (KDP. U.S.A.: 2020)
*''The (Almost) Fabulous: a self-portrait in bits and pieces'' (KDP. U.S.A.: 2020)
*''7: Palanca Award-winning Stories in Glorious Hiligaynon'' (KDP. U.S.A.: 2020)
*''We Begin in Awe: Close Encounters with the PSN Corpus'' (KDP. U.S.A.: 2020)
Palanca Awards won
*1st prize, Short Story (Hiligaynon) for
Ang Macatol kag ang “Queen of Relief”, 2022
*2nd prize, Poetry for Children (English) for
Picnic, Symphony & Other Concepts a 4th Grader Needs to Know, 2022
*2nd prize, Short Story (Hiligaynon) for
Ang Milagro sa Ermita, 2017
*1st prize, One-Act Play (English) for
Tic-Tac-Toe
Tic-tac-toe (American English), noughts and crosses (Commonwealth English), or Xs and Os (Canadian or Irish English) is a paper-and-pencil game for two players who take turns marking the spaces in a three-by-three grid with ''X'' or ''O''. ...
, 2016
*1st prize, Poetry for Children (English) for
The Rainbow Collection, 2015
*1st prize, One-Act Play (Filipino) for
Gladiolas, 2014
*3rd prize, Full-length Play (Filipino) for
Agimat
''Agimat'', also known as ''Anting'' or folklorized as ''Anting-anting'', is a Filipino word for "amulet" or "charm"."Tagalog-English Dictionary by Leo James English, Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Manila, distributed by National Book ...
, 2014
*3rd prize, Poetry for Children (English) for
Those Colorful Parts, 2014
*1st prize, Short Story (Hiligaynon) for
Si Padre Olan kag ang Dios, 2013
*Hall of Fame Award, 2012
*1st prize, Poetry for Children (English) for
Punctuation
Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. An ...
, 2012
*2nd prize, Poetry for Children (Filipino) for
Sa Mundo ng mga Kulisap, 2012
*1st prize, Short Story (Hiligaynon) for
Donato Bugtot, 2011
*2nd prize, Full-length Play (English) for
If the Shoe Fits: Or, The Five Men Imelda Marcos Meets in Heaven, 2011
*2nd prize, Poetry for Children (English) for
The Shape of Happiness & Other Poems, 2011
*3rd place, One-Act Play (English) for
The Wide Ionian Sea, 2010
*1st prize, Full-length Play (English) for
The Passion of Jovita Fuentes, 2008
*1st prize, Short Story (Hiligaynon) for
Candido
Candido is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
* Candido Amantini (1914–1992), Italian Roman Catholic priest
* Candido Camero known simply as "Candido" (1921-2020), Cuban percussionist
* Candido Jacu ...
, 2007
*2nd prize, Short Story (Hiligaynon) for
Ang Kapid, 2006
*3rd prize, Short Story (Hiligaynon) for
Ang Pangayaw,
2000
*1st prize, Short Story (Hiligaynon) for
Lirio,
1998
References
External links
*
Filipino Writer Website: Peter Solis-NeryNational Commission on Culture and the Arts -LiteraturePanitikan Online
Ateneo Kritikultura
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nery, Peter Solis
1969 births
Living people
20th-century Filipino poets
20th-century short story writers
21st-century Filipino poets
21st-century short story writers
English-language writers from the Philippines
Filipino children's writers
Filipino dramatists and playwrights
Filipino male film actors
Filipino male poets
Filipino male short story writers
Filipino short story writers
Filipino Roman Catholics
Filipino writers of bilingual works
Hiligaynon people
LGBT Roman Catholics
Palanca Award recipients
Roman Catholic writers
Tagalog-language writers
University of the Philippines Visayas alumni
Writers from Iloilo
Writers from Los Angeles
Visayan people
20th-century male writers
21st-century male writers
People from Iloilo