Zoilo Mercado Galang (July 27, 1895 – 1959) was a Filipino writer from Pampanga. He is credited as one of the pioneering Filipino writers who worked with the English language. He is the

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

of the first

Philippine The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

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written in the English language, '' A Child of Sorrow'', published in 1921.Elmer A. Ordoñez's Book Review, The Sunday Times/The Manila Times, March 14, 2004
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Early life and education

Galang was born on July 27, 1895, in the town of Bacolor,

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...

to Santiago Galang and Vicenta Mercado during the later years of the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines and was influenced by both Spanish and American culture in his youth. He finished studies at the Pampanga High School. He initially worked as a stenographer working in both Spanish and English languages. Galang also pursued studies to pursue a career as a lawyer but there are no records to indicate if he did finish his law studies.

Career

He became known for his publications written in English. He is known for being responsible for the first publication of several Philippine works in English: *''A Child of Sorrow'' (1921) – first Philippine novel in English *''Tales of the Philippines'' (1921) – first volume of Philippine legends and folk tales written in English *''Life and Success'' (1921) – first volume of Philippine essays in English *The Box of Ashes and Other Stories (1924) – first volume of Philippine short stories in English His essays were also published in ''The Best Thing in the World'' and ''Master of Destiny'' (both published in 1924): He also worked to get 20 volumes of encyclopedia featuring Philippine-related subjects in 1957. The publication of such collection was hindered due to its manuscript being burned during

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yet they were successfully able to publish the 3rd edition after the fires. Copies of the volumes are found throughout the world in major libraries to this day. He also worked as a writer of history publications for use of elementary students such as ''Leaders of the Philippines'' (1932), ''Important Characters in Philippine History'' (1939), ''Mario and Minda'' (1940), ''Hero of Tirad Pass and Others'' (1949), ''Mr. Perez, Teacher'' (1950) and ''Home, School and Community'' (1950).

References

Kapampangan people Filipino novelists Writers from Pampanga Filipino male writers English-language writers from the Philippines Filipino essayists 20th-century Filipino historians 1895 births 1959 deaths {{Philippines-writer-stub