Juan S.P. Hidalgo, Jr.

Who is Juan S.P. Hidalgo, Jr.?

Juan S.P. Hidalgo, Jr., is an Ilokano fictionist, poet, editor, translator, and painter. He was former managing editor of Bannawag, a weekly Ilokano magazine. During his 37-year stint as senior literary editor at Bannawag, he guided, encouraged and trained young and old Ilokano writers to produce quality Iloko literary works. He was among the recipients of the first ever Philippine-International Theater Institute-National Commission for Culture and the Arts Award for Culture-Friendly Media Institutions.

Hidalgo was responsible for the founding of GUMIL Filipinas. The top national organization of Iloko writers, GUMIL now boasts of chapters in Guam, Greece, California, and Hawaii.

Considered by his peers as a "prodigy in Ilokano literature," Hidalgo published in 1969 the now classic Iloko anthology, "Bituen ti Rosales ken Dadduma Pay a Sarita", a collection of 20 selected short stories. This book became, as Iloko literary critics and scholars acknowledge, the "official textbook of contemporary Iloko writers" because of its influence on the serious Iloko writer.