Virgilio S. Almario (born March 9, 1944), also known for his penname Rio Alma, is a poet, literary historian and critic as well as a professor, translator, editor, lexicographer and cultural administrator. He revived and reinvented traditional Filipino poetic forms, even as he championed modernist poetics. His first book of poetry, Makinasyon at Ilang Tula, was published in 1967, and it was followed by many more, including Peregrinasyon, the trilogy Doktrinang Anakpawis, Mga Retrato at Rekwerdo and Muli, Sa Kandungan ng Lupa. His poetry was collected in two volumes, Una Kong Milenyum. In these works, his poetic voice soared from the lyrical to the satirical to the epic, from the dramatic to the incantatory, in his often severe examination of the self, and the society. (Agung, March-June 2015)
