Francisco Arcellana (September 6, 1916-August 1, 2002), fictionist, poet, essayist, critic, journalist and teacher, was one of the most important progenitors of the modern Filipino short story in English. He pioneered the development of the short story as a lyrical prose-poetic form. Arcellana kept alive the experimental tradition in fiction and was most daring in exploring new literary forms to express the sensibility of the Filipino people. His books include Selected Stories (1962), Poetry and Politics: The State of Original Writing in English in the Philippines Today (1977) and The Francisco Arcellana Sampler (1990). He was declared National Artist in 1990. (Agung, March-June 2015)
