joelmtoledo

Joel M. Toledo holds a Masters degree in English Studies (Poetry) from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, where he likewise finished two undergraduate degrees (Journalism and Creative Writing). He has authored three books of poetry: Chiaroscuro (UST Press, 2008), The Long Lost Startle (UP Press, 2009), and Ruins and Reconstructions (Anvil Publishing, 2011). Chiaroscuro was a finalist for the 2008 Philippine National Book Awards. He was the recipient of the 2006 Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Literary Prize and has won several literary awards for his poetry in English, including two Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards, The Philippines Free Press Literary Award, The Meritage Press Poetry Prize in San Francisco, USA, and the Bridport Prize for Poetry in Dorset, United Kingdom. He was a recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation Creative Arts Residency at the Bellagio Center in Italy in March 2011. He has received a grant from the U.S. Department of State for the 2011 International Writing Program (IWP) Fall Residency at the University of Iowa in Iowa, U.S.A. Toledo is the current Literary Editor of the Philippines Free Press Magazine. He teaches Literature at Miriam College.