Maningning Cruz Miclat (April 15, 1972 – September 29, 2000) was a Filipina poet and painter born in China to Filipino parents. She was known for her Chinese

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

Zen paintings as well as her poetry.

Biography

Miclat was born in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China on April 15, 1972, to

Badjao The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian people, Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are ...

parents who were then based there. She has a younger sister, Banaue, who would later become an aspiring opera singer in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Her family left the Philippines in 1969 during

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

' regime and moved to China in 1971. In 1986, she and her family returned to the Philippines after the

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

that saw the removal of Marcos from power.Luce, Jim. ''The Huffington Post'', March 31, 2009 As a result of her being born in China she became fluent in three languages, namely

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

, and English. In 1987, she published her first book of poems, ''Wo De Shi'' (), in Mandarin Chinese, and held her first solo show of traditional

Chinese painting Chinese painting () is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as ''guó huà'' (), meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western style ...

, ''Maningning: An Exhibit of Chinese Brush Works''. She had four more solo shows in her lifetime. Miclat became a Fellow of the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

National Writers Workshop in 1990 and won an award for a Filipino play there. She also became a Fellow of the

Silliman National Writers Workshop The Silliman University National Writers Workshop (SUNWW) is an annual creative writing workshop that was established in 1962 by the late Edilberto K. Tiempo and National Artist for Literature Edith L. Tiempo of Silliman University. The SUNWW is th ...

. In 1992, she won the Art Association of the Philippines Grand Prize for a painting entitled ''Trouble in Paradise,'' and her second book of poetry, ''Voice from the Underworld'', was a finalist in the country's 2001

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

. Miclat attended the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

to pursue a master's degree in fine arts and then taught at the

Far Eastern University Far Eastern University (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Pamantasan ng Malayong Silanganan''), also referred to by its acronym FEU, is a Private university, private non-sectarian Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Manila, Philippines ...

Death and legacy

In 2000, at the age of 28, she jumped from the seventh floor of the Education Hall Building of Far Eastern University in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

where she was teaching at the time. In 2001, the Maningning Foundation was founded in her memory to celebrate the talents of young artists both in the visual and written arts.

Poetry and publications

*''Maningning Miclat Poems'' *''Wo De Shi'' (My Poems) *''Voice from the Underworld'' (1987)

References

External links

Maningning Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miclat, Maningning 1972 births 2000 deaths Filipino women poets Filipino women painters Suicides by jumping in the Philippines 20th-century Filipino poets 20th-century Filipino painters 20th-century women artists Filipino expatriates in China 20th-century Filipino women writers Painters who died by suicide 2000 suicides