Zoilo Mercado Galang (July 27, 1895 – 1959) was a

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 ...

writer from Pampanga. He is credited as one of the pioneering Filipino writers who worked with the English language. He is the

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

of the first

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

written in the English language, '' A Child of Sorrow'', published in 1921.Elmer A. Ordoñez's Book Review, The Sunday Times/The Manila Times, March 14, 2004
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Early life and education

Galang was born on July 27, 1895 in the town of

Bacolor Bacolor, officially the Municipality of Bacolor ( pam, Balen ning Bakúlud; tgl, Bayan ng Bacolor), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 48,066 people. Bacolor ...

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac ...

to Santiago Galang and Vicenta Mercado during the later years of the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines and was influenced by both Spanish and American culture in his youth. He finished studies at the

Pampanga High School Pampanga National High School (also known as Pampanga High School, or PHS) is a high school in San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines. It was formerly known as Jose Abad Santos High School. The current main building was completed in 1935, follows S ...

. He initially worked as a stenographer working in both Spanish and English languages. Galang also pursued studies to pursue a career as a lawyer but there are no records to indicate if he did finish his law studies.

Career

He became known for his publications written in English. He is known for being responsible for the first publication of several Philippine works in English: *''A Child of Sorrow'' (1921) – first Philippine novel in English *''Tales of the Philippines'' (1921) – first volume of Philippine legends and folk tales written in English *''Life and Success'' (1921) – first volume of Philippine essays in English *The Box of Ashes and Other Stories (1924) – first volume of Philippine short stories in English His essays were also published in ''The Best Thing in the World'' and ''Master of Destiny'' (both published in 1924): He also worked to get 20 volumes of encyclopedia featuring Philippine-related subjects in 1957. The publication of such collection was hindered due to its manuscript being burned during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

yet they were successfully able to publish the 3rd edition after the fires. Copies of the volumes are found throughout the world in major libraries to this day. He also worked as a writer of history publications for use of elementary students such as ''Leaders of the Philippines'' (1932), ''Important Characters in Philippine History'' (1939), ''Mario and Minda'' (1940), ''Hero of Tirad Pass and Others'' (1949), ''Mr. Perez, Teacher'' (1950) at''Home, School and Community'' (1950).

References

Kapampangan people Filipino novelists Writers from Pampanga Filipino male writers English-language writers from the Philippines Filipino essayists 20th-century Filipino historians 1895 births 1959 deaths {{Philippines-writer-stub