Author photo: Teach for the Philippines.

Ramón C. Sunico is an internationally published poet, book publisher, teacher, editor, writer, book designer, and the author of several books, including the acclaimed poetry books The Secret of Graphite: Poems in Two Tongues and Bruise: A Two Tongue Job. His poems have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Manoa (from where was shortlisted for a Pushcart Prize) and This Same Sky, an ALA notable book by Four Winds Press, a Macmillan imprint. A National Fellow for Poetry of the University of the Philippines Creative Writing Center, he is the recipient of the Gawad Alagad ni Balagtas for poetry (the Writers Union of the Philippines), the Fr Henry Lee Irwin Chair in Creative Writing (Ateneo de Manila) and other important prizes like the Philippines Free Press Literary Awards, the Carlos Palanca Memorial Literary Awards, the Anvil Award for Coffeetable Book Text and Design and National Book Awards as author, editor, and/or designer.

He was manager of Cacho Publishing House, where he pioneered in the use of desktop publishing in the design of Philippine books and the publication of bilingual books for children (now common practice). He was the first Filipino moderator of an internet listserv (mailing list) on Philippine culture. As a member of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People, he conceptualized the National Children’s Book Awards and formulated the first draft of its rules. He now teaches at Ateneo’s School of Humanities (literature, philosophy, humanities), the Ateneo Center for Journalism (creative writing online) and Beacon Academy (Literature, Gr 12).