Lilia Quindoza Santiago

Lilia Quindoza Santiago (February 5, 1949 – February 15, 2021) was a writer and academic in the Philippines. She was named Makata ng Taon, "Poet of the Year," in 1989, and wrote the prize-winning novel Ang Kaulayaw ng Agila. Her academic work focused on languages of the Philippines as well as gender and sexuality studies, and her scholarly publications included the seminal 2002 anthology Sa Ngalan ng Ina (In the Name of the Mother): 100 Years of Philippine Feminist Poetry, 1889-1989.

Early life and education Lilia Quindoza was born in 1949 in Manaoag, in the Philippines' Pangasinan province. She grew up in Baguio, where she attended secondary school. She later said that during her time imprisoned at Fort Bonifacio she found comfort in writing poetry and in storytelling. Her published works notably include the poetry collections Kagampan (1989) and Asintada (1997), and the short story collection Ang Manggagamot ng Salay-Salay at Iba Pang Kuwento (1989).

Quindoza Santiago taught for over three decades at the University of the Philippines.

After retiring from the University of the Philippines, in 2007 she moved to the United States and spent nine years teaching Ilocano as an assistant professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Beginning in 2018, she taught at Virginia's Tidewater Community College. She also served as a consultant for the University of Maryland's National Foreign Language Center.

Personal life and death Lilia Quindoza Santiago was married for 43 years to fellow activist and poet Jesús Manuel Santiago, with whom she had four children. She died in 2021, at the age of 72, in Virginia.