Marcelino Navarra

Marcelino M. Navarra (June 2, 1914 – March 28, 1984) was a Filipino Visayan editor, poet, and short story writer from Cebu, Philippines. He was regarded as the father of modern Cebuano short story for his use of realism and depictions of fictionalized version of his hometown, barrio Tuyom in Carcar, Cebu.

Early life Navarra was born and grew up in Tuyom, a small barrio in Carcar, Cebu, on June 2, 1914. He later was laid to rest upon his death on March 28, 1984, in his hometown. A product of American education, he finished up to second year in high school, and then moved to Manila to seek employment. Later, he settled back in Tuyom, married and had nine children. with the pseudonym Marcel Navarra. at a time when fantasy,

Navarra is best known for the short story Ug Gianod Ako (And I Was Drifted Away) that won first prize in a literary contest by Bisaya Magasin in 1937. According to literary critic Erlinda Alburo, Ug Gianod Ako and another of his short stories, Apasumpay (Postscript), were landmarks in Cebuano literature for their innovative use of point of view and the manner in which they blended local materials and Western narrative techniques. Critic Sam Harold Kho Nervez claimed that the environment inhabited by his characters that was ravaged by war, poverty, and moral decay was a representation of their inner traumatized selves and considered his "brand of social realism outstanding".

Editor He edited several Cebuano periodicals. He was the editor of Lamdag (Light) in 1947, associate editor of Bulak (Flower) in 1948, literary section editor of the Republic Daily from 1948 until 1952, and editor of Bag-ong Suga (New Light) from 1963 to 1967. the magazine's circulation decreased that was partly attributed to the general decline of sales among regional magazines with the rise of the movie industry the writers' group Lubas sa Dagang Bisaya (Core of Cebuano Writing) or LUDABI for short