21 Century Philippine Literature

Joel M Toledo: A Sharp-witted      Filipino Author and Poet 

Filipino poet Joel M. Toledo grew up in Silang in the rural province of  Cavite  close  to  Manila. He  is  the son  of a navy man and his family  was pauperized   and    impoverished. Moreover, he grew up without electric current  in    his   house.    In spite of poverty,   Toledo  persists  to  make good of his life. At  the  age  of  16, he was  accepted   into the University of the Philippines and took a degree in Journalism and English. Joel M. Toledo holds a master degree in Creative Writing (Poetry) from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. He likewise finished the undergraduate degrees (Journalism and Creative Writing).

                     Joel M. Toledo has the author of the three books of poetry and also the editor of two poetry anthologies. His three books of poetry are Chiaroscuro, The Long Lost Startle, and Ruins and Reconstruction and he edited Under the Storm: An Anthology of Contemporary Philippine Poetry. His first book was Pedro and the Life Force (1997), a work for fantasy for young adults. And lately, this was followed by Chiaroscuro in 2008 and a second book of poems called The Long Lost Startle in 2009. Joel’s third book of poetry called Ruins and Reconstructions refocuses his work from nature and rural life in the city. And lately, he authored the book of poems which is the Fault Setting in 2016.

Pedro and the Life Force (1997)

       Toledo’s Pedro and the Life Force is all about the story of 14-year old Pedro who is trust into early maturity when his father was killed. At about the same time, Sta. Ines, his home barrio, is hit by severe drought. His younger brother, Pablo, lies dying of a strange malady and begs for water to drink. This is a fantasy fiction that was originally published in 1997.

Chiaroscuro 2008

           Joel M. Toledo’s first book of poems Chiaroscuro is about moving from the darkness of his home to the bright lights of Manila. It is a collection of verses that would not raise qualms into its qualifications as a work of art, or more specifically, as a work of poetry. According to a comment, “Chiaroscuro” is how the speaker, the voice that wafts through the shadowy geographies of the poems, seems hopelessly smitten by the beauty of the language.

The Long Lost Startle 2009

He also asserts in his sophomore poetry collection, The Long Lost Startle, “I can do with less electricity”. Hailing from country where sources of power (both literal and figurative) are not dependable, he has written a collection of poems that taps other kinds of energy- mostly meditative and mostly acquired through the poet’s observation and reflection. According to the comment of Jim Agustin, The Long Lost Startle Poems of Toledo is a poem that crosses the tightrope between joy  and sadness and a full review to follow hopefully in the not so distant future.

Ruins and Reconstruction 2011

Toledo’s Ruin and Reconstruction, according to a comment, it talked about the upcoming thunder storm (which is the Ondoy) and its effect on the people- about the floods and the deaths of people.

Fault Setting 2016

              “Here’s to homecoming, my friends”, Joel M. Toledo unites in this magnificent book, Fault Setting: Poems in 2016. “Cheers to the resistance”. Each poem in this collection is indeed a form of homecoming and an essay in resi stance, a map of the heart that will guide readers into the new worlds and ways of being. Toledo’s Fault Setting is propelled by the tentative: grave enunciations- stories, soliloquies, musings- tempered by subtle wit, conceits, tangents that reveal a strange eye through which the world’s fallibility is understood, in the meantime.



Joel M. Toledo was the winner of the recent  Merit Age Press Poetry Prize in San Francisco and placed second in the 2006 UK Bridport Prize for his poem, “The Same Old Figurative “. He was also the recipient of the same year NCCA Literary Prize and he has won awards for his poetry in English, including two Don Carlos Planca Memorial Awards for poetry, The Philippines Free Press Literary Award, The Merit age Press Poetry Prize in San Francisco, USA, and was the first Asian to win the Bridport Prize for Poetry in Dorset, United Kingdom. Furthermore, he was the last editor of the now defunct Philippines Free Press Magazine. He was also the recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation Creative Arts Residency at the Bellagio Centre in Italy. Joel M. Toledo was the Philippine delegate to the co-editor of Caracoa 2006, the offi cial literary journal of the Philippine Literary Arts Council (PLAC). He was also the guest of the 2010 Singapore Lit Up Festival and Mike Ladd caught up with him there to record this interview and  poetry writing. Joel M. Toledo is currently working on a new collection of poems. And he worked also as a music reviewer for the Manila Times and current ly teaches literature at Quezon City, Manila.


  Despite the heaviness of the path that Joel M. Toledo has walk through, he doesn’t give up. But instead, he uses his willingness to continue his dream. It doesn’t mean that if you are impoverished, you cannot go through and accomplish your dreams. Strength is beyond you. Joel M. Toledo had conquered them all. And now, he is one of the 21^st Century Philippine author and a sharp-witted poet.