The challenge of cultivating a “critical life” for any Filipino book is, admittedly, a tough one to hurdle. These last two years especially we [in the University of the Philippines Press] have been doing our darnedest in this regard—by holding forums and symposiums, and yes, sponsoring a Critical Essay Writing Contest, whose successful culmination the publication of this landmark anthology occasions. The absence of a critical tradition—premised on a culture of advanced and mature literacy—is clearly an abiding problem for the book industry (and for cultural work, in general) in our country. We may attribute this absence to, among other things, precisely the kind of tactile and personalistic ethos that orality foments and maintains.

1. Philippine essays (English). 2. Filipino essays.