Today is the birth anniversary of Paz Márquez de Benítez (3 March 1894 – 10 November 1983), a fellow Tayabeña. She hails from Lucena City, Tayabas Province where I was born. With Spanish being her first language coupled with a storytelling craftsmanship ahead of her time, she deftly produced what Nick Joaquín (National Artist for Literature) aptly described as a literary gem from the U.S. occupation period: “Dead Stars”. Published in 1925, it is considered as the first Filipino modern English-language short story. It is one of my favorite short stories of all time. While Dead Stars is said to be an allegory to U.S. imperialism, it is still essentially a love story. Its denouement will leave a shock of emotion, a void in the chest, an emptiness of the heart which one has never experienced before. It is one of those tales you wish you have never read but will keep on rereading.
EL FILIPINISMO 