Leoncio Deriada

Leoncio P. Deriada is generally recognized as the "Father of Contemporary Literature in Western Visayas." This paper is about his life as a writer and teacher, and his contribution in promoting and developing literature in Region 6 of the Philippine archipelago from the mid-90s to the present by giving workshops and by editing anthologies, especially writing in Kinaray-a and Aklanon. The forces that created Deriada as a "literary engineer" are also explained. Although the main locus of Deriada's efforts is the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, his sensibilities as a writer and cultural worker is truly national.