Merlinda Bobis
Merlinda Bobis (born 25 November 1959) is a contemporary Filipina-Australian writer and academic. Biography. Born in Legazpi City, in the Philippines province of Albay, Merlinda Bobis attended Bicol University High School then completed her B.A. at Aquinas University in Legazpi City. She holds post-graduate degrees from the University of Santo Tomas and University of Wollongong, and now lives in Australia. Written in various genres in both Filipino and English, her work integrates elements of the traditional culture of the Philippines with modern immigrant experience. Also a dancer and visual artist, Bobis currently teaches at Wollongong University . Her play "Rita's Lullaby" was the winner of the 1998 Awgie for Best Radio Play and the international Prix Italia of the same year; in 2000 "White Turtle" won the Steele Rudd Award for the Best Collection of Australian Short Stories and the 2000 Philippine National Book Award. Most recently, in 2006, she has received the Gintong Aklat Award (Golden Book Award, Philippines) for her novel "Banana Heart Summer", from the Book Development Association of the Philippines. Bobis won the 2016 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and NSW Premier's Literary Awards for her book, "Locust Girl: A Lovesong