Heather Ann Pulido who wrote a children’s story about her grandmother and her “half-house” in Kapangan, Benguet won third place in the 2022 Palanca Awards.

Pulido was one of the panelists during the 2022 BIYAG Creative Writing Workshop Fellowship organized by the Provincial Governor’s Office headed by Governor Dr. Melchor Daguines Diclas.

According to the Palanca awardee, her story tells about “two kids navigating the loss of a parent with their grandma’s help” and is written for “my brothers and all the children with ‘half-families’ like ours.”

In her Facebook post, Pulido thanked her friends for their encouragement and for reading “my drafts and gave valuable feedback.” The writer also said she dedicated her win to her grandmother Lupao and Mama Susan “who taught me that half is okay. Half is great. Half is whole.”

“The story includes Kankanaey dialogue. Cheers to more Cordilleran children’s literature in the mainstream,” Pulido added.

 The Palanca Awards or Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature is the Philippines’ most prestigious and most enduring literary awards and is dubbed as the “Pulitzer Prize” of the Philippines.