“I will write poems until my dying day,” Marne Kilates was quoted as saying.
Kilates, a premier poet and translator, passed away on Saturday, July 20, at the age of 71.
“Maraming manunulat ngayon ang dumaan sa kaniyang ‘pagtuturo’ kung paano kumatha at paano maging mabuting manunulat at tao. Kung paano maging magaan at masaya pero mag-iiwan ng mabigat na kakintalan,” said Assoc. Prof. Joselito de los Reyes, head of UST’s creative writing program.
“[S]i Sir Marne, nasa kasaysayan, tahimik na lumilikha. Masayahin. Mapagkumbaba,” he said.
Kilates, who hailed from Daraga in Albay, became known for his prize-winning works and translations of poems by National Artists Virgilio Almario and Bienvenido Lumbera, among other leading Filipino poets.
Marne Kilates, poet-translator and UST Publishing House author, dies at 71
De los Reyes said Kilates was also a top-notch poet, whose masterful writing manifested even in his English translations.
“First-class poet. His words won’t intimidate you. His poems will always lead you to pondering,” he told the Varsitarian.
“Naisasalin niya nang buo at malinaw hindi lang ang mga salita, hindi lang kasiningan—lalong-lalo ang damdamin,” he added. “It isn’t easy to translate poetry. Pero sa bihasang kamay ni Sir Marne, parang ang dali-dali lang ng lahat.”
Roy Cagalingan, a former Thomasian Writers Guild president, remembered Kilates as a writer who found and exemplified the beauty in fusing poetry and translation.
“Sabi nga nila, minsan mas gumaganda pa ang tula ng isang makata kapag isinasalin ni Sir Marne,” he told the Varsitarian. “Tumutula rin siya sa salin niya. Patunay na ang makata rin ang pinakamahusay na tagasalin ng tula.”
“Hindi naging hiwalay sa realidad ng Filipinas ang pagtula niya,” he added. “Sa pagsasalin, gumawa pa siya ng mga karagdagang tulay at posibilidad ng búhay sa ibang wika ng mga isinaling tula.”
Cagalingan, who had worked with the late writer at the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, also described Kilates as a kind person who lived life to the fullest.
“Masaya siyang kasama. Napakabuti’t wala yatang kaaway. Ramdam mo ang paglubos niya sa búhay,” he said. “Lagi niya ring nililingon ang mahal niyang Bikol. Napakatindi rin ng pag-ibig niya para sa Filipinas.”
Cagalingan paid tribute to Kilates in a poem titled after the late writer’s remark: “I will write poems until my dying day.”
“Sa pagkakakilala ko sa kaniya, sinunod niya talaga ito,” he said, referring to the anecdote. “Para sa akin, pahayag rin ito ng pagpapakumbaba ng makata. Tahimik siyang magtatrabaho. Maglilingkod sa salita hanggang sa dulo.”
Kilates’s friends and colleagues in the literary scene gathered at his wake on July 22 to pay their final respects by reading poems and reminiscing about their interactions with him. J.K.S. Balod
