UST Publishing House author and surgeon Alyza Taguilaso’s debut poetry collection titled “Juggernaut” won the 25th Madrigal Gonzales Best First Book Award for English on Dec. 2 at the Manila Polo Club in Makati.
“Juggernaut,” a 17-part compilation, explores themes of grief, while also tackling politics, environmental issues, and healthcare workers.
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“The book startles from the very beginning, its author announcing that she would ‘like to believe in a god that grants one’s deepest desires without condition or sacrifice,” the citation read.
In her acceptance speech, Taguilaso said she started writing Juggernaut more than 15 years ago, when her grandmother was battling cancer.
“Watching her die, even if I understood what was happening scientifically since I was already a biology major then, there was a difficulty really grasping the reality of it.” Taguilaso said.
“The book followed me even if I never really sought to write one—through medical school, through the long nights and long cases of surgical residency, through a pandemic, through moments when writing felt like the only way to stay afloat,” she added.
Since then, writing poems has become her way of making peace with her loss.
Several works from the collection were drawn from Taguilaso’s medical school experiences: “Examination,” “Three Movements on Anatomy,” “The Study of Medicine,” and “Experiment.”
In an interview with the Varsitarian, she said early versions of her works were improved with the help of her medical school classmates, who were her “beta readers.”
“They were very helpful as regards inputs on the poems from a ‘normie’ perspective,” Taguilaso added.
When asked how she balanced writing and revisions during her residency training, Taguilaso said she would often write during downtime on duty nights.
Despite demanding schedules, writing alongside friends kept her motivated to continue developing Juggernaut, published by the UST Publishing House in 2024.
“We’d meet up virtually once weekly during the pandemic to write based on prompts each other made,” Taguilaso said.
Taguilaso received P50,000 for the award, which she said would go toward paying off her new laptop after her nine-year-old one broke down.
The Madrigal Gonzales First Book Award is administered by the UP Institute of Creative Writing. It aims to spotlight debut works by Filipino authors published between 2024 and 2025. The prize alternates between works written in Filipino and in English.
Four other English works were selected as this year’s finalists, including “Infinite Lives, Infinite Deaths,” by Douglas Candano, “The Singing Detainee and the Librarian with One Book: Essays on Exile” by Michael Beltran, and “Fireline: Stories from Cagayan de Oro” by NH Legaspi. Charlize Ann D. Lavastida
