National Book Development Board - Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz is new NBDB Chair

Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz is new NBDB Chair

The Board of Governors unanimously elected Flor Marie “Neni” Sta. Romana-Cruz as the new Chair of the NBDB during their 194th Regular Board Meeting last 28 October 2011. Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz replaced Dr. Dennis Gonzalez, who chaired the Book Board for ten (10) years beginning from November 2001 up to September 2011.

Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz is an award-winning writer, an accomplished educator, a noted children’s book critic, a reading advocate and freelance journalist. Prior to her appointment to the NBDB, Chairperson Romana-Cruz chaired the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) and was likewise a board member of the “Sa Aklat Sisikat” Foundation, an organization which promotes book reading and lifelong learning. Some of the award-winning books she authored were the following: “Why the Piña has a Hundred Eyes and Other Classic Philippine Folk Tales About Fruits” which won the 1993 National Book Award for Children’s Literature and a biography of Gabriela Silang which received a National Book Award citation for excellence in 1992. Her more recent works are the highly successful companion gift books “You Know You’re Filipino If….,” “Don’t Take a Bath on a Friday: Philippine Superstitions and Folk Beliefs,” and “Ngalang Pinoy: A Primer on Filipino Wordplay,” all published by Tahanan Books.

Chairperson Sta. Romana-Cruz graduated cum laude from St. Scholastica’s College and holds a master’s degree in English Literature from the Ateneo de Manila University. She has also taken courses in children’s literature from Michigan State University. Neni taught writing to talented elementary school students at International School-Manila, where she headed the Children’s Media Center.

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