An interview with Dr. Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo

MANY years ago, a Spanish friend told me: if you want to know the high level of Philippine literature today, you have to read the travel writing of Dr. Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo. Later, I learned that we both worked at UST, and we had a short conversation entirely in Spanish. As she is colleague, I took advantage of her generosity to learn about what pushed her to become a literary creator.

Question: you are one of a few people who have been able to carry out a career combining literary creation and scholarship. Nobel Prizewinner Mario Vargas Llosa is another example of this. Which one has been more prevalent in your life and why?