Cyan Abad-Jugo Biography

Cyan Abad-Jugo is a Filipino writer, novelist, and teacher. She is the daughter of Gemino Abad (Fugitive Emphasis, In Another Light, The Space Between). She teaches Literature and Creative Writing at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Abad-Jugo graduated from Ateneo de Manila University when she was merely 19. She majored in English Literature. She has studied under Dr. Edna Manlapaz and Fr. Joseph Galdon for her writing classes. Her stay in Ateneo further developed her passion for writing and literature. During her stay in Ateneo, she was anactive member of Heights, the school's preeminent literary organization.

For her graduate studies, Abad-Jugo attended Simmons College in Boston in the United States. It's here that she earned her master’s in Children’s Literature. Her thesis adviser at Simmons College was Lois Lowry, famous American author of The Giver Quartet (The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son). She took her PhD in English Studies: Creative Writing and Anglo-American Literature at UP Diliman.

Abad-Jugo also took up writing classes taught by N.V.M. Gonzales (Bread of Salt, The Happiest Boy in the World, The Bamboo Dancers, The Winds of April). Other writers who have had an influence on her writing include Luis Katigbak (Happy Endings, The King of Nothing to Do, Dear Distance), Dean Alfar (Salamanca, A Field Guide to the Roads of Manila, How to Traverse Terra Incognita), and Nikki Alfar (WonderLust, The Mechanism of Moving Forward).

In 1996, Cyan and her father released a book they co-authored. They titled it Father and Daughter: The Figures of Our Speech. Published by Anvil, the book is a collection of stories, poems, and essays by the two Abads.

"My professors were so enthusiastic about the things that we had to read for class, that I couldn’t help but have their enthusiasm rub off on me.” - Abad-Jugo

Books by Cyan Abad-Jugo:


- Father and Daughter: The Figures of Our Speech
- Leaf and Shadow: Stories About Some Friendly Creatures
-Salingkit: A 1986 Diary
- Sweet Summer and Other Stories
- Motherhood Statements. Eds Rica Bolipata-Santos and Cyan Abad-Jugo
- Letters From Crispin
- The Earth-Healers
- The Looking-Glass Tree
- Yaya Maya and The White King
- Friend Zones: an anthology of short stories for young adults