First Filipino in Language and Literature

Alex Tizon 1st Filipino-American Pulitzer Prize Winner for Investigative Reporting

Byron Acohido 1st Filipino-American Pulitzer Prize Winner, Beat Reporting (Seattle Times, 1997)

Carlos Bulosan 1st Filipino Writer and Literary Voice of Filipino immigrants in the United States (1930s)

Carlos Quirino 1st Filipino National Artist in Historic Literature (1997)

Carlos P. Romulo 1st Filipino and 1st Asian Pulitzer Prize Winner in Journalism (English, 1942)

Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar 1st Filipino Poet

Irene Natividad Executive Editor of the 1st Asian American Almanac published by Gale Research in 1995

Janette Toral 1st Filipina writer to be published by McGraw-Hill Asia; Publisher of the 1st e-commerce book in the Philippines, The DigitalFilipino: An E-Commerce Guide for the eFilipino

Jose Garcia Villa 1st Filipino to publish a collection of short stories in the U.S

Leona Florentino 1st Filipina Poet

Pedro Paterno Author of the 1st Filipino novel written in Tagalog, Ninay (1907) Author of the 1st Filipino collection of poems in Spanish, Sampaguitas y poesias (Jasmines and Poems), published in Madrid (1880)

Regie Cabico 1st Filipino-American Slam Perfomer to win the Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam (1993) 1st Filipino-American Slam Perfomer to win 3rd Place National Poetry Slam Title (1993) 1st Filipino-American Host of the world's first Sondheim Slam (2002) Pioneer of the Poetry Slam Genre

Sheila Coronel 1st Filipino to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts (2003)

Tita Dioso Gillespie 1st Filipina Newsweek magazine General Editor

Tomas Pinpin 1st Filipino printer and Patriarch of Filipino Printers (1610)

Zacarias B. Sarian 1st Filipino to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts (1974)