ILONGGO LITERATURE

• The mother tongue of hiligaynon is Kinaray-a.
• Two major languages of the West Visayas-Hiligaynon and Akeanon- grew from Kinaray-a
• The oral tradition of Hiligaynon literature includes the following: Binalaybay, Paktakon, Hurubaton, Ili-Ili, Balitaw, Ambahan, Asoy, Siday.
• Folk songs are usually accomplished by string, percussion, or wind instruments.
• Examples of epics are the "Labaw Donggon" and the "Hinilawod".
• When the spaniards arrived, the folk literature of the Hiligaynon tradition continued to prosper. Around the time came the invention of the "composo", a ballad sung as a tribute to a folk hero or a milestone event in the community.
• During the vigils for the dead, a game called "bordon" was commonly played; the loser of this popular game would then have to recite a quatrain called the "luwa".
• There were the concepts of "passion", Flores de Mayo, novenas prayed for nine days in devotion to saints or virtues.
• Pagdayaw- a tribute to the fiesta queen as performed by a local poet.
• Mariano perfecto- a notable name during that time who contributed greatly to Hiligaynon literature by establishing the Imprenta La Panayana in IloIlo City, arounf the late 1800s.
• Perfecto was responsible for the publishing of the widely popular "Almanake Panayanhon" which contained the "passion", novenas, and works ny ealy Hiligaynon writers.
• As with other local literatures, the Hiligaynon tradition came to include the zarzuela, the moro-moro and the corrido.  
• The arrival of the Americans ushered in a Golden Age of Hiligaynon literature.  
• The Post-War period established other publications like the “Yuhum” ( La Defensa Press) magazine and “Kasanag”
• Novelists like Jose E. Yap and Conrado Norada kept the Hiligaynon fiction strong.
• The novel remained popular while the short story gained its own headway.
• In the 1990s, names like Mario L. Villaret, Nilo Pamonag, , Romeo Garganera, Ismaelita Floro-Luza, and Ma. Luisa Defante Gibraltar emerged.
• In the recent decades, especially during the administration of Corazon Aquino, campus writing in Kiniray-a was heavily promoted, and prominence in multilingual writing rose in Hiligaynon.
• Dr. Genevieve L. Asenjo.