Iza Maria G. Reyes is an acclaimed essayist, children’s story writer, and teacher from Pampanga.
Reyes finished Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in 2014 at the University of Santo Tomas with the distinction cum laude, and she is currently pursuing her Master of Arts in Malikhaing Pagsulat degree at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman.
She has been a fellow in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines’ first Pambansang Palihang Multi-Genre in 2016, the Palihang Rogelio Sicat 10 in 2017, and the 62nd UP National Writers Workshop in 2023.
Her essays in Filipino have garnered several awards. In 2018, Reyes won third place in the Sanaysay category of the 68th Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature for “Hindi Ako Dalisay.” She is also the Ateneo Art Gallery x Kalaw Ledesma Foundation Inc.’s Essay Writing Prize winner under the non-student category in 2018 for “Hapong-hapong Hapon.” In 2022, she published her collection of personal essays, Minsan, Kadalasan.
She has also published several stories for children such as Ang Aking Agent Nanay and Ang Tahanang Hindi Tumatahan, which won the Philippine Board on Books for Young People’s Salanga Grand in 2021.
She is currently a high school coordinator and teacher at The Raya School, the laboratory school of Adarna House.