Quote by Edith Tiempo: “Art is not an escape from reality, but a way to understand it more deeply.”

This quote challenges the common idea that art is just for escaping daily life, instead proposing that it serves a more profound purpose: to help us explore and comprehend the complexities of the world around us with greater depth and insight, fostering understanding.

As a distinguished literary artist and educator, Tiempo contributed significantly to Philippine literary discourse. She often discussed the role of art as a serious engagement with human experience and reality, moving beyond mere entertainment.

Filipino poet and fiction writer, born in Bayombong in 1919, and one of the most significant voices in Philippine literature in English. She co-founded the Silliman National Writers Workshop with her husband Edilberto Tiempo, shaping generations of Filipino writers, and received the National Artist Award for Literature in 1999.