First launched in March 1948 by student editors Cesar J. Amigo and Aida Rivera to promote exceptionally high standards for creative expression, Sands and Coral functions as the widely celebrated annual student literary journal of Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Philippines. The 1960 edition represents a crucial archival juncture documenting the structural continuity of the "Silliman Writers" movement into a new decade, operating under the continuing faculty stewardship of National Artist Dr. Edith L. Tiempo. The volume is deeply intertwined with national literary scholarship and regional cultural preservation. Notably, this edition captures early endeavors in anthropological and theological documentation by campus students, featuring T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr.’s "Palmora," an indigenous epic legend tracking the creation myth and cultural folklore of the mountain tribes of Cotabato—built upon foundational field accounts originally initiated by his father, Tranquilino Sitoy, Sr. Furthermore, the issue underscores the journal's role as a premiere forum for rigorous academic dialogue, compiling sophisticated literary theory and national criticism, including a republished critical evaluation by Carminia Arionuevo Yaptenco focusing on the prose and poetry of Nick Joaquin. As an institutional artifact, this volume preserves the creative output and intellectual rigor that defined the university's historical status as a major epicenter for mid-20th-century Philippine literature written in the English language.
Sands and Coral, Vol. 12 (1960)