• 1 Biography
• 2 Works
  • 2.1 Novels
  • 2.2 Short story collections
  • 2.3 Poetry collections
• 3 Honors and awards
• 4 References

Tiempo was born in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya.^[2] Her poems are intricate verbal transfigurations of significant experiences as revealed, in two of her much anthologized pieces, "Halaman" and "Bonsai."^[2] As fictionist, Tiempo is as morally profound. Her language has been marked as "descriptive but unburdened by scrupulous detailing." She is an influential tradition in Philippine Literature in English. Together with her late husband, writer and critic Edilberto K. Tiempo, they founded (in 1962) and directed the Silliman National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete City, which has produced some of the Philippines' best writers.

Novels

• A Blade of Fern (1978)^[2]
• His Native Coast (1979)^[2]
• The Alien Corn (1992)^[2]
• One, Tilting Leaves (1995)
• The Builder (2004)
• The Jumong (2006)

Short story collections

• Abide, Joshua, and Other Stories (1964)^[2]

Poetry collections

• The Tracks of Babylon and Other Poems (1966)^[2]
• The Charmer's Box and Other Poet (1993)^[2]
• Marginal Annotations and Other Poems^[2]
• Commend Contend. Beyond Extensions (2010)^[2]

• National Artist Award for Literature (1999)^[2]
• Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature
• Cultural Center of the Philippines (1979, First Prize in Novel)
• Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas (1988)