Multi-awarded journalist and writer Ian Ocampo Flora has brought pride to Pampanga after winning the Grand Prize in the Kapampangan (Maikling Kuwento) category of the prestigious 2025 Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera National Literary Contest.

Flora’s short story, “Atut Judas,” was cited for its creative excellence, according to contest director Dr. Joey A. Tabula. The competition, organized by the National Committee on Literary Arts (NCLA) of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), celebrates outstanding works in various Philippine languages. Winning entries, including Flora’s piece, will be compiled and published in both print and digital anthologies via the NCCA website.

Flora, regarded as one of the country’s most awarded young journalists, has received numerous accolades in science, environment, agriculture, climate change, and food writing. Among his recognitions are the Sorpresang Sangkap Award from the Mama Sita Foundation’s Mga Kwentong Pagkain (2023), the Bantog: The Science for the People Media Award (2018), and the Most Outstanding Kapampangan Award in the Field of Journalism (2022).

He is also a consistent winner in prestigious journalism competitions, with multiple victories in the Brightleaf Journalism Awards—earning him the Oriental Leaf Award in 2019 and a place in the Brightleaf Hall of Fame—as well as in the PAJ-San Miguel Corp. “Binhi” Awards, where he has collected at least seven major awards and one minor citation.

Currently, Flora is a columnist and writer for Sun.Star Pampanga and a faculty member at the Graduate School of Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU).