Writers from Philippines

Charleson Lim ONG is professor of literature at the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of the Philippines. He has edited both The China Post (Taipei) and The Daily Globe (Philippines), and is the author of Men of the East and Other Stories, Woman of Am-Kaw and Other Stories, Conversion and Other Fictions, and An Embarrassment of Riches. He received the Philippines 1990 National Book Award for Fiction. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.

Angelo R. LACUESTA has published two collections of short stories in English, Life Before X (2000) and White Elephants (2005). A third collection, Survivors and Other Stories, is forthcoming in 2007, along with his first novel. Lacuesta’s awards include two National Book Awards from the Manila Critics Circle, the Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award, several Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards, and Philippine Graphic Magazine Literary Awards and the NVM Gonzalez Award. He is the literary editor of the Philippines Free Press. He participates courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

Gutierrez MANGANSAKAN II has written for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Times, Philippine Star, Manila Standard, Manila Bulletin, and Malaya, and provides the column "This Blessed House," for a Mindanao-based news service. His first film, House under the Crescent Moon, won Best Documentary at the 15th Cultural Center of the Philippines Prize for Independent Film and Video in 2001; his other films have been screened at international film festivals to wide acclaim. He is editor of Children of the Ever-Changing Moon, an anthology of essays by young Moro writers (Anvil, 2007). His poems, essays and short stories have appeared in ANI 33, Banaag Diwa, and Dagmay. He participates courtesy of the US Embassy in Manila.

Ian Rosales CASOCOT teaches English and Literature at Silliman University. In 2002 he edited FutureShock Prose: An Anthology of Young Writers and New Literatures, nominated as Best Anthology in the National Book Awards. Widely awarded as an anthologist and short story writer, he published his first collection, Old Movies and Other Stories, in 2005. His novel Sugar Land was long listed for the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize. His participation is provided courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

Joel TOLEDO (poet, fiction writer, nonfiction writer; Philippines) is the literary editor at The Philippine Free Press and a professor of literature at Miriam College. His reviews and columns have been featured in newspapers and magazines including The Philippine Star and The Manila Times; his creative work has appeared, among other places, in Rogue Poetry Review, Washington Square, Sunday Times Magazine, and P.E.N. 50th Anniversary Anthology of Poetry in English.  He is the author of four books of poetry, including Chiaroscuro (2008) and The Long Lost Startle (2009), the children's book Pedro and the Lifeforce (1997), and of the screenplays for Todo Todo Teros and Philippine Bliss, screened at the 2007 Rotterdam Film Festival. Among his awards is the 2005 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature for the collection What Little I Know of Luminosity, while Chiaroscuro was a finalist for the 2008 Philippines National Book Award for Poetry. A fifth poetry collection is due out this year. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Mark ANGELES (poet, fiction writer, essayist; Philippines) is the author of three poetry volumes and a fiction collection, all independently published. He has anthologized progressive writers in the Philippines in zines including KaMAO (Comrade Mao/fist), translations of poems by Mao Zedong. His forthcoming books include one novel and three children’s books. His poetry, short stories and essays have appeared in magazines, journals, newspapers, and anthologies. He has conducted creative writing workshops for organizations and universities across the Philippines. He participates courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

Eros ATALIA (fiction writer; Philippines) teaches Filipino language, journalism, and film production and theory at the University of Santo Tomas. A recipient of numerous awards for his essays, poems, and fiction, he has had the story “Si Intoy Syokoy ng Kalye Marino” and the novel Ligo na u, lapit na me adapted to film. He is currently completing a PhD in Linguistics at the University of the Philippines. His participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.