F. SIONIL JOSE : National Artist for Literature, Foremost Novelist

AN EVENING WITH FRANCISCO SIONIL JOSE AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY

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Date and Time: May 5, 2005. 7:00 PM.
Approximate duration of 2 hour(s).
Location: Cubberley Auditorium (School of Education, 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford Campus) Audience: Faculty/Staff
Category: Lectures/Readings
Sponsor: Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages Research Unit
Contact: 650 725 8620
agelder@stanford.edu
Admission: Free
Open to the public

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Francisco Sionil José is the Writer in Residence in Stanford's Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, April 15-May 15, 2005. He will present a talk, "Literature as History," and read from his novels Dusk and Mass. A reception and book signing will follow the event. F. Sionil José is a journalist, writer, and publisher. He was born on December 3, 1924 in Rosales, Pangasinan.

In the fifties, José founded the Philippine Center of PEN, an international organization of poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists. In 1965 he established the publishing firm Solidaridad. His corpus of works includes ten novels, five books of short stories, a book of verse, and a collection of stories for children. The Rosales saga is his five-novel masterpiece, consisting of The Pretenders; Tree; My Brother, My Executioner; Mass; and Po-on. His works have also been translated and published in various languages. Random House has recently released Three Filipino Women, Sins, Dusk (Po-on), Don Vincente (My Brother My Executioner, and Tree), The Samsons (The Pretenders and Mass) in North America, the latter three in Modern Library Editions.

José has received numerous fellowships and awards, which include: the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts (1980), the most prestigious award of its kind in Asia; the CCP Centennial Honors for the Arts (1999); the National Artist Award for Literature (2001); and the Pablo Neruda Centennial Award (2004).