F. Sionil José or in full Francisco Sionil José (born December 3, 1924) is one of the most widely-read Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society. José's works - written in English - have been translated into 22 languages, including Korean, Indonesian, Russian, Latvian, Ukrainian and Dutch.
José was born in Rosales, Pangasinan, the setting of many of his stories. He spent his childhood in Barrio Cabugawan, Rosales, where he first began to write. José was of Ilocano descent whose family had migrated to Pangasinan before his birth. Fleeing poverty, his forefathers traveled from Ilocos towards Cagayan Valley through the Santa Fe Trail. Like many migrant families, they brought their lifetime possessions with them, including uprooted molave posts of their old houses and their alsong, a stone mortar for pounding rice.
One of the greatest influences to José was his industrious mother who went out of her way to get him the books he loved to read, while making sure her family did not go hungry despite of poverty and landlessness. José started writing in grade school, at the time he started reading. In the fifth grade, one of José’s teachers opened the school library to her students, which is how José managed to read the novels of José Rizal, Willa Cather’s My Antonia, Faulkner and Steinbeck. Reading about Basilio and Crispin in Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere made the young José cry, because injustice was not an alien thing to him. When José was five years old, his grandfather who was a soldier during the Philippine revolution, had once tearfully showed him the land their family had once tilled but was taken away by rich mestizo landlords who knew how to work the system against illiterates like his grandfather.
Life as a writer
José attended the University of Santo Tomas after World War II, but dropped out and plunged into writing and journalism in Manila. In subsequent years, he edited various literary and journalistic publications, started a publishing house, and founded the Philippine branch of PEN, an international organization for writers. José received numerous awards for his work. The Pretenders is his most popular novel, which is the story of one man's alienation from his poor background and the decadence of his wife's wealthy family.
Jose Rizal's life and writings profoundly influenced José's work. The five volume Rosales Saga, in particular, employs and interrogates themes and characters from Rizal's work. Scalice, Joseph. "Articulating Revolution: Rizal in F. Sionil José's Rosales Saga"
Throughout his career, José's writings espouse social justice and change to better the lives of average Filipino families. He is one of the most critically acclaimed Filipino authors internationally, although much underrated in his own country because of his authentic Filipino English and his anti-elite views.
Sionil José also owns Solidaridad Bookshop, which is on Padre Faura Street in Ermita, Manila. The bookshop offers mostly hard-to-find books and Filipiniana reading materials. It is said to be one of the favorite haunts of many local writers.
A five-novel series that spans three centuries of Philippine history, widely read around the world and translated into 22 languages
Po-on (Dusk) (1984) ISBN 9718845100
The Pretenders (1962) ISBN 9718845003
My Brother, My Executioner (1973) ISBN 971884516X
Mass (December 31, 1974) ISBN 0868615722
Tree (1978) ISBN 9718845143
Original novels containing the Rosales Saga
Dusk (Po-on) (1993) ISBN 0375751440
Don Vicente (1980) ISBN 0375752439 - Tree and My Brother, My Executioner combined in one book
The Samsons ISBN 0375752447- The Pretenders and Mass combined in one book
Other novels
Gagamba (1991) ISBN 971536105645
Viajero (1993) ISBN 971884504689
Sin (1994) ISBN 0517284464
Ben Singkol (2001) ISBN 9718845321
Ermita ISBN 9718845127
Vibora! (2007)
Sherds (2008)
Muse and Balikbayan: Two Plays (2008)
Short Stories (with Introduction and Teaching Guide by Thelma B. Kintanar) (2008)
Short story collection
The God Stealer and Other Short Stories (2001) ISBN 9718845356
Puppy Love and Other Short Stories (March 15, 1998) ISBN 9718845267 and ISBN 978-9718845264
Olvidon and Other Stories (1988) ISBN 9718845186
Platinum: Ten Filipino Stories (1983) ISBN 9718845224 (now out of print, its stories are added to the new version of Olvidon and Other Stories)
Waywaya: Eleven Filipino Short Stories (1980) ISBN 999228840X
Asian PEN Anthology (as editor) (1966)
Short Story International (SSI): Tales by the World's Great Contemporary Writers (Unabridged, Volume 13, Number 75) (co-author, 1989) ISBN 1555730426
Children's books
The Molave and The Orchid (November 2004)
Verses
Questions (1988)
Essays and non-fiction
In Search of the Word (De La Salle University Press, March 15, 1998) ISBN 9715552641 and ISBN 978-9715552646
We Filipinos: Our Moral Malaise, Our Heroic Heritage
Soba, Senbei and Shibuya: A Memoir of Post-War Japan ISBN 9718845313 and ISBN 978-9718845318
Heroes in the Attic, Termites in the Sala: Why We are Poor (2005)
This I Believe: Gleanings from a Life in Literature (2006)
Literature and Liberation (co-author) (1988)
In translation
Po-on (Tagalog language, De La Salle University Press, 1998) ISBN 9715552676 and ISBN 978-9715552677
Anochecer (Littera) (Spanish language, Maeva, October 2003) ISBN 8495354950 and ISBN 978-8495354952
In anthologies
Tong (a short story from Brown River, White Ocean: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Philippine Literature in English by Luis Francia, Rutgers University Press, August 1993) ISBN 0813519993 and ISBN 978-0813519999
In film documentaries
Francisco Sionil José - A Filipino Odyssey by Art Makosinski, 1996
Frankie Sionil José: A Tribute by Edwin Thuboo (editor) (Times Academic Press, Singapore, January 2005) ISBN 9812104259 and ISBN 978-9812104250
Conversations with F. Sionil José by Miguel A. Bernard (editor) (Vera-Reyes Publishing Inc., Philippines, 304 pages, 1991
The Ilocos: A Philippine Discovery by James Fallows, The Atlantic Monthly magazine, Volume 267, No. 5, May 1991
F. Sionil José and His Fiction by Alfredo T. Morales (Vera-Reyes Publishing Inc., Philippines, 129 pages)
Reviews
Bibliography
The Writings of F. Sionil Jose, Archives, The New York Times, NYTimes.com, retrieved on: June 16, 2007
The Works of Francisco Sionil Jose, The New York Public Library, NYPL.org (Search Engine), retrieved on: June 16, 2007
Books of F. Sionil Jose, Amazon.com, retrieved on: June 16, 2007
Filipino English: Literature As We Think It (from F. Sionil Jose's Keynote Lecture at the Conference on "Literatures in Englishes" at the National University of Singapore), F. Sionil Jose: National Artist for Literature, Foremost Novelist, and Stanford.edu, March 19, 2006, retrieved on: June 6, 2007
Jose, F. Sionil. "We Who Stayed Behind (Many fled the Philippines during the Marcos years, writes F. Sionil Jose. But what about those who remained?)", Asian Journey, Time Asia magazine (18-25 August 2003 issue), Time.com, 11 August 2007, retrieved on: 21 June 2007
Allen Gaborro, A book review about Sins, a novel by F. Sionil Jose, Random House, 1996, Eclectica.org, retrieved on: April 22, 2008
