F. Sionil José

Presidencia). 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 is of Ilocano descent whose family had migrated to Pangasinan prior to 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 posts of their old houses and their , 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 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. ==Writing career==

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. 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. Nominated on numerous occasions for the Nobel Prize in Literature, In May 2021, José stirred up controversy after publicly backing President Rodrigo Duterte amid his Philippine drug war. José referred to Duterte as someone who "may yet be, next to Magsaysay, the best president we ever had", adding that under Duterte's term, the Philippines, he claims, was safer. Around 30,000 Filipinos, including children, were killed under the drug war initiated by Duterte. The Philippines also fell to 138th in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index under his watch. Duterte was later arrested by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in 2025. ==Death==

José died on the night of January 6, 2022, aged 97, at the Makati Medical Center, where he was scheduled for an angioplasty the next day. ==Awards==

Five of José's works have won the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature: his short stories The God Stealer in 1959, Waywaya in 1979, Arbol de Fuego (Firetree) in 1980, his novel Mass in 1981, and his essay A Scenario for Philippine Resistance in 1979. Since the 1980s, various award-giving bodies have feted José with awards for his outstanding works and for being an outstanding Filipino in the field of literature. His first award was the 1979 City of Manila Award for Literature which was presented to him by Manila Mayor Ramon Bagatsing. The following year, he was given the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts. Among his other awards during that period include the Outstanding Fulbrighters Award for Literature (1988) In 2004, José garnered the coveted Pablo Neruda Centennial Award in Chile. ==Works==

Rosales Saga novels A five-novel series that spans three centuries of Philippine history, translated into 22 languages: • Po-on (Source) (1984) • Tree (1978) • My Brother, My Executioner (1973) • The Pretenders (1962) • Mass (December 31, 1974) Original novels containing the Rosales Saga • Source (Po-on) (1993) • Don Vicente (1980) – Tree and My Brother, My Executioner combined in one book • The Samsons The Pretenders and Mass combined in one book Other novels Novellas • Three Filipino Women (1992) • Two Filipino Women (1981) Short story collections • Collected Short Stories (2022) • Short Stories (with Introduction and Teaching Guide by Thelma B. Kintanar) (2008) • The God Stealer and Other Stories (2001) • Puppy Love and Thirteen Short Stories (March 15, 1998) and • Olvidon and Other Stories (1988) • Platinum: Ten Filipino Stories (1983) (now out of print, its stories are added to the new version of Olvidon and Other Stories) • Waywaya: Eleven Filipino Short Stories (1980) • 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) Children's books • The Molave and The Orchid (November 2004) Verses • Questions (1988) Essays and non-fiction • Literature and Liberation (co-author) (1988) • In Search of the Word (De La Salle University Press, March 15, 1998) and • We Filipinos: Our Moral Malaise, Our Heroic Heritage (1999) • Soba, Senbei and Shibuya: A Memoir of Post-War Japan (2000) and • Why We are Poor: Heroes in the Attic, Termites in the Sala (2005) • This I Believe: Gleanings from a Life in Literature (2006) • Why We are Hungry: Rats in the Kitchen, Carabaos in the Garden (2008) • Promdi: An Ilokano Biography (2021) • Writing the Nation: Essays on Philippine Literature, Politics, and Culture (2021) In translation • Zajatec bludného kruhu (The Pretenders) (Translated into Czech by Veronika Veisová) (Svoboda, 1981) • Po-on (Translated into Tagalog by Lilia F. Antonio) (De La Salle University Press, 1998) and • Puno (Tree) (Translated into Tagalog by Aurora E. Batnag) (Solidaridad Publishing House, 2017) • Aking Kapatid, Aking Berdugo (My Brother, My Executioner) (Translated into Tagalog by Jun Cruz Reyes) (Solidaridad Publishing House, 2018) • Mga Mapagpanggap (The Pretenders) (Translated into Tagalog by Rogelio Mangahas) (Solidaridad Publishing House, 2019) • Masa (Mass) (Translated into Tagalog by Lualhati Bautista) (Solidaridad Publishing House, 2014) • Anochecer (Littera) (Po-on) (Translated into Spanish by Carlos Milla Soler) (Maeva, October 2003) and 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) and In film documentaries • Francisco Sionil José – A Filipino Odyssey by Art Makosinski (Documentary, in color, 28min, 16mm. Winner of the Golden Shortie for Best Documentary at the 1996 Victoria Film and Video Festival) ==Reviews==