Jose Dalisay

Jose Dalisay – or ‘Butch’ Dalisay to the readers of his Penman column in the Arts and Culture Section of the Philippine Star — has published 20 books of fiction and nonfiction, and has edited many others, including a 10-volume history of the Philippines.

He teaches English at the University of the Philippines, where he also serves as director of the Institute of Creative Writing, after serving as chairman of the English department and as the university’s Vice President for Public Affairs.

He has been a Hawthornden, British Council, David TK Wong, and Rockefeller fellow, and a winner of the Premio Cervara di Roma prize. His second novel, Soledad’s Sister, was shortlisted for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize in 2007. It has since been published in the Philippines and in Italy.

Dalisay holds an MFA from the University of Michigan and a PhD in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and he has lectured on Philippine culture and politics at festivals and universities in the US, UK, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia, among others.