Gina Apostol

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Delgado and the surname or paternal family name is Apostol.

Gina Apostol
Photo by Margarita Corporan
Photo by Margarita Corporan
BornGina Lourdes Delgado Apostol
Manila, Philippines
Alma materUniversity of the Philippines Diliman (BA)
Johns Hopkins University (MA)
Notable worksGun Dealers' Daughter (2013)
Insurrecto (2018)
Notable awardsPhilippine National Book Awards (1997, 2010)
PEN/Open Book (2013)
SpouseArne Tangherlini (died 1998)
Website
ginaapostol.com

Gina Lourdes Delgado Apostol (born 1963) is a Filipino-born writer based in the United States.[1][2][3] She won the 2023 Rome Prize in Literature for her proposed novel, The Treatment of Paz.[4][5]

Biography

Early life and education

Gina Lourdes Delgado Apostol was born in Manila the second child of her mother, Virginia. She grew up in Tacloban, Leyte, where she studied at Divine World College. Afterwards, she earned a bachelor's degree from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and a master's degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University.[1]

Literary career

Apostol's debut novel Bibliolepsy, published by the University of the Philippines Press, won the 1997 Philippine National Book Award for Fiction. The novel is set in Manila in the 1980s, during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos up to the 1986 People Power Revolution. On its first run, the novel sold out and went out of print. It was republished in the United States by Soho Press in 2022.[6][7]

Her second novel, The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata won the 2010 Philippine National Book Award for Fiction, as well as the biannual Gintong Aklat Award. It was republished in the United States by Soho Press in 2021.[8]

Her American debut, Gun Dealers' Daughter, won the 2013 PEN/Open Book award[2] and was shortlisted for the 2014 Saroyan International Prize.[9][1]

Her 2018 novel, Insurrecto, was one of Publishers Weekly's 2018 Ten Best Books,[10] and was shortlisted for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.[11] Portions of her short story, "The Unintended," which was published in the Manila Noir anthology edited by Jessica Hagedorn, appear in the novel.[12]

She has contributed to the Los Angeles Review of Books,[13] The New York Times,[14][15][16] and Foreign Policy.[17]

In an interview, Apostol said that her current favorite novelist is Elena Ferrante.[18]

The Nobel Library of the Swedish Academy owns two of her novels, Insurrecto and Gun Dealer's Daughter.[19]

Personal life

In 1998, Apostol's husband, Arne Tangherlini, died. In 2013, Apostol was diagnosed with breast cancer. She subsequently underwent a bilateral mastectomy and chemotherapy.[1]

Awards and honors

Winner

Shortlists

Bibliography

Novels

Year Title Publisher(s) References
1997 Bibliolepsy University of the Philippines Press (1997);
Soho Press (2022)
2009 The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata Anvil Publishing (2009);
Soho Press (2021)
2010 Gun Dealer's Daughter Anvil Publishing (2010);
W. W. Norton & Company (2012)
2018 Insurrecto Soho Press (2018);
Fitzcarraldo Editions (2019)		 [20]
2023 La Tercera Soho Press (2023) [21][22]

Short stories

  • "The Mistress" published in Babaylan (2000)
  • "Fredo Avila" published in Bold Worlds (2001)
  • "Cunanan's Wake" published in Charlie Chan is Dead 2 (2004)
  • "The Unintended" published in Manila Noir (2013)

Non-fiction

References

  1. ^ a b c d De Vera, Ruel S. (April 21, 2014). "Philippine novelist wins US book award amid cancer and 'Yolanda'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Gina Apostol". Center for Art and Thought. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  3. ^ "Gina Apostol". Filipino American Museum. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  4. ^ "House commends novelist Gina Apostol for winning Rome Prize". politics.com.ph. January 27, 2023. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  5. ^ Suralta, B. (May 19, 2022). "Acclaimed Filipino Writer Gina Apostol Bags Rome Prize, Teases Upcoming Novels". EsquireMag.ph. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  6. ^ Novey, Idra (January 4, 2022). "Craving books, sex and revolution". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  7. ^ Lodestar, Danton Remoto (November 6, 2021). "'Bibliolepsy' goes to the world". The Philippine Star. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  8. ^ Boyagoda, Randy (January 12, 2021). "A Filipino freedom fighter's life, relentlessly annotated". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  9. ^ "Press release: William Saroyan International Prize for Writing 2014 Shortlist". Stanford Libraries. Stanford. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  10. ^ "Publishers Weekly: 10 Best Books of 2018". Year-End Lists. Publishers Weekly. December 9, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  11. ^ "Dayton Literary Peace Prize 2019 Shortlist". Short List. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  12. ^ Hagedorn, Jessica Tarahata (2013). Manila Noir. ISBN 9781617751608. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  13. ^ "Gina Apostol". Contributors. LARB. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  14. ^ Apostol, Gina (May 19, 2017). "Speaking in Fascism's Tongues". The New York Times. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  15. ^ Apostol, Gina (November 15, 2013). "Surrender, Oblivion, Survival". The New York Times. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  16. ^ Apostol, Gina (April 28, 2012). "In the Philippines, Haunted by History". The New York Times. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  17. ^ "Gina Apostol". Authors. Foreign Policy. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  18. ^ Casal, Chang (August 9, 2019). "Gina Apostol on historical fiction and our 'unhealthy' search for a Filipino identity". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on February 20, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  19. ^ "Svenska Akademiens Nobelbibliotek". lib.nobelbiblioteket.se. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  20. ^ Aw, Tash (August 28, 2019). "Insurrecto by Gina Apostol review – struggles in the Philippines". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  21. ^ "A Complex Family History in a Nation of Many Tongues". April 30, 2023. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  22. ^ Lit, Intern Electric (May 26, 2023). "The (Mis)Translation of Filipino History". Electric Literature. Retrieved August 19, 2023.