Rony Diaz's 'At War's End' launching at Solidaridad
MANILA, Philippines - A groundbreaking novel by Rony V. Diaz, At War’s End, will be launched on May 22 at 5 p.m. at the Solidaridad Bookshop on Padre Faura, Ermita, Manila. Literary critic Elmer A. Ordonez called the work “One of the few significant novels in English about the malaise of Philippine society, with its roots in feudal relations.”
Published by the Manila Times Books Publications, At War’s End is the first novel by Rony V. Diaz who is known for his prize-winning short fiction, which has since been collected in Death of a Sawmill and Other Stories. His more recent stories appeared in Raven and Philippine Pen anthologies.
Born in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, on Dec. 2, 1932, Diaz was educated at the University of the Philippines and Indiana University in the US. While still in college, he won three Palanca prizes, besting his mentors in creative writing.
He received a Fulbright-Smith-Mundt fellowship to study linguistics and comparative literature in Indiana. The Rockefeller Foundation gave him a writing grant when he was in the US. Upon his return he taught comparative literature at UP Diliman, and conducted writers workshops of the English Department.
Drafted into public service, he was director general of the National Manpower and Youth Council and chairman of the Textbook Board of the Department of Education. The International Labour Organization (ILO) recruited him to organize the Asian and Pacific Skill Development Programme.
He became editor-in-chief, publisher, and science columnist of the Manila Times until he resigned, in his words, “to devote all (my) time to storytelling.” He is working on two novels, Elegy for Candida and Quita y Pone, to form a trilogy with At War’s End.
For more information, call Solidaridad at 523-0870 or 525-5038.
