Gina Apostol

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.

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.{{Cite news|last=Novey|first=Idra|date=January 4, 2022|title=Craving books, sex and revolution|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/04/books/review/bibliolepsy-gina-apostol.html|access-date=February 6, 2022}}{{Cite news|last=Lodestar|first=Danton Remoto|date=November 6, 2021|title='Bibliolepsy' goes to the world|work=The Philippine Star|url=https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2021/11/06/2139257/bibliolepsy-goes-world|access-date=February 6, 2022}}

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.{{Cite news|last=Boyagoda|first=Randy|date=January 12, 2021|title=A Filipino freedom fighter's life, relentlessly annotated|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/books/review/gina-apostol-revolution-raymundo-mata.html|access-date=February 6, 2022}}

Her American debut, Gun Dealers' Daughter, won the 2013 PEN Open Book Award and was shortlisted for the 2014 Saroyan International Prize.{{cite web|title=Press release: William Saroyan International Prize for Writing 2014 Shortlist|url=https://library.stanford.edu/news/2014/05/press-release-william-saroyan-international-prize-writing-2014-shortlist|website=Stanford Libraries|publisher=Stanford|access-date=February 21, 2020}}

Her 2018 novel, Insurrecto, was one of Publishers Weekly's 2018 Ten Best Books,{{cite web|title=Publishers Weekly: 10 Best Books of 2018|url=https://www.yearendlists.com/2018/12/publishers-weekly-10-best-books-of-2018|website=Year-End Lists|date=December 9, 2018|publisher=Publishers Weekly|access-date=February 21, 2020}} and was shortlisted for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.{{cite web|title=Dayton Literary Peace Prize 2019 Shortlist|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=2403|website=Short List|publisher=Publishers Weekly|access-date=February 21, 2020}} Portions of her short story, "The Unintended," which was published in the Manila Noir anthology edited by Jessica Hagedorn, appear in the novel.{{cite book|title=Manila Noir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YYPWjZ6tVckC|isbn = 9781617751608|access-date=February 21, 2020|last1 = Hagedorn|first1 = Jessica Tarahata|year = 2013}}

She has contributed to the Los Angeles Review of Books,{{cite web|title=Gina Apostol|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/gina-apostol/|website=Contributors|publisher=LARB|access-date=April 10, 2017}} The New York Times,{{cite news|title=Speaking in Fascism's Tongues|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/opinion/sunday/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-fascism.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 19, 2017|access-date=February 21, 2020|last1=Apostol|first1=Gina}}{{cite news|title=Surrender, Oblivion, Survival|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/15/opinion/surrender-oblivion-survival.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 15, 2013|access-date=February 21, 2020|last1=Apostol|first1=Gina}}{{cite news|title=In the Philippines, Haunted by History|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/in-the-philippines-haunted-by-history.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 28, 2012|access-date=February 21, 2020|last1=Apostol|first1=Gina}} and Foreign Policy.{{cite web|title=Gina Apostol|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/author/gina-apostol/|website=Authors|publisher=Foreign Policy|access-date=April 10, 2017}}

In an interview, Apostol said that her current favorite novelist is Elena Ferrante.{{Cite web|last=Casal|first=Chang|date=August 9, 2019|title=Gina Apostol on historical fiction and our 'unhealthy' search for a Filipino identity|url=https://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/literature/2019/8/9/gina-apostol-interview.html|access-date=February 6, 2022|website=CNN Philippines|archive-date=February 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220050035/https://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/literature/2019/8/9/gina-apostol-interview.html|url-status=dead}}

The Nobel Library of the Swedish Academy owns two of her novels, Insurrecto and Gun Dealer's Daughter.{{cite web|url=https://lib.nobelbiblioteket.se/search?/aApostol%2C+Gina%2C+1963-/aapostol+gina+++++1963/-3%2C-1%2C0%2CB/exact&FF=aapostol+gina+++++1963&1%2C2%2C|title=Svenska Akademiens Nobelbibliotek|access-date=1 July 2024|website=lib.nobelbiblioteket.se}}

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

• 1997: Philippine National Book Awards – Bibliolepsy
• 2010: Philippine National Book Awards – The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata
• 2010: Gintong Aklat Award – The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata
• 2013: PEN Open Book Award – Gun Dealers' Daughter
• 2023: Rome Prize in Literature – The Treatment of Paz

• 2014: Saroyan International Prize – Gun Dealers' Daughter
• 2019: Dayton Literary Peace Prize – Insurrecto

• {{cite book |last=Apostol |first=Gina |title=Bibliolepsy |publisher=University of the Philippines Press |year=1997 |author-mask=2}}
• {{cite book |last=Apostol |first=Gina |title=The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata |publisher=Anvil Publishing |year=2009 |author-mask=2}}
• {{cite book |last=Apostol |first=Gina |title=Gun Dealer's Daughter |publisher=Anvil Publishing |year=2010 |author-mask=2}}
• {{cite book |last=Apostol |first=Gina |title=Insurrecto |publisher=Soho Press |year=2018 |author-mask=2}}
• {{cite book |last=Apostol |first=Gina |title=La Tercera |publisher=Soho Press |year=2023 |author-mask=2}}

• "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)

• [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/in-the-philippines-haunted-by-history.html "In the Philippines, Haunted by History."] The New York Times. April 28, 2012.
• [https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/borges-politics-and-the-postcolonial/ "Borges, Politics, and the Postcolonial."] Los Angeles Review of Books. August 18, 2013.
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/15/opinion/surrender-oblivion-survival.html "Surrender, Oblivion, Survival."] The New York Times. November 14, 2013.
• [https://news.abs-cbn.com/blogs/opinions/01/17/14/transparency-relieving-body-despair "Transparency: Relieving the Body Despair."] ABS-CBN. January 17, 2014.
• [https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/benedict-anderson-counts-lessons-writing-culture-jose-rizal/ "Why Benedict Anderson Counts."] Los Angeles Review of Books. March 4, 2014.
• [http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/04/29/philippines_china_asia_us_bases_subic_bay "Imperialism 2.0."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915041234/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/04/29/philippines_china_asia_us_bases_subic_bay |date=September 15, 2014 }} Foreign Policy. April 29, 2014.
• [https://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/politics/2016/05/09/rodrigo-duterte-gina-apostol.html "Rodrigo Duterte: Strongman, jokerman."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525075817/https://www.cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/politics/2016/05/09/rodrigo-duterte-gina-apostol.html |date=May 25, 2022 }} CNN Philippines. May 9, 2016.
• [https://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/politics/2016/10/11/duterte-and-our-history-gina-apostol.html "President Duterte and our revolutionary history."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119131921/https://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/politics/2016/10/11/duterte-and-our-history-gina-apostol.html |date=January 19, 2022 }} CNN Philippines. October 14, 2016.
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/opinion/sunday/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-fascism.html?_r=0 "Speaker in Fascism's Tongues."] The New York Times. May 19, 2017.
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/opinion/sunday/philippines-land-impunity.html "Who Hits Golf Balls Into the Sea?"] The New York Times. January 12, 2018.
• [https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/francine-proses-problem/ "Francine Prose's Problem."] Los Angeles Review of Books. January 17, 2018.

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|https://www.ginaapostol.com/}}
• [https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/in-multiplicity-is-truth-an-interview-with-gina-apostol/ In Multiplicity Is Truth: An Interview with Gina Apostol] December 31, 2018
• {{cite web | url=http://www.cornell.edu/video/gina-apostol-filipino-american-war-novel | title=The Filipino-American War and the Writing of a Novel: Reflections on History and the Art of Fiction | date=November 9, 2015 | website=CornellCast | publisher=Cornell University}} Video of lecture given by Apostol
• [https://www.npr.org/2018/11/10/666360732/an-american-and-her-filipina-translator-exhume-a-massacre-in-insurrecto "An American And Her Filipina Translator Exhume A Massacre In 'Insurrecto'"] {{cite interview |last=Apostol |first=Gina |author-link=Gina Apostol |others=Scott Simon |title=Weekend Edition |work=National Public Radio |publisher=NPR |location=Washington, DC |date=November 10, 2018}}

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Category:1963 births

Category:Living people

Category:Filipino women writers

Category:University of the Philippines Diliman alumni

Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni

Category:Writers from Manila

Category:Writers from Leyte (province)

Category:People from Tacloban

Category:American writers of Filipino descent