Monday, June 24, 2013
Will
Cocks left Manila this month for reassignment in Beijing. I will always
remember him for the special programs we worked on, one of them the Edward P.
Jones Roadshow (Manila, Dumaguete, Makati, Pasay, Pasig). It feels like, only
yesterday, Will himself brought Ed to the airport at the end of a hectic but
fulfilling week. The International Book Fair in Manila is once again looming on
the horizon, and so I am inundated with these memories.
Will
was a young, entry-level officer when he came to the Philippines. Manila was
his first post. Yet, he diligently prepared for this extremely complex program.
He maintained communication with Ed via e-mail—no easy task because Ed hardly
uses e-mail and is for the most part unreachable. He read most of Ed’s books, which
National Book Store ordered from the U.S.A., the Pulitzer-Prize-winning The Known World in particular. He
obtained Ed’s multiple signatures not as autographs but on tedious, official
forms that were necessary for Ed’s arrival and stay. He was always there for Ed—at
the workshop in Writers’ Village and the lecture-discussion at the American
Corner in Dumaguete City; at the PAO’s dinner reception in honor of Ed at Barbara’s in
Intramuros; at the luncheon to meet local artists on Albert Avellana’s
compound; at the dialogue-discussion with Philippine literary luminaries at
National Artist for Literature Frankie Sionil Jose’s La Solidaridad, in partnership
with Philippine P.E.N. International; at the lecture-discussion sessions with
senior students at De La Salle University and University of Asia & the
Pacific; at the tea with board members of the American Studies Association of
the Philippines at the Fort; at the book-signing in National Book Store; at
media interviews; and at International Book Week in Ayala Museum with another
Pulitzer-Prize winner, Junot Diaz. It was Will who conducted a public interview
with Ed at a National Book Store branch in Makati, and people lined up to buy
books and have them signed by Ed afterwards.
Time
has a way of plodding on while bringing back everything. I missed Ed, and I now
miss Will.
I
hope that American literary programs will always be in Will’s portfolio.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Congratulations to Follower Ayla for winning a copy of "Lost in the City" in our October 5, 2012 raffle draw!
Please claim your prize by sending an e-mail to PerezAS@state.gov.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
“Islam and Terrorism in the 21st Century, Christianity and Slavery in the 19th Century: Moral Complexities and Christian Contexts in E.P. Jones’s 'The Known World'”
“Islam and Terrorism in the 21st Century, Christianity and Slavery in the 19th Century: Moral Complexities and Christian Contexts in E.P. Jones’s The Known World”
by Raymond G Falgui
Paper presented during the Annual Assembly of the 2011 American Studies Association of the Philippines held at University of the East, December 3, 2011
Introduction
One seemingly inevitable consequence of the September 11 attacks has been to spark a debate about the role and responsibility of religion in said attacks. It has been noted that “the attacks of September 11 prompted a blizzard of speculation in the media on the nature and scale of the “Islamic” threat” (Hefner). In the soul-searching or finger-pointing that followed the attacks, a common theme that emerged dealt with the allegedly violent nature of Islam. 9/11 seemingly solidified in the minds of many people an inherent link between Islam and violence, as well as Islam and terrorism. In various media, it is not uncommon at the present time to encounter sentiments such as the following:
"Islam is anything but a religion of peace. Violence is at the very core of Islam. Violence is institutionalized in the Muslims’ holy book, the Quran, in many suras…" (Imani)
For Muslims and non-Muslims who disagree with such sentiments, the challenge has been to present a counter-perspective at odds with the highly-publicized examples of Islamic extremism. The alleged links between Islam and violence have become so pervasive that even an imam must acknowledge that the question of whether Islam is a violent religion “is a question often asked these days … [it] remains a valid question that every Muslim should be able to answer for himself or herself and for others” (Hlyalhel).
This appropriation, or hijacking, of Islam in the name of extremist violence and terrorism in the 21st century mirrors a disturbingly similar 19th century reality in E.P. Jones’s Pulitzer-prize winning novel, The Known World. In the “known world” of the characters in the novel, it is expressly clear that religion – in this case, Christianity – is used to condone and justify the defining characteristic of their world: slavery. The reality of slavery shapes and constricts the outlook and perspectives of the different characters, white or black, slave or free; it spreads like a stain across the fabric of society, politics, economics, and family relationships, and not even religion is left untouched. Then, as today, religion seemingly serves as a convenient tool to legitimize controversial or divisive issues or ideologies.
Physical Abuse and Moral Corruption
This complicity between Christianity and slavery is especially striking given the novel’s explicit depiction of the physical brutality and moral corruption associated with slavery. Numerous instances in the novel highlight the well-documented historical reality of the physical abuse of slaves. Aside from whippings and beatings, slaves are also subject to mutilation, such as when part of Elias’s ear is sliced off as a punishment after he tries to escape, or through “hobbling” (the crippling of a slave by slicing the Achilles’ tendons), such as what happens to Moses near the novel’s end. For slave owners, the only sources of hesitation to the physical abuse of slaves were not humane or moral considerations, but financial: “Fern never liked to flog slaves; for every whip mark on one slave’s back, she estimated that his value came down $5” (Jones 259).
But it is the novel’s interrogation of slavery’s corrupting influence – as seen in the lives of Negro slave owners – that has earned it widespread critical attention. The white plantation owner, William Robbins, allows the inordinate power granted by slavery to overwhelm his genuine affection for Philomena, the slave with whom he has two children. When Philomena threatens to leave him, he responds as a master, not as a lover:
"The one time she threatened to flee and return to Richmond, Robbins told her he would sell her back into slavery. “You can’t,” she said. “You can’t, William. I got my free papers.” He told her that in a world where people believed in a God they could not see and pretend the wind was his voice, paper meant nothing, that it had only the power that he, Robbins, would give it." (144)
The dehumanizing power of slavery, the temptation to treat human beings as chattel or property, overwhelms social and family relationships.
But the temptation offered by this kind of power is colorblind, and affects characters of both races. Thus, Robbins’s black children, Dora and Louis, grow up to become slave owners themselves, just like their white father.
Other Negro characters exposed to this temptation become complicit in the system of slavery, dramatically turning against their own people in return for their hoped-for inclusion into the system’s hierarchy. The free Negro and teacher Fern Elston, for example, views her ownership of slaves as a sign of her social superiority over non-slave-owning white people (she initially convinces herself that, given time, white people will recognize this as well). Maude Newman secretly murders her husband with poison after she discovers his plan to free the slaves they own. Later, she takes one of her slaves, Clarke, as her lover, exulting in her power over him:
“Do you know,” Maude had said the first time she and Clarke had lain together, “that if I was a white woman, they would come in here and tear you limb from limb?” “And what they gon do with you being colored?” he asked … “I suspect that since I own you, since I have the papers on you, they might do the same thing if I up and screamed. They wouldn’t be as fast, I suppose, but they would come, Clarke.” He said nothing. (246)
The operative words for Maude here are: “if I was a white woman.” The danger that Negro males face from even casual contact is noted in the novel: “You see a white woman riding toward you, get way off the road and go stand behind a tree” (137). That Maude would use such a threat, even playfully, suggests the degree her sense of identification has shifted away from people of her own race; as a slave owner, Maude believes she is above them. “They” – the county sheriff, the patrollers who keep watch for dangerous or escaped slaves – will not come as fast because she is colored, not white, but they will come nevertheless. She is a slave owner, and they must defend her just as they must defend the system of slavery itself.
The culmination of the corrosive influence of slavery (and the power associated with it) is found in the novel’s great moral failure, the character of Henry Townsend. The son of Augustus and Mildred, Henry is freed through the efforts of his father, who worked for years to earn the purchase price for himself and his family. As a teen-ager, Henry convinces Augustus and Mildred to help Rita, one of Mr. Robbins’s slaves, escape to the North.
But as an adult, Henry falls under Mr. Robbins’s sway and becomes a slave owner himself. Henry forsakes his father’s example, a choice made dramatically clear during a dinner at Augustus’s house. Learning that Henry is building a house and has acquired “help” to do so, Augustus naturally assumes this would take the form of hiring slaves who hoped to earn enough to buy their freedom, just as he had done:
“Who you got? You hired out Charles and Millard from over Colfax’s plantation. They good men with they hands, I haveta say. Good men and worth what you gotta pay. Get your money out the backyard and do right by em. And Colfax’ll let em keep some of what they earn. That Charles could use the money with him tryin to buy hisself away from Colfax.” (136)
Instead, Henry announces that he has bought a slave – news that is met with anger and disappointment by his parents. After an enraged Augustus strikes him down with a walking stick, to remind his son what slaves feel on a daily basis, Henry takes the stick and breaks it in two; he then verbally articulates the significance of this symbolic break with his father: “Thas how a master feels”.
Henry’s choice to identify with the master rather than the slave will resonate throughout the novel, but it is a choice that emphasizes what David Ikard calls Jones’s “political motives” in the text:
Jones asserts that his chief political aim for writing the novel was not specifically to draw attention to the little-known historical fact of African-American slave owning. Rather, he wanted to explore the social variables that prompt African Americans – then and now – to turn “against their own kind” for individual gain. (65-66)
Christian Complicity in Slavery
One such social variable may be found in the moral sanction Christianity provides slavery. As a work of historical fiction, the novel reveals the unavoidable Christian context that permeates the 19th century American South. But the author also reveals the curious forms Christianity is twisted into to accommodate the physical brutality and moral corruption of slavery.
There is little doubt that such an accommodation is in place. The novel’s two preachers, the Rev. Wilbur Mann of Danville, Virginia, and Valtims Moffet, provide implicit and explicit support to the system of slavery. The Rev. Mann, a white preacher, not only owns slaves, he also promises a brutal whipping to an escaped slave who was “despoilin” his late wife’s good name (the slave adopted the wife’s maiden name as his own last name, possibly because she taught him to read). Valtims Moffet, a black preacher, earns extra income on Sundays preaching to the slaves, but his message is likely tempered by the fact that the slave owners pay him for the sermons. Like most sanctioned preachers of the time, his sermons likely included a heavy dose of “proslavery” Biblical passages, like the following passage from Ephesians:
"Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, with singleness of heart, as to Christ; not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good any one does, he will receive again from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free." (Ephesians 6:5-8)
In another context, this passage may be interpreted as an argument for equality: God judges us according to what we do, whether we are slave or free. But in the context of the 19th century American South, it can be used to provide God’s sanction for the institution of slavery: if slavery is divinely-ordained, it effectively undermines discourses that call for slavery’s abolition. This self-serving interpretation allows individuals to accommodate themselves to the existence of slavery, even when their own personal beliefs suggest they should oppose it:
"Despite vowing to never own a slave, [John] Skiffington had no trouble doing his job to keep the institution of slavery going, an institution even God himself had sanctioned throughout the Bible." (43)
This belief in God’s alleged acceptance of slavery is so widespread that even a preacher like Moffet finds himself losing customers:
"The few black slaveowners had begun to believe that their own salvation would flow down to their slaves; if they themselves went to church and led exemplary lives, then God would bless them and what they owned. And one day they would go to heaven, and so would their slaves. So why pay Moffet to help do what they could manage for nothing?" (88)
An explanation for the successful use of religion to justify what is arguably unjustifiable, whether this be terrorism or slavery, may be found in the dogmatic or literal interpretation of the tenets or texts of the religion. Specific passages in the Quran may be cited in support of extremist violence, just as specific Biblical passages were used to defend slavery. Yet these passages are often tied to specific historical contexts, and literal interpretation takes them out of context for self-serving purposes.
The novel exposes the dangers of this approach through characters that treat Christianity’s primary religious text, the Bible, as a sort of legal document to be twisted for their benefit. Moffet justifies his adultery with his wife’s sister by noting that David and Solomon were allowed to have multiple spouses. Yet he recognizes that “God was not pleased about that, but he felt he had many years if life ahead of him, despite his ailments, and so there would be time to force his knees to bend before God and ask his forgiveness” (92). Counsel Skiffington, cousin to John, the county sheriff, goes even further. After coming down in the world following the loss of his family and plantation to a smallpox epidemic, Counsel seeks the return of what he has lost. When such an opportunity presents itself in the form of a free Negro’s gold, he kills his cousin John in cold blood. The murder is done to secure his new-found wealth, but Counsel frames himself and his actions according to the story of Job:
"Was there a prayer Job had offered to God after he put his servant back a million times better than Job had been before the devastation? Thank you, O Lord. I cannot forget what I once had, but I will not resent you so much when I think of those old days and my dead loved ones." (371)
The murder of John Skiffington is thereby of little consequence, for it is only part of the process by which God shall restore his servant Job, ahem, Counsel, back to his exalted place in the world. Counsel cites the literal similarities of his situation with Job’s, even as his attempts to bargain and broker a deal with God reveal him to be a parody of the Biblical Job, who did not ask for remuneration in return for his suffering.
Even the well-meaning John Skiffington is undone by this legalistic approach to Christianity. John constantly reads his Bible, but fails to find anything in what he reads that challenges his role as a protector of slavery (notwithstanding his family’s stand on slavery). The reason for this may be his insistence on literal interpretations, as seen by John’s discomfort over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Book of Genesis. John worries about the sodomy, but fails to acknowledge the larger issue of collective guilt suggested by the story – that the citizens of both cities were punished not because they all wanted to rape Lot’s guests, but because they saw evil being done and did nothing to stop it. He falls into the same trap as his cousin, bargaining away his moral position for the sake of convenience. Thus, despite his family’s vow not to own slaves, John does acquire a slave – a young girl named Minerva given to him and his wife as a wedding present. John reassures himself by believing that he and his wife see Minerva as a daughter, not as a slave. But the reality that John is not immune to his society’s perspective that Minerva is a slave may be seen in his sexual desire for his “daughter.” For all his constant reminders to himself that Minerva is his daughter, the reader is left to wonder whether John has fallen into the habit of other slaveholders: to view their slaves as objects to satisfy their lust.
In the novel, John is one of four or five characters to receive an “afterlife” scene, which may be more of a reflection of the way they lived their lives than an actual afterlife. Thus, in his “afterlife,” Henry finds himself disappointed, for what he thought was his mansion is actually just a modest home. Augustus, who had been separated from his wife after being kidnapped by slave traders, begins walking above the earth, heading north towards Canada (and freedom). But he stops instead in at Virginia, at his house, where he gives his sleeping wife a kiss on the breast. The “kiss” wakes Mildred, who suddenly realizes that her missing husband is now dead. As for Mildred herself, she finds herself returning home after her death, to find her family whole again. Meanwhile, John Skiffington is offered a choice in his afterlife, as he also finds his family waiting for him. But he runs past them, even past the outstretched arms of his wife, as he chooses to save the tottering family Bible at the end of the hall: “He got to it in time to keep it falling over, his hands reaching to prop it up, his open left hand on the o in Holy and his open right hand on the second b in Bible” (369). In death, as in life, John doggedly sticks to the letter of his religion, even as his neglect of his family suggests he has lost sight of its core values and spirit.
Conclusion
The focus on core values, and the interpretation of religious texts in light of these values, suggests a way out of the aforementioned appropriation of religion. In response to 9-11, some Muslim scholars emphasize a more tolerant form of Islam over the jihadist practice of “picking-and-choosing” passages from the Quran. Prior to the Civil War, a similar shift occurred with regards to American Christianity’s response to slavery. Radicals among the Quakers and other Christian denominations began to articulate a position against slavery that was rooted in Christian beliefs and principles:
"For slavery had come to symbolize not only sin and death, but every violation of the Christian ideal of love and brotherhood. It was a concrete model of selfishness, greed, and man’s cruelty to man." (Davis 326)
In time, this position gained wider acceptance among abolitionists determined to put an end to slavery in the United States.
A return to the recognition of these core values is clearly necessary. But the difficulty of articulating these core values is perhaps seen in the following passage, reflecting the sorrow of Mildred after discovering that her son has purchased a slave:
"But where, in all she taught her son, was it about thou shall own no one, having been owned once your own self. Don’t go back to Egypt after God done took you outta there." (137)
It is at the end of this line of thought that Mildred returns to her religion, to a lesson that was deemed so obvious that she never bothered to say it. For without the articulation of these core values, as the novel and the September 11 attacks show, the alternative may be to leave religion in the hands of those who will use it justify everything from terrorism to slavery.
WORKS CITED
Davis, David Brion. "The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture". Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966. Print.
Hefner, Robert W. “September 11 and the Struggle for Islam.” 10 Years After September 11. Social Science Research Council, 8 September 2011. Web. November 2011.
Hlayhel, Anas. “Is Islam a Violent Religion?” MuslimMatters.Org: Because Muslims Matter. n.p. 21 February 2010. Web. November 2011.
Ikard, David. “White Supremacy Under Fire: The Unrewarded Perspective in Edward P. Jones’ The Known World.” MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States 36.3 (2011): 63–85. Project Muse. Web. 2 October 2012.
Imani, Amil. “Truth Be Told.” Amil Amani Journal. n.p. n.d. Web. November 2011.
Jones, Edward P. The Known World. 2003. New York: Amistad, 2006. Print.
by Raymond G Falgui
Paper presented during the Annual Assembly of the 2011 American Studies Association of the Philippines held at University of the East, December 3, 2011
Introduction
One seemingly inevitable consequence of the September 11 attacks has been to spark a debate about the role and responsibility of religion in said attacks. It has been noted that “the attacks of September 11 prompted a blizzard of speculation in the media on the nature and scale of the “Islamic” threat” (Hefner). In the soul-searching or finger-pointing that followed the attacks, a common theme that emerged dealt with the allegedly violent nature of Islam. 9/11 seemingly solidified in the minds of many people an inherent link between Islam and violence, as well as Islam and terrorism. In various media, it is not uncommon at the present time to encounter sentiments such as the following:
"Islam is anything but a religion of peace. Violence is at the very core of Islam. Violence is institutionalized in the Muslims’ holy book, the Quran, in many suras…" (Imani)
For Muslims and non-Muslims who disagree with such sentiments, the challenge has been to present a counter-perspective at odds with the highly-publicized examples of Islamic extremism. The alleged links between Islam and violence have become so pervasive that even an imam must acknowledge that the question of whether Islam is a violent religion “is a question often asked these days … [it] remains a valid question that every Muslim should be able to answer for himself or herself and for others” (Hlyalhel).
This appropriation, or hijacking, of Islam in the name of extremist violence and terrorism in the 21st century mirrors a disturbingly similar 19th century reality in E.P. Jones’s Pulitzer-prize winning novel, The Known World. In the “known world” of the characters in the novel, it is expressly clear that religion – in this case, Christianity – is used to condone and justify the defining characteristic of their world: slavery. The reality of slavery shapes and constricts the outlook and perspectives of the different characters, white or black, slave or free; it spreads like a stain across the fabric of society, politics, economics, and family relationships, and not even religion is left untouched. Then, as today, religion seemingly serves as a convenient tool to legitimize controversial or divisive issues or ideologies.
Physical Abuse and Moral Corruption
This complicity between Christianity and slavery is especially striking given the novel’s explicit depiction of the physical brutality and moral corruption associated with slavery. Numerous instances in the novel highlight the well-documented historical reality of the physical abuse of slaves. Aside from whippings and beatings, slaves are also subject to mutilation, such as when part of Elias’s ear is sliced off as a punishment after he tries to escape, or through “hobbling” (the crippling of a slave by slicing the Achilles’ tendons), such as what happens to Moses near the novel’s end. For slave owners, the only sources of hesitation to the physical abuse of slaves were not humane or moral considerations, but financial: “Fern never liked to flog slaves; for every whip mark on one slave’s back, she estimated that his value came down $5” (Jones 259).
But it is the novel’s interrogation of slavery’s corrupting influence – as seen in the lives of Negro slave owners – that has earned it widespread critical attention. The white plantation owner, William Robbins, allows the inordinate power granted by slavery to overwhelm his genuine affection for Philomena, the slave with whom he has two children. When Philomena threatens to leave him, he responds as a master, not as a lover:
"The one time she threatened to flee and return to Richmond, Robbins told her he would sell her back into slavery. “You can’t,” she said. “You can’t, William. I got my free papers.” He told her that in a world where people believed in a God they could not see and pretend the wind was his voice, paper meant nothing, that it had only the power that he, Robbins, would give it." (144)
The dehumanizing power of slavery, the temptation to treat human beings as chattel or property, overwhelms social and family relationships.
But the temptation offered by this kind of power is colorblind, and affects characters of both races. Thus, Robbins’s black children, Dora and Louis, grow up to become slave owners themselves, just like their white father.
Other Negro characters exposed to this temptation become complicit in the system of slavery, dramatically turning against their own people in return for their hoped-for inclusion into the system’s hierarchy. The free Negro and teacher Fern Elston, for example, views her ownership of slaves as a sign of her social superiority over non-slave-owning white people (she initially convinces herself that, given time, white people will recognize this as well). Maude Newman secretly murders her husband with poison after she discovers his plan to free the slaves they own. Later, she takes one of her slaves, Clarke, as her lover, exulting in her power over him:
“Do you know,” Maude had said the first time she and Clarke had lain together, “that if I was a white woman, they would come in here and tear you limb from limb?” “And what they gon do with you being colored?” he asked … “I suspect that since I own you, since I have the papers on you, they might do the same thing if I up and screamed. They wouldn’t be as fast, I suppose, but they would come, Clarke.” He said nothing. (246)
The operative words for Maude here are: “if I was a white woman.” The danger that Negro males face from even casual contact is noted in the novel: “You see a white woman riding toward you, get way off the road and go stand behind a tree” (137). That Maude would use such a threat, even playfully, suggests the degree her sense of identification has shifted away from people of her own race; as a slave owner, Maude believes she is above them. “They” – the county sheriff, the patrollers who keep watch for dangerous or escaped slaves – will not come as fast because she is colored, not white, but they will come nevertheless. She is a slave owner, and they must defend her just as they must defend the system of slavery itself.
The culmination of the corrosive influence of slavery (and the power associated with it) is found in the novel’s great moral failure, the character of Henry Townsend. The son of Augustus and Mildred, Henry is freed through the efforts of his father, who worked for years to earn the purchase price for himself and his family. As a teen-ager, Henry convinces Augustus and Mildred to help Rita, one of Mr. Robbins’s slaves, escape to the North.
But as an adult, Henry falls under Mr. Robbins’s sway and becomes a slave owner himself. Henry forsakes his father’s example, a choice made dramatically clear during a dinner at Augustus’s house. Learning that Henry is building a house and has acquired “help” to do so, Augustus naturally assumes this would take the form of hiring slaves who hoped to earn enough to buy their freedom, just as he had done:
“Who you got? You hired out Charles and Millard from over Colfax’s plantation. They good men with they hands, I haveta say. Good men and worth what you gotta pay. Get your money out the backyard and do right by em. And Colfax’ll let em keep some of what they earn. That Charles could use the money with him tryin to buy hisself away from Colfax.” (136)
Instead, Henry announces that he has bought a slave – news that is met with anger and disappointment by his parents. After an enraged Augustus strikes him down with a walking stick, to remind his son what slaves feel on a daily basis, Henry takes the stick and breaks it in two; he then verbally articulates the significance of this symbolic break with his father: “Thas how a master feels”.
Henry’s choice to identify with the master rather than the slave will resonate throughout the novel, but it is a choice that emphasizes what David Ikard calls Jones’s “political motives” in the text:
Jones asserts that his chief political aim for writing the novel was not specifically to draw attention to the little-known historical fact of African-American slave owning. Rather, he wanted to explore the social variables that prompt African Americans – then and now – to turn “against their own kind” for individual gain. (65-66)
Christian Complicity in Slavery
One such social variable may be found in the moral sanction Christianity provides slavery. As a work of historical fiction, the novel reveals the unavoidable Christian context that permeates the 19th century American South. But the author also reveals the curious forms Christianity is twisted into to accommodate the physical brutality and moral corruption of slavery.
There is little doubt that such an accommodation is in place. The novel’s two preachers, the Rev. Wilbur Mann of Danville, Virginia, and Valtims Moffet, provide implicit and explicit support to the system of slavery. The Rev. Mann, a white preacher, not only owns slaves, he also promises a brutal whipping to an escaped slave who was “despoilin” his late wife’s good name (the slave adopted the wife’s maiden name as his own last name, possibly because she taught him to read). Valtims Moffet, a black preacher, earns extra income on Sundays preaching to the slaves, but his message is likely tempered by the fact that the slave owners pay him for the sermons. Like most sanctioned preachers of the time, his sermons likely included a heavy dose of “proslavery” Biblical passages, like the following passage from Ephesians:
"Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, with singleness of heart, as to Christ; not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good any one does, he will receive again from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free." (Ephesians 6:5-8)
In another context, this passage may be interpreted as an argument for equality: God judges us according to what we do, whether we are slave or free. But in the context of the 19th century American South, it can be used to provide God’s sanction for the institution of slavery: if slavery is divinely-ordained, it effectively undermines discourses that call for slavery’s abolition. This self-serving interpretation allows individuals to accommodate themselves to the existence of slavery, even when their own personal beliefs suggest they should oppose it:
"Despite vowing to never own a slave, [John] Skiffington had no trouble doing his job to keep the institution of slavery going, an institution even God himself had sanctioned throughout the Bible." (43)
This belief in God’s alleged acceptance of slavery is so widespread that even a preacher like Moffet finds himself losing customers:
"The few black slaveowners had begun to believe that their own salvation would flow down to their slaves; if they themselves went to church and led exemplary lives, then God would bless them and what they owned. And one day they would go to heaven, and so would their slaves. So why pay Moffet to help do what they could manage for nothing?" (88)
An explanation for the successful use of religion to justify what is arguably unjustifiable, whether this be terrorism or slavery, may be found in the dogmatic or literal interpretation of the tenets or texts of the religion. Specific passages in the Quran may be cited in support of extremist violence, just as specific Biblical passages were used to defend slavery. Yet these passages are often tied to specific historical contexts, and literal interpretation takes them out of context for self-serving purposes.
The novel exposes the dangers of this approach through characters that treat Christianity’s primary religious text, the Bible, as a sort of legal document to be twisted for their benefit. Moffet justifies his adultery with his wife’s sister by noting that David and Solomon were allowed to have multiple spouses. Yet he recognizes that “God was not pleased about that, but he felt he had many years if life ahead of him, despite his ailments, and so there would be time to force his knees to bend before God and ask his forgiveness” (92). Counsel Skiffington, cousin to John, the county sheriff, goes even further. After coming down in the world following the loss of his family and plantation to a smallpox epidemic, Counsel seeks the return of what he has lost. When such an opportunity presents itself in the form of a free Negro’s gold, he kills his cousin John in cold blood. The murder is done to secure his new-found wealth, but Counsel frames himself and his actions according to the story of Job:
"Was there a prayer Job had offered to God after he put his servant back a million times better than Job had been before the devastation? Thank you, O Lord. I cannot forget what I once had, but I will not resent you so much when I think of those old days and my dead loved ones." (371)
The murder of John Skiffington is thereby of little consequence, for it is only part of the process by which God shall restore his servant Job, ahem, Counsel, back to his exalted place in the world. Counsel cites the literal similarities of his situation with Job’s, even as his attempts to bargain and broker a deal with God reveal him to be a parody of the Biblical Job, who did not ask for remuneration in return for his suffering.
Even the well-meaning John Skiffington is undone by this legalistic approach to Christianity. John constantly reads his Bible, but fails to find anything in what he reads that challenges his role as a protector of slavery (notwithstanding his family’s stand on slavery). The reason for this may be his insistence on literal interpretations, as seen by John’s discomfort over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Book of Genesis. John worries about the sodomy, but fails to acknowledge the larger issue of collective guilt suggested by the story – that the citizens of both cities were punished not because they all wanted to rape Lot’s guests, but because they saw evil being done and did nothing to stop it. He falls into the same trap as his cousin, bargaining away his moral position for the sake of convenience. Thus, despite his family’s vow not to own slaves, John does acquire a slave – a young girl named Minerva given to him and his wife as a wedding present. John reassures himself by believing that he and his wife see Minerva as a daughter, not as a slave. But the reality that John is not immune to his society’s perspective that Minerva is a slave may be seen in his sexual desire for his “daughter.” For all his constant reminders to himself that Minerva is his daughter, the reader is left to wonder whether John has fallen into the habit of other slaveholders: to view their slaves as objects to satisfy their lust.
In the novel, John is one of four or five characters to receive an “afterlife” scene, which may be more of a reflection of the way they lived their lives than an actual afterlife. Thus, in his “afterlife,” Henry finds himself disappointed, for what he thought was his mansion is actually just a modest home. Augustus, who had been separated from his wife after being kidnapped by slave traders, begins walking above the earth, heading north towards Canada (and freedom). But he stops instead in at Virginia, at his house, where he gives his sleeping wife a kiss on the breast. The “kiss” wakes Mildred, who suddenly realizes that her missing husband is now dead. As for Mildred herself, she finds herself returning home after her death, to find her family whole again. Meanwhile, John Skiffington is offered a choice in his afterlife, as he also finds his family waiting for him. But he runs past them, even past the outstretched arms of his wife, as he chooses to save the tottering family Bible at the end of the hall: “He got to it in time to keep it falling over, his hands reaching to prop it up, his open left hand on the o in Holy and his open right hand on the second b in Bible” (369). In death, as in life, John doggedly sticks to the letter of his religion, even as his neglect of his family suggests he has lost sight of its core values and spirit.
Conclusion
The focus on core values, and the interpretation of religious texts in light of these values, suggests a way out of the aforementioned appropriation of religion. In response to 9-11, some Muslim scholars emphasize a more tolerant form of Islam over the jihadist practice of “picking-and-choosing” passages from the Quran. Prior to the Civil War, a similar shift occurred with regards to American Christianity’s response to slavery. Radicals among the Quakers and other Christian denominations began to articulate a position against slavery that was rooted in Christian beliefs and principles:
"For slavery had come to symbolize not only sin and death, but every violation of the Christian ideal of love and brotherhood. It was a concrete model of selfishness, greed, and man’s cruelty to man." (Davis 326)
In time, this position gained wider acceptance among abolitionists determined to put an end to slavery in the United States.
A return to the recognition of these core values is clearly necessary. But the difficulty of articulating these core values is perhaps seen in the following passage, reflecting the sorrow of Mildred after discovering that her son has purchased a slave:
"But where, in all she taught her son, was it about thou shall own no one, having been owned once your own self. Don’t go back to Egypt after God done took you outta there." (137)
It is at the end of this line of thought that Mildred returns to her religion, to a lesson that was deemed so obvious that she never bothered to say it. For without the articulation of these core values, as the novel and the September 11 attacks show, the alternative may be to leave religion in the hands of those who will use it justify everything from terrorism to slavery.
WORKS CITED
Davis, David Brion. "The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture". Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966. Print.
Hefner, Robert W. “September 11 and the Struggle for Islam.” 10 Years After September 11. Social Science Research Council, 8 September 2011. Web. November 2011.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Monday, November 28, 2011
The Embassy of the U.S.A. in Manila and the American Studies Association of the Philippines (ASAP) invite you all to the 2011 ASAP Assembly!
This year's Assembly will be held 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM on Saturday, December 3, 2011, in the Dalupan Auditorium, University of the East, C.M. Recto Avenue, Manila. Registration will begin at 8:00 AM.
A plenary session titled "Post-9/11 Realities in Literature: Edward P. Jones in Focus" will be led by Professor Raymond Falgui of the Department of English and Comparative Literature, University of the Philippines Diliman. An exchange alumnus of the Study of the U.S. Institutes in Contemporary American Literature, Professor Falgui will present a paper titled "Religion as Justification: Christian Contexts in E.P. Jones's The Known World."
Come and join us and sign up as a lifetime ASAP Member!
A plenary session titled "Post-9/11 Realities in Literature: Edward P. Jones in Focus" will be led by Professor Raymond Falgui of the Department of English and Comparative Literature, University of the Philippines Diliman. An exchange alumnus of the Study of the U.S. Institutes in Contemporary American Literature, Professor Falgui will present a paper titled "Religion as Justification: Christian Contexts in E.P. Jones's The Known World."
Come and join us and sign up as a lifetime ASAP Member!
Friday, November 18, 2011
The Edward P. Jones Roadshow Schedule - Day 11
Will picked up Edward P. Jones at the Ambassador's residence and brought him to the Manila International Airport at 5:00 AM. "Any quotable quotes?" I asked Will later. "No," Will replied. "That's what happens at 5:00 AM."
Oh, well, this is not the end. Like the heart in Titanic this blog site will go on and on.
Goodbye for now, EPJ! Thank you for embracing the Philippines and for your stories of poverty and oppression. We embrace you back!
We know that we shall meet again soon.
E-mail message from Will sent at 12:24 PM:
"This morning, I saw Mr. Jones safely off at the airport. It was a long visit, and we worked him to the brink of exhaustion, but on the whole it went very well.
"Thank you to everyone who helped make the visit a success.
"Cheers,
"Will Cocks
Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer
U.S. Embassy Manila"
Oh, well, this is not the end. Like the heart in Titanic this blog site will go on and on.
Goodbye for now, EPJ! Thank you for embracing the Philippines and for your stories of poverty and oppression. We embrace you back!
We know that we shall meet again soon.
E-mail message from Will sent at 12:24 PM:
"This morning, I saw Mr. Jones safely off at the airport. It was a long visit, and we worked him to the brink of exhaustion, but on the whole it went very well.
"Thank you to everyone who helped make the visit a success.
"Cheers,
"Will Cocks
Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer
U.S. Embassy Manila"
The Edward P. Jones Roadshow Schedule - Day 10
Friday, November 18
Day 3 of "The Great Philippine Book Cafe" at Ayala Museum.
Edward had a TV interview for ANC on the festival site. Lexi Schulze conducted the interview for Cityscape, a weekly lifestyle magazine that airs on ANC every Friday at 9:30 PM (tonight) with replays every Saturday at 1:30 AM, 11:00 AM, 8:00 PM, and 10:30 PM (tomorrow). This interview was arranged by our Information Section, with special thanks to our Information Officer Tina Malone and Information Specialist Adrian Ayalin and Information Assistant Angie Cabahug.
11:00 AM - 12:30 NN: "A Conversation with Edward P. Jones," moderated by Ruel S. De Vera, associate editor of The Sunday Inquirer Magazine. Fifty festival participants were in attendance (we'd requested a maximum of 15). After the interview, people lined up for autographs and photographs. We met Vietnamese writer Que Mai again; she had more of EPJ's books for her friends "for Christmas," and had more photos taken of EPJ and herself.
Lunch was at Myron's, Glorietta 5. EPJ, Will, Ruey De Vera, and I sat down at a scrumptious lunch hosted by National Book Development Board officers Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz and Andrea Pasion-Flores. EPJ had breaded shrimp (again) and onion rings. I had "Deconstructed Tuna"--you MUST try this.
2:30 - 4:00 PM: Tea with the Board Members of the American Studies Association of the Philippines at Mary Grace Restaurant, Serendra, Global City. Robin Diallo joined us for this event; ASAP is holding its Annual Assembly on December 8, focusing on the works of EPJ; our Cultural Affairs Officer, Alan Holst, will be giving opening remarks and Robin, the closing. We are considering the possibility of holding a teleconference or Skype conference with EPJ that day (that night, his time).
Laden with gifts from his new friends, we brought EPJ back to the Ambassador's residence in the afternoon. We couldn't believe, his program had ended!
I hugged EPJ and told him how much I love him.
Lucky Will--he gets to see EPJ again tomorrow, when he takes him to the airport.
Day 3 of "The Great Philippine Book Cafe" at Ayala Museum.
Edward had a TV interview for ANC on the festival site. Lexi Schulze conducted the interview for Cityscape, a weekly lifestyle magazine that airs on ANC every Friday at 9:30 PM (tonight) with replays every Saturday at 1:30 AM, 11:00 AM, 8:00 PM, and 10:30 PM (tomorrow). This interview was arranged by our Information Section, with special thanks to our Information Officer Tina Malone and Information Specialist Adrian Ayalin and Information Assistant Angie Cabahug.
11:00 AM - 12:30 NN: "A Conversation with Edward P. Jones," moderated by Ruel S. De Vera, associate editor of The Sunday Inquirer Magazine. Fifty festival participants were in attendance (we'd requested a maximum of 15). After the interview, people lined up for autographs and photographs. We met Vietnamese writer Que Mai again; she had more of EPJ's books for her friends "for Christmas," and had more photos taken of EPJ and herself.
Lunch was at Myron's, Glorietta 5. EPJ, Will, Ruey De Vera, and I sat down at a scrumptious lunch hosted by National Book Development Board officers Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz and Andrea Pasion-Flores. EPJ had breaded shrimp (again) and onion rings. I had "Deconstructed Tuna"--you MUST try this.
2:30 - 4:00 PM: Tea with the Board Members of the American Studies Association of the Philippines at Mary Grace Restaurant, Serendra, Global City. Robin Diallo joined us for this event; ASAP is holding its Annual Assembly on December 8, focusing on the works of EPJ; our Cultural Affairs Officer, Alan Holst, will be giving opening remarks and Robin, the closing. We are considering the possibility of holding a teleconference or Skype conference with EPJ that day (that night, his time).
Laden with gifts from his new friends, we brought EPJ back to the Ambassador's residence in the afternoon. We couldn't believe, his program had ended!
I hugged EPJ and told him how much I love him.
Lucky Will--he gets to see EPJ again tomorrow, when he takes him to the airport.
The Edward P. Jones Roadshow Schedule - Day 9
Thursday, November 17
Morning session at University of Asia & the Pacific with 15 Literature faculty members and majors. Edward P. Jones read the first few pages of one of his stories in All Aunt Hagar's Children. I happened to have my autographed copy with me and followed the text while he was reading. When EPJ reads from his own work, he skips paragraphs and phrases, and changes words on the spot, depending on the audience he's with!
A long discussion on creative writing and EPJ's works followed, and then lunch with the faculty and students, Filipino playwright and historian Dr. Paul A. Dumol, and two officials of UA&P. The university gave EPJ a saddle leather wallet as a token.
We proceeded to the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, where we met docent Billy and board member Cora Alvina (who was touring guests from the Embassy of Finland). Billy gave us a tour of the current Picasso exhibit on the ground floor, the ancient gold and pottery collections in the basement, the works of old masters on the ground floor, the new exhibit Conscripcion on the upper floor (co-curated by Ino Manalo), and the photo exhibit sponsored by the Embassy of Spain in the tall gallery. I so wanted to purchase two pairs of ancient-gold-reproduction earrings in the Museum Shop (yes, for myself; in the basement Billy informed EPJ and Will that "in ancient times, Filipino men wore earrings," to which I replied, "But they know that already"). I simply have to furtively return to the Museum Shop at some point in the future.
The evening found us in the activity center at the National Book Store branch in Glorietta 5. We were met by branch manager Vangie and events coordinator James. I love the way Marketing Director Miguel Ramos and James arranged the activity center: EPJ's poster and books were on display at the entrance, and two tall tarpaulins flanked the stage. Xandra Ramos-Padilla welcomed the guests (seats for 30 were available; a total of 60 were in the audience). Will conducted an interview with EPJ. Everyone then lined up for autographs (most of them not only with one book but stacks of books) and photographs. EPJ always looks his fans in the eye, converses with them, and ensures that he knows something about them before actually signing his books for them. One of his fans even brought out photos and press clippings of her grandfather (who graduated at Silliman University) and showed them to EPJ.
A TV interview, arranged by NBS, ensued on the stage.
The surprise of the evening: Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, Jr., himself came to pick up EPJ for a dinner appointment. HKT actually bought some of EPJ's books to give away as gifts during the dinner. Xandra gave EPJ copies of the latest editions of the Noli and the Fili, plus other Filipiniana (in English, naturally).
More photographs, this time with the Ambassador.
Since the Ambassador took EPJ away to The Outback Steak House in Alabang (I am not allowed to tell anyone where he was taken LAST NIGHT), Will and I went home together.
Yes, your suspicion is right: I couldn't help buying three pairs of earrings from the antiques kiosks on the ground floor. I felt, it was the best way to end my day.
Morning session at University of Asia & the Pacific with 15 Literature faculty members and majors. Edward P. Jones read the first few pages of one of his stories in All Aunt Hagar's Children. I happened to have my autographed copy with me and followed the text while he was reading. When EPJ reads from his own work, he skips paragraphs and phrases, and changes words on the spot, depending on the audience he's with!
A long discussion on creative writing and EPJ's works followed, and then lunch with the faculty and students, Filipino playwright and historian Dr. Paul A. Dumol, and two officials of UA&P. The university gave EPJ a saddle leather wallet as a token.
We proceeded to the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, where we met docent Billy and board member Cora Alvina (who was touring guests from the Embassy of Finland). Billy gave us a tour of the current Picasso exhibit on the ground floor, the ancient gold and pottery collections in the basement, the works of old masters on the ground floor, the new exhibit Conscripcion on the upper floor (co-curated by Ino Manalo), and the photo exhibit sponsored by the Embassy of Spain in the tall gallery. I so wanted to purchase two pairs of ancient-gold-reproduction earrings in the Museum Shop (yes, for myself; in the basement Billy informed EPJ and Will that "in ancient times, Filipino men wore earrings," to which I replied, "But they know that already"). I simply have to furtively return to the Museum Shop at some point in the future.
The evening found us in the activity center at the National Book Store branch in Glorietta 5. We were met by branch manager Vangie and events coordinator James. I love the way Marketing Director Miguel Ramos and James arranged the activity center: EPJ's poster and books were on display at the entrance, and two tall tarpaulins flanked the stage. Xandra Ramos-Padilla welcomed the guests (seats for 30 were available; a total of 60 were in the audience). Will conducted an interview with EPJ. Everyone then lined up for autographs (most of them not only with one book but stacks of books) and photographs. EPJ always looks his fans in the eye, converses with them, and ensures that he knows something about them before actually signing his books for them. One of his fans even brought out photos and press clippings of her grandfather (who graduated at Silliman University) and showed them to EPJ.
A TV interview, arranged by NBS, ensued on the stage.
The surprise of the evening: Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, Jr., himself came to pick up EPJ for a dinner appointment. HKT actually bought some of EPJ's books to give away as gifts during the dinner. Xandra gave EPJ copies of the latest editions of the Noli and the Fili, plus other Filipiniana (in English, naturally).
More photographs, this time with the Ambassador.
Since the Ambassador took EPJ away to The Outback Steak House in Alabang (I am not allowed to tell anyone where he was taken LAST NIGHT), Will and I went home together.
Yes, your suspicion is right: I couldn't help buying three pairs of earrings from the antiques kiosks on the ground floor. I felt, it was the best way to end my day.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Tina Cuyugan's Article for "The Philippine Star"
Pulitzer-winning fictionist Edward P. Jones visits the Philippines
by Tina Cuyugan
In 2003, the American literary world was astounded by the appearance of The Known World, a novel about 19th-century slavery, in particular about African-Americans who themselves owned slaves.
Its middle-aged author, Edward P. Jones, had drawn the attention of a handful of reviewers ten years earlier with a collection of short stories, after which almost nothing had been heard of him.
It turns out that for most of that decade, Jones had been fashioning—in his head, hardly putting a word on paper—one of the most poetic and richly realized American historical novels of recent times.
The Known World explores, movingly and relentlessly, the terrible implications of a human being owned by another.
Accolades and prizes quickly followed its publication, including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The novelist Peter Matthiessen described it as “a strong, intricate, daring book by a writer of deep compassion and uncommon gifts.”
Jones, who is in the Philippines for the 2nd Manila International Literary Festival, turns out to be a courtly, self-contained man who lights up when speaking of his imaginative world and the craft of writing.
He was brought up in Washington , D.C. , by a working single mother whose hard life ended before her son’s literary success came to pass.
“We moved house 18 times in 18 years,” he recalls of his early life. The Known World is dedicated to his brother and to his mother Jeanette “who could have done much more in a better world.”
Although he insists that all his characters are fiction, his two extraordinary collections of short stories of the modern era, Lost In the City (1992) and All Aunt Hagar’s Children (2006), are set in readily identifiable streets in Washington , D.C.
This is not the federal Washington of gleaming public buildings, but of largely African-American districts that grew from the successive waves of migrants from the rural south.
Like many Filipino probinsiyanos, or their parents, who have made their way to Manila nursing hopes of a better life, but instead have found themselves barely able to survive, the characters in these stories lead lives “of quiet desperation,” as Jones says, taking a line from Thoreau.
Within this world, a minute wrong decision or seemingly inconsequential twist of fate can unravel lives and loves beyond repair, setting off a chain reaction that cuts through generations.
In “A Rich Man,” a pensioned widower’s flirtation with a younger woman leads to a downward spiral of drugs and degradation. In “The Store,” a shop owner who provides refuge and a rare and unsentimental love to an angry young man she hires as a clerk is ostracized by the community after accidentally running over a little girl.
“I don’t do happy well,” says Jones, dryly, when asked about the bleak fate that befalls many of his characters and their loves.
In the hands of a lesser writer, it would be all too grim, but Jones’ mastery of his imagined world, his delicacy of perception and language, and his fierce empathy imbue these small, messy and fleeting lives with resonance and poignancy.
As a teenager, Jones had a vague idea he wanted “to work in the Post Office, something like that.” But like almost all good writers, he was a first a reader, and was drawn to American southern fictionists whose books spoke directly to his experience. This was followed by the notion of becoming a writer himself.
A college course on the Bible as literature was also a revelation; it taught him, among other things, the impact of using pared-down, sonorous language to describe horrific events.
Despite being an author with prizes to his name and an international following, Jones leads a hermetic existence, apparently not very different from the two decades he spent earning a living as the editor of an obscure newsletter—now defunct—for accountants.
“I sit on the floor, I sleep on the floor,” Jones says. He does watch movies and news (and recalls following accounts of our late president, Corazon Aquino). He doesn’t do Facebook.
He has grown accustomed to interviews and making public appearances when necessary, and has taught creative writing, but one has a strong sense that the only world that truly engages him is the one that continues to evolve in his amazing imagination.
Jones, who is visiting the Philippines under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy, has been meeting with local writers at universities in Manila and Dumaguete City .
He will hold a book signing at National Bookstore and speak at the 2nd Manila International Literary Festival at the Ayala Museum , Makati , November 16-18, along with Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Details at www.manilaliteraryfestival.com. ###
by Tina Cuyugan
In 2003, the American literary world was astounded by the appearance of The Known World, a novel about 19th-century slavery, in particular about African-Americans who themselves owned slaves.
Its middle-aged author, Edward P. Jones, had drawn the attention of a handful of reviewers ten years earlier with a collection of short stories, after which almost nothing had been heard of him.
It turns out that for most of that decade, Jones had been fashioning—in his head, hardly putting a word on paper—one of the most poetic and richly realized American historical novels of recent times.
The Known World explores, movingly and relentlessly, the terrible implications of a human being owned by another.
Accolades and prizes quickly followed its publication, including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The novelist Peter Matthiessen described it as “a strong, intricate, daring book by a writer of deep compassion and uncommon gifts.”
Jones, who is in the Philippines for the 2nd Manila International Literary Festival, turns out to be a courtly, self-contained man who lights up when speaking of his imaginative world and the craft of writing.
He was brought up in Washington , D.C. , by a working single mother whose hard life ended before her son’s literary success came to pass.
“We moved house 18 times in 18 years,” he recalls of his early life. The Known World is dedicated to his brother and to his mother Jeanette “who could have done much more in a better world.”
Although he insists that all his characters are fiction, his two extraordinary collections of short stories of the modern era, Lost In the City (1992) and All Aunt Hagar’s Children (2006), are set in readily identifiable streets in Washington , D.C.
This is not the federal Washington of gleaming public buildings, but of largely African-American districts that grew from the successive waves of migrants from the rural south.
Like many Filipino probinsiyanos, or their parents, who have made their way to Manila nursing hopes of a better life, but instead have found themselves barely able to survive, the characters in these stories lead lives “of quiet desperation,” as Jones says, taking a line from Thoreau.
Within this world, a minute wrong decision or seemingly inconsequential twist of fate can unravel lives and loves beyond repair, setting off a chain reaction that cuts through generations.
In “A Rich Man,” a pensioned widower’s flirtation with a younger woman leads to a downward spiral of drugs and degradation. In “The Store,” a shop owner who provides refuge and a rare and unsentimental love to an angry young man she hires as a clerk is ostracized by the community after accidentally running over a little girl.
“I don’t do happy well,” says Jones, dryly, when asked about the bleak fate that befalls many of his characters and their loves.
In the hands of a lesser writer, it would be all too grim, but Jones’ mastery of his imagined world, his delicacy of perception and language, and his fierce empathy imbue these small, messy and fleeting lives with resonance and poignancy.
As a teenager, Jones had a vague idea he wanted “to work in the Post Office, something like that.” But like almost all good writers, he was a first a reader, and was drawn to American southern fictionists whose books spoke directly to his experience. This was followed by the notion of becoming a writer himself.
A college course on the Bible as literature was also a revelation; it taught him, among other things, the impact of using pared-down, sonorous language to describe horrific events.
Despite being an author with prizes to his name and an international following, Jones leads a hermetic existence, apparently not very different from the two decades he spent earning a living as the editor of an obscure newsletter—now defunct—for accountants.
“I sit on the floor, I sleep on the floor,” Jones says. He does watch movies and news (and recalls following accounts of our late president, Corazon Aquino). He doesn’t do Facebook.
He has grown accustomed to interviews and making public appearances when necessary, and has taught creative writing, but one has a strong sense that the only world that truly engages him is the one that continues to evolve in his amazing imagination.
Jones, who is visiting the Philippines under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy, has been meeting with local writers at universities in Manila and Dumaguete City .
He will hold a book signing at National Bookstore and speak at the 2nd Manila International Literary Festival at the Ayala Museum , Makati , November 16-18, along with Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Details at www.manilaliteraryfestival.com. ###
The Edward P. Jones Roadshow Schedule - Day 8
Wednesday, November 16
Opening Day of Manila International Literary Festival's "The Great Philippine Book Cafe" at Ayala Museum, organized by the National Book Development Board! Program partners for this three-day event are the NBDB, the Embassy of the U.S.A. in Manila, Philippine Airlines, Filipinas Heritage Library, The Book Development Association of the Philippines, Inc., Penguin Books, Vibal Foundation, The Manila Bulletin, Central Books, and Ayala Museum.
An international crowd of approximately three hundred attended the opening. To be honored this day were Pulitzer Prize winners Edward P. Jones (The Known World) and Junot Diaz (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao). Other writers to be featured over the entire festival are Holly Thompson (U.S.A.), Rachel Kahan (U.S.A.), Jayapriya Vasudevan (India), Ravi Mirchandani (UK), and Priya Doraswamy (U.S.A.).
I'm not posting the festival's kilometric schedule here, only the 10:30 AM - 12:00 NN session "Writing from the Margins: Writers from Minority Background on Writing for a Mainstream Audience within the Mainstream of American Publishing" showcasing EPJ and Junot Diaz. Sarge Lacuesta (one of Post's IWP at Iowa University exchange alumni) introduced Junot, Vince Groyon (also one of Post's IWP at Iowa University exchange alumni, as I'd mentioned in a previous posting) introduced EPJ and moderated his dialogue with the audience. After their individual presentations, both EPJ and Junot led an open forum.
Fans of EPJ and Junot lined up for autographs (and the inevitable photo-ops). A woman named Que Mai had flown in all the way from Vietnam just to have her book signed by EPJ; I took photos of them together on her cell phone camera.
National Book Store and Filipinas Heritage Library had book sales displays. PEOPLE WERE BUYING BOOKS!
I observed something totally new to me: EPJ and Junot can autograph books WHILE STANDING. In the Philippines, when authors are approached for autographs, they usually look for a chair to sit in (if not a table as well to write on).
Lunch for EPJ and Junot, hosted by the National Book Development Board, was held on the upper floor of Via Mare's Oyster Bar in Greenbelt 3. Our hosts included lechon kawali among the dishes in case the Ambassador would arrive, which was highly unlikely because today was Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's major activity day elsewhere in Metro Manila.
It was wonderful having two Pulitzer Prize winners dining in one room together. Yes, before we sat down at table, I shamelessly had my photo taken BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM.
After lunch we proceeded (without Junot, who had an independent but similarly hectic schedule constructed for him) to the Cultural Center of the Philippines. We were met at the entrance by Bernie Abella, Head of International Linkages, and Ed Cabagnot, Division Chief of Media Arts. We called on President Raul Sunico and Artistic Director Chris Millado. Ed gave EPJ and Will a tour of the CCP.
At the CCP's Dream Theater, EPJ and Will screened the independent film Nino. An interaction followed over tea with producer/director Loy Arcenas, producer/writer Raymond Lee, producer/writer Gay Domingo, writer Rody Vera, and producer/director and columnist for The Philippine Daily Inquirer Rica Arevalo. Hermie Beltran, Division Chief for Literary Arts, and Vicky Belarmino and Minda Casagan, Media Arts cultural officers, joined the dialogue-discussion, which was held in the Little Theater Lobby.
Will, a Literature major, made many new friends for the Embassy today.
As for myself, I can't believe that, after all the program preparations we made, which seemed like forever, we are having EPJ for ONLY TWO DAYS more. After dinner last night, as a matter of fact, Will turned to me and said, "Do your realize, that was our last dinner with Edward?"
I know that we shall miss EPJ after he leaves the Philippines.
Opening Day of Manila International Literary Festival's "The Great Philippine Book Cafe" at Ayala Museum, organized by the National Book Development Board! Program partners for this three-day event are the NBDB, the Embassy of the U.S.A. in Manila, Philippine Airlines, Filipinas Heritage Library, The Book Development Association of the Philippines, Inc., Penguin Books, Vibal Foundation, The Manila Bulletin, Central Books, and Ayala Museum.
An international crowd of approximately three hundred attended the opening. To be honored this day were Pulitzer Prize winners Edward P. Jones (The Known World) and Junot Diaz (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao). Other writers to be featured over the entire festival are Holly Thompson (U.S.A.), Rachel Kahan (U.S.A.), Jayapriya Vasudevan (India), Ravi Mirchandani (UK), and Priya Doraswamy (U.S.A.).
I'm not posting the festival's kilometric schedule here, only the 10:30 AM - 12:00 NN session "Writing from the Margins: Writers from Minority Background on Writing for a Mainstream Audience within the Mainstream of American Publishing" showcasing EPJ and Junot Diaz. Sarge Lacuesta (one of Post's IWP at Iowa University exchange alumni) introduced Junot, Vince Groyon (also one of Post's IWP at Iowa University exchange alumni, as I'd mentioned in a previous posting) introduced EPJ and moderated his dialogue with the audience. After their individual presentations, both EPJ and Junot led an open forum.
Fans of EPJ and Junot lined up for autographs (and the inevitable photo-ops). A woman named Que Mai had flown in all the way from Vietnam just to have her book signed by EPJ; I took photos of them together on her cell phone camera.
National Book Store and Filipinas Heritage Library had book sales displays. PEOPLE WERE BUYING BOOKS!
I observed something totally new to me: EPJ and Junot can autograph books WHILE STANDING. In the Philippines, when authors are approached for autographs, they usually look for a chair to sit in (if not a table as well to write on).
Lunch for EPJ and Junot, hosted by the National Book Development Board, was held on the upper floor of Via Mare's Oyster Bar in Greenbelt 3. Our hosts included lechon kawali among the dishes in case the Ambassador would arrive, which was highly unlikely because today was Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's major activity day elsewhere in Metro Manila.
It was wonderful having two Pulitzer Prize winners dining in one room together. Yes, before we sat down at table, I shamelessly had my photo taken BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM.
After lunch we proceeded (without Junot, who had an independent but similarly hectic schedule constructed for him) to the Cultural Center of the Philippines. We were met at the entrance by Bernie Abella, Head of International Linkages, and Ed Cabagnot, Division Chief of Media Arts. We called on President Raul Sunico and Artistic Director Chris Millado. Ed gave EPJ and Will a tour of the CCP.
At the CCP's Dream Theater, EPJ and Will screened the independent film Nino. An interaction followed over tea with producer/director Loy Arcenas, producer/writer Raymond Lee, producer/writer Gay Domingo, writer Rody Vera, and producer/director and columnist for The Philippine Daily Inquirer Rica Arevalo. Hermie Beltran, Division Chief for Literary Arts, and Vicky Belarmino and Minda Casagan, Media Arts cultural officers, joined the dialogue-discussion, which was held in the Little Theater Lobby.
Will, a Literature major, made many new friends for the Embassy today.
As for myself, I can't believe that, after all the program preparations we made, which seemed like forever, we are having EPJ for ONLY TWO DAYS more. After dinner last night, as a matter of fact, Will turned to me and said, "Do your realize, that was our last dinner with Edward?"
I know that we shall miss EPJ after he leaves the Philippines.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
The Edward P. Jones Roadshow Schedule - Day 7
Tuesday, November 15
We checked out of La Residencia Hotel at 12:25 noon. Dwight, our assigned driver, took us to the airport area. (Five minutes later Eve text-messaged me that she and her co-faculty members came to the hotel at 12:30 sharp to give Edward a surprise goodbye; fifteen minutes later Ian text-messaged me the same.) We had a bite to eat at The Oasis, in front of historic Saint Paul University. Edward had fried, breaded shrimp for lunch.
Our flight back to Manila was slightly delayed but we were in good spirits. It rained when we touched down at Terminal 3. Edward said, "I love the rain."
We proceeded to Barbara's Restaurant in Intramuros in our travel T-shirts and arrived on time for Public Affairs Officer Robin Diallo's reception in honor of both Edward and Junot Diaz (Junot sent word that he couldn't come because of his back problem but that he would be at The Great Philippine Book Cafe the next morning).
This reception was an excellent get-together for our program partners to meet and know one another. We were all honored to have, in alphabetical order: Walter Ang of The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Gen Asenjo of De La Salle University, Albert Avellana of the Avellana Art Gallery, Karina Bolasco of Anvil Publishing Inc., Edward Cabagnot of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Tina Cuyugan of Asian Development Bank, Isagani Cruz of Manila Critics Circle, Andrea Flores of the National Book Development Board, Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz of the National Book Development Board, National Artist Frankie and Tessie Sionil Jose, Sandra Ramos-Padilla of National Book Store, Racelle Weimann of The Holocaust Museum (Washington, D.C.), and Dee Anne Zobel of the Zobel Foundation.
Our most special guest of honor was the Ambassador himself--Harry K. Thomas, Jr.--who took time out from his hectic schedule. (Secretary Hilary Clinton is in town for a SecState Visit.)
Our buffet was Spanish-Filipino. The evening included a spectacular cultural presentation of ethnic Filipino dances. Robin and Will danced the tinikling!
I hit the sack at 12:00 midnight. I mustn't forget to thank my colleagues who were mostly in the background but were working double time both for the Edward P. Jones Roadshow and the SecState Visit: Teen Andrade, Bing Limlingan, Joy Pasandalan, Manny Domingo, and all of the Motor Pool drivers assigned to take us around.
If I've forgotten to mention anyone, forgive me; I shall remember to do so at another point in time during this program.
"Tomorrow is another day!"
We checked out of La Residencia Hotel at 12:25 noon. Dwight, our assigned driver, took us to the airport area. (Five minutes later Eve text-messaged me that she and her co-faculty members came to the hotel at 12:30 sharp to give Edward a surprise goodbye; fifteen minutes later Ian text-messaged me the same.) We had a bite to eat at The Oasis, in front of historic Saint Paul University. Edward had fried, breaded shrimp for lunch.
Our flight back to Manila was slightly delayed but we were in good spirits. It rained when we touched down at Terminal 3. Edward said, "I love the rain."
We proceeded to Barbara's Restaurant in Intramuros in our travel T-shirts and arrived on time for Public Affairs Officer Robin Diallo's reception in honor of both Edward and Junot Diaz (Junot sent word that he couldn't come because of his back problem but that he would be at The Great Philippine Book Cafe the next morning).
This reception was an excellent get-together for our program partners to meet and know one another. We were all honored to have, in alphabetical order: Walter Ang of The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Gen Asenjo of De La Salle University, Albert Avellana of the Avellana Art Gallery, Karina Bolasco of Anvil Publishing Inc., Edward Cabagnot of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Tina Cuyugan of Asian Development Bank, Isagani Cruz of Manila Critics Circle, Andrea Flores of the National Book Development Board, Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz of the National Book Development Board, National Artist Frankie and Tessie Sionil Jose, Sandra Ramos-Padilla of National Book Store, Racelle Weimann of The Holocaust Museum (Washington, D.C.), and Dee Anne Zobel of the Zobel Foundation.
Our most special guest of honor was the Ambassador himself--Harry K. Thomas, Jr.--who took time out from his hectic schedule. (Secretary Hilary Clinton is in town for a SecState Visit.)
Our buffet was Spanish-Filipino. The evening included a spectacular cultural presentation of ethnic Filipino dances. Robin and Will danced the tinikling!
I hit the sack at 12:00 midnight. I mustn't forget to thank my colleagues who were mostly in the background but were working double time both for the Edward P. Jones Roadshow and the SecState Visit: Teen Andrade, Bing Limlingan, Joy Pasandalan, Manny Domingo, and all of the Motor Pool drivers assigned to take us around.
If I've forgotten to mention anyone, forgive me; I shall remember to do so at another point in time during this program.
"Tomorrow is another day!"
Sunday, November 13, 2011
The Edward P. Jones Roadshow Schedule - Day 6
Monday, November 14
Still in Dumaguete.
Friends from OTHER countries are PMing me on facebook as to how they may obtain autographed copies of EPJ's books.
We're letting EPJ sleep through 8:30 AM this morning before a 9:30 AM media conference at the American Corner and a long trip to Writers Village on Mount Talinis. Yes, long. So long that I may not be able to go on-line and post the highlights of the day tonight.
But, I'm now blogging at La Residencia Hotel on the boulevard. According to Ian Casocot, during the American Period this building was the governor's mansion.
We've just come back from a full program day:
This morning, EPJ had a press conference participated in by Reno Tallada of ABS-CBN, Iphraim Cabristante of DYSR-FM, Choy Gallarde of Sky Cable, Melissa Pal and Kirk Roncesvalles of The Weekly Sillimanian, and university journalists Alana Narciso, Philip van Peel, L.F. Partosa, Jennifer Solitana, and Myla June Patron. What a great session this was!
EPJ and the Embassy Team then rode with Ian and Alana to Writers Village on Mount Talinis. A scrumptious lunch with the Dumaguete writers community followed by readings on the porch: the Dumaguete writers from their own works, EPJ his first story in Lost in the City and the beginning of another from All Aunt Hagar's Children. A dynamic discussion ensued: the local writers bared the Filipino soul to EPJ, epj, the American soul to them.
It rained, fog descended, and we were freezing--all except EPJ, who loved the weather and kept an electric fan aimed at him!
If the morning session was great, this session was amazing! The Filipino writers presented brilliantly truthful works--I was PROUD TO BE A FILIPINO!
There was fabulous bonding between EPJ and the local writers. As usual, EPJ autographed his books and posed for facebook Pictures the entire day.
At the end of the day, Silliman University gave EPJ a Certificate of Appreciation signed by the university president.
Well, it's not exactly the end of the day. We have a few minutes of down time before Ian and Moses Atega--Dumaguete's and Siquijor's living encyclopedia--pick us up for a special dinner at Lab-as, renowned for its exquisite sea food.
I'm in the lobby of La Residencia Hotel again; it's now the following morning. Our dinner last night was a gastronomic highlight of our visit. We had garlic crabs courtesy of the owner of the restaurant and the chef, crab soup, oysters (three kinds: baked, steamed, and raw), fresh tuna, and Dumaguete Express.
After dinner Ian and Moe took us to Cafe San Antonio to check out the place. Moe informed us that the Ambassador wanted to visit Cafe San Antonio because he is interested in meeting young entrepreneurs. (The Ambassador had to postpone his visit last month to early next year).
Will and I had our favorite at Cafe San Antonio: evil espresso. Cafe San Antonio in itself, however, is the spectacular delight it is reputed to be. it was recently sold by the owners (an old riche family) that moved in to the paradoxically modernized condominium across the street, looking out unto their former property. The Cafe is an old villa converted to an activity center; it has a restaurant, a cafe, a ballroom, a patio, and a shop, among others. It also has resident blackbirds, and I don't mean caged pets; you have to see them to believe them.
Incidentally we were shown a magnificent window looking out unto a back street. I reenacted the hotel-key-throwing scene from The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, which cracked up everyone. (If you don't know what that is, forget it. You don't want to know. What really surprised me, though, was that ALL of my companions knew Mrs. Stone. Including EPJ. EPJ and TW somehow spell out surrealism.)
I shan't repeat here (wow, "shan't"--when was the last time you heard that word?) all the stories, gilded and ungilded, of Moe about Dumaguete and Mindanao. Like Frankie Jose, Moe is an irresistible ranconteur. Just trust me when I say that all of us could have sat there the entire night, except that I had to remind everyone, we had a flight to catch the next day.
At Lab-as and at San Antonio EPJ could not escape being hounded by new fans who were either after his autograph or his photograph.
Still in Dumaguete.
Friends from OTHER countries are PMing me on facebook as to how they may obtain autographed copies of EPJ's books.
We're letting EPJ sleep through 8:30 AM this morning before a 9:30 AM media conference at the American Corner and a long trip to Writers Village on Mount Talinis. Yes, long. So long that I may not be able to go on-line and post the highlights of the day tonight.
But, I'm now blogging at La Residencia Hotel on the boulevard. According to Ian Casocot, during the American Period this building was the governor's mansion.
We've just come back from a full program day:
This morning, EPJ had a press conference participated in by Reno Tallada of ABS-CBN, Iphraim Cabristante of DYSR-FM, Choy Gallarde of Sky Cable, Melissa Pal and Kirk Roncesvalles of The Weekly Sillimanian, and university journalists Alana Narciso, Philip van Peel, L.F. Partosa, Jennifer Solitana, and Myla June Patron. What a great session this was!
EPJ and the Embassy Team then rode with Ian and Alana to Writers Village on Mount Talinis. A scrumptious lunch with the Dumaguete writers community followed by readings on the porch: the Dumaguete writers from their own works, EPJ his first story in Lost in the City and the beginning of another from All Aunt Hagar's Children. A dynamic discussion ensued: the local writers bared the Filipino soul to EPJ, epj, the American soul to them.
It rained, fog descended, and we were freezing--all except EPJ, who loved the weather and kept an electric fan aimed at him!
If the morning session was great, this session was amazing! The Filipino writers presented brilliantly truthful works--I was PROUD TO BE A FILIPINO!
There was fabulous bonding between EPJ and the local writers. As usual, EPJ autographed his books and posed for facebook Pictures the entire day.
At the end of the day, Silliman University gave EPJ a Certificate of Appreciation signed by the university president.
Well, it's not exactly the end of the day. We have a few minutes of down time before Ian and Moses Atega--Dumaguete's and Siquijor's living encyclopedia--pick us up for a special dinner at Lab-as, renowned for its exquisite sea food.
I'm in the lobby of La Residencia Hotel again; it's now the following morning. Our dinner last night was a gastronomic highlight of our visit. We had garlic crabs courtesy of the owner of the restaurant and the chef, crab soup, oysters (three kinds: baked, steamed, and raw), fresh tuna, and Dumaguete Express.
After dinner Ian and Moe took us to Cafe San Antonio to check out the place. Moe informed us that the Ambassador wanted to visit Cafe San Antonio because he is interested in meeting young entrepreneurs. (The Ambassador had to postpone his visit last month to early next year).
Will and I had our favorite at Cafe San Antonio: evil espresso. Cafe San Antonio in itself, however, is the spectacular delight it is reputed to be. it was recently sold by the owners (an old riche family) that moved in to the paradoxically modernized condominium across the street, looking out unto their former property. The Cafe is an old villa converted to an activity center; it has a restaurant, a cafe, a ballroom, a patio, and a shop, among others. It also has resident blackbirds, and I don't mean caged pets; you have to see them to believe them.
Incidentally we were shown a magnificent window looking out unto a back street. I reenacted the hotel-key-throwing scene from The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, which cracked up everyone. (If you don't know what that is, forget it. You don't want to know. What really surprised me, though, was that ALL of my companions knew Mrs. Stone. Including EPJ. EPJ and TW somehow spell out surrealism.)
I shan't repeat here (wow, "shan't"--when was the last time you heard that word?) all the stories, gilded and ungilded, of Moe about Dumaguete and Mindanao. Like Frankie Jose, Moe is an irresistible ranconteur. Just trust me when I say that all of us could have sat there the entire night, except that I had to remind everyone, we had a flight to catch the next day.
At Lab-as and at San Antonio EPJ could not escape being hounded by new fans who were either after his autograph or his photograph.
The Edward P. Jones Roadshow Schedule - Day 5
Sunday, November 13
Edward P. Jones, Will, and I checked in at Centennial Airport Terminal 3 for flight PR-293 Manila - Dumaguete. A smooth flight, which departed and arrived on time. We were met at Dumaguete City Airport by Dr. Eve Mascunana, Coordinator of the Writers Workshop at Silliman University, and two majors. EPJ received a cattleya lei.
We checked in at La Residencia Hotel, then proceeded to one of Post's 14 American Corners, this one based in Silliman University. Lorna Yso, AC Director, met us there.
EPJ headed a dialogue-discussion with 23 (we asked for a small group of 15) Literature faculty students and majors, after which Dr. Cecile Genove, Dean of the School of Communication, interviewed EPJ on-cam for her TV show on Channel 6 Fil-Products, and for the Visayan Daily Star. Cecile promised to give us a DVD copy of the broadcast version.
Dinner that evening was hosted by University President Ben Malayang at the President's House on campus. Ben gave a succinct but interesting history of Silliman University. Among the guests were Ian Rosales Casocot, an award-winning fiction writer we recently sent on the IWP at Iowa University (as we did Vince Groyon), and a female Creative Writing scholar from India.
Edward P. Jones, Will, and I checked in at Centennial Airport Terminal 3 for flight PR-293 Manila - Dumaguete. A smooth flight, which departed and arrived on time. We were met at Dumaguete City Airport by Dr. Eve Mascunana, Coordinator of the Writers Workshop at Silliman University, and two majors. EPJ received a cattleya lei.
We checked in at La Residencia Hotel, then proceeded to one of Post's 14 American Corners, this one based in Silliman University. Lorna Yso, AC Director, met us there.
EPJ headed a dialogue-discussion with 23 (we asked for a small group of 15) Literature faculty students and majors, after which Dr. Cecile Genove, Dean of the School of Communication, interviewed EPJ on-cam for her TV show on Channel 6 Fil-Products, and for the Visayan Daily Star. Cecile promised to give us a DVD copy of the broadcast version.
Dinner that evening was hosted by University President Ben Malayang at the President's House on campus. Ben gave a succinct but interesting history of Silliman University. Among the guests were Ian Rosales Casocot, an award-winning fiction writer we recently sent on the IWP at Iowa University (as we did Vince Groyon), and a female Creative Writing scholar from India.
Friday, November 11, 2011
The Edward P. Jones Roadshow Schedule - Day 4
Saturday, November 12. Rest day for Edward P. Jones.
The Ambassador has him scheduled to visit Intramuros with Jun Jun Capistrano as docent. I hope, they are able to sneak in a stop at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. Yesterday, on our way to De La Salle University, EPJ expressed an interest in seeing the ancient gold collection. We didn't have time to stop by before proceeding to La Solidaridad.
EPJ ended up warching the light and sound show at the Jose Rizal Museum in Intramuros. In the afternoon Rick and Nini Polney brought him to the Basilica of Quiapo, where he had a chance to observe the vendors, the shoppers, and the devotees of the Black Nazarene.
The Black Nazarene piqued his curiosity; he wants literature on it (in English, of course).
The Ambassador then brought EPJ to his favorite barber shop and finally sprung a Filipino massage on him. Later, EPJ told me, that was his first massage and he didn't like being massaged. Strangely, neither does Will. they don't like "being touched by strangers. WHY?????? (Bwahahahaha!)
Will and I are packing for Dumaguete today.
I must mention something important, that EPJ explained during the P.E.N. meeting last night. It is ESSENTIAL that one buy Lost in the City AND All Aunt Hagar's Children. Lost has 14 stories; Hagar has 14. Story #1 in Lost is connected to Story #2 in Hagar; Story #2 to Story #2; and so on through Story #14. A brilliant concept! EPJ is an architectonic writer, which contradicts his frequent claims that his writing is all "spontaneous." Everything, on the contrary, is carefully thought out, planned, and laid out in his mind.
Eat your hearts out; I have BOTH books. They are also both autographed by EPJ "For Angelique, Aubrey, and Chevy"--my granddaughters!
The Ambassador has him scheduled to visit Intramuros with Jun Jun Capistrano as docent. I hope, they are able to sneak in a stop at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. Yesterday, on our way to De La Salle University, EPJ expressed an interest in seeing the ancient gold collection. We didn't have time to stop by before proceeding to La Solidaridad.
EPJ ended up warching the light and sound show at the Jose Rizal Museum in Intramuros. In the afternoon Rick and Nini Polney brought him to the Basilica of Quiapo, where he had a chance to observe the vendors, the shoppers, and the devotees of the Black Nazarene.
The Black Nazarene piqued his curiosity; he wants literature on it (in English, of course).
The Ambassador then brought EPJ to his favorite barber shop and finally sprung a Filipino massage on him. Later, EPJ told me, that was his first massage and he didn't like being massaged. Strangely, neither does Will. they don't like "being touched by strangers. WHY?????? (Bwahahahaha!)
Will and I are packing for Dumaguete today.
I must mention something important, that EPJ explained during the P.E.N. meeting last night. It is ESSENTIAL that one buy Lost in the City AND All Aunt Hagar's Children. Lost has 14 stories; Hagar has 14. Story #1 in Lost is connected to Story #2 in Hagar; Story #2 to Story #2; and so on through Story #14. A brilliant concept! EPJ is an architectonic writer, which contradicts his frequent claims that his writing is all "spontaneous." Everything, on the contrary, is carefully thought out, planned, and laid out in his mind.
Eat your hearts out; I have BOTH books. They are also both autographed by EPJ "For Angelique, Aubrey, and Chevy"--my granddaughters!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
The Edward P. Jones Roadshow Schedule - Day 3
It's U.S. Veterans Day, an Embassy holiday, but we don't mind coming in to work because Edward P. Jones is in town!
We are now at Albert Avellana's art gallery/compound. It's close to lunch time and I'm on artist Jun-Jun Sta. Ana's laptop; Jun-Jun has an amazing exhibit that you mustn't miss. Everyone is in the drawing room of Tower 3, conversing about slavery in the Philippines over sago at gulaman and chicharon.
A fun time for EPJ with young, Filipino visual artists: Albert Avellana, Jun-Jun Sta. Ana, Pidge Reyes, Ambie Abania, Bubut Caluya, Mon Diokno, Adjie Lizares, Carlomar Daoana, and Jojie Lloren.
Our lunch menu:
Okoy chips from the Swan
Pork Adobo
Monggo soup with ampalaya leaves and chicharon
Steamed vegetables with bagoong sauce
Chicken afritada
Creamdory ihaw with kamatis, sibuyas inside banana leaves
Steamed rice
Sago at gulaman in wine glasses
Banana turon with vanilla ice cream and choclate syrup
Iced tea/mineral water
All of this was cooked by the in-house gallery staff!
Pidge brought some evil, evil torta de los reyes from Aristocrat Restaurant!
Yum!
We just learned that EPJ managed to escape a Filipino massage last night. He was able to sleep from 11:30 PM - 6:00 AM.
I'm now on my laptop at home. Early this afternoon--the day still bright and sunny and the climate humid--we were at the Andrew Gonzales Building, De La Salle University, for EPJ's dialogue on The Known World with the Literature majors under Department Chair Gen Asenjo and IWP Exchange Alumnus Vince Groyon. On the way there I pointed out the lush bandera Espanola growing on the fringe of Roxas Boulevard. EPJ asked, "When was the last time it rained?"
Gen had an interesting anecdote to share. She applied for her U.S. visa last week. The consul at the window asked her to prove her status as Literature professor and asked her to name one American writer. She said, "Edward P. Jones." She was issued a ten-year visa. (Sorry, guys, this won't work a second time!)
Dinner was with Board Members of the Philippine P.E.N. International on the third floor of National Artist for Literature Frankie Sionil Jose's La Solidaridad. In attendance were current P.E.N. President Bien Lumbera, former P.E.N. President Elmer Ordonez, and Ricky Soler, Susan Lara, Shane Lumbera, Susie Tan, Shirley Lua, Charlson Ong, and Wendell Capili (who had awesome news for Charlson Ong about this year's National Book Awards). Ricky brought a whole trayful of his die-to-for paella, and Will had his favorite dragon fruit! Ever the compleat raconteur, FSJ regaled us with stories about Ermita, and facetiously encouraged me to give EPJ "a taste of night life in Manila." I demurred, saying that the Ambassador would surely have me assassinated the following morning.
The conversation verged on anti-Americanism and revolutions in the making. Some people had hard drinks from FSJ's well-stocked bar, but I chose to have my all-time favorite, soda water.
FSJ and Charlson gave EPJ copies of their own novels. EPJ must have autographed 50 books the entire day, all the way from the art gallery to La Solidaridad!
EPJ got his wish tonight. There was a heavy downpour--with lightning and thunder, to boot!
We are now at Albert Avellana's art gallery/compound. It's close to lunch time and I'm on artist Jun-Jun Sta. Ana's laptop; Jun-Jun has an amazing exhibit that you mustn't miss. Everyone is in the drawing room of Tower 3, conversing about slavery in the Philippines over sago at gulaman and chicharon.
A fun time for EPJ with young, Filipino visual artists: Albert Avellana, Jun-Jun Sta. Ana, Pidge Reyes, Ambie Abania, Bubut Caluya, Mon Diokno, Adjie Lizares, Carlomar Daoana, and Jojie Lloren.
Our lunch menu:
Okoy chips from the Swan
Pork Adobo
Monggo soup with ampalaya leaves and chicharon
Steamed vegetables with bagoong sauce
Chicken afritada
Creamdory ihaw with kamatis, sibuyas inside banana leaves
Steamed rice
Sago at gulaman in wine glasses
Banana turon with vanilla ice cream and choclate syrup
Iced tea/mineral water
All of this was cooked by the in-house gallery staff!
Pidge brought some evil, evil torta de los reyes from Aristocrat Restaurant!
Yum!
We just learned that EPJ managed to escape a Filipino massage last night. He was able to sleep from 11:30 PM - 6:00 AM.
I'm now on my laptop at home. Early this afternoon--the day still bright and sunny and the climate humid--we were at the Andrew Gonzales Building, De La Salle University, for EPJ's dialogue on The Known World with the Literature majors under Department Chair Gen Asenjo and IWP Exchange Alumnus Vince Groyon. On the way there I pointed out the lush bandera Espanola growing on the fringe of Roxas Boulevard. EPJ asked, "When was the last time it rained?"
Gen had an interesting anecdote to share. She applied for her U.S. visa last week. The consul at the window asked her to prove her status as Literature professor and asked her to name one American writer. She said, "Edward P. Jones." She was issued a ten-year visa. (Sorry, guys, this won't work a second time!)
Dinner was with Board Members of the Philippine P.E.N. International on the third floor of National Artist for Literature Frankie Sionil Jose's La Solidaridad. In attendance were current P.E.N. President Bien Lumbera, former P.E.N. President Elmer Ordonez, and Ricky Soler, Susan Lara, Shane Lumbera, Susie Tan, Shirley Lua, Charlson Ong, and Wendell Capili (who had awesome news for Charlson Ong about this year's National Book Awards). Ricky brought a whole trayful of his die-to-for paella, and Will had his favorite dragon fruit! Ever the compleat raconteur, FSJ regaled us with stories about Ermita, and facetiously encouraged me to give EPJ "a taste of night life in Manila." I demurred, saying that the Ambassador would surely have me assassinated the following morning.
The conversation verged on anti-Americanism and revolutions in the making. Some people had hard drinks from FSJ's well-stocked bar, but I chose to have my all-time favorite, soda water.
FSJ and Charlson gave EPJ copies of their own novels. EPJ must have autographed 50 books the entire day, all the way from the art gallery to La Solidaridad!
EPJ got his wish tonight. There was a heavy downpour--with lightning and thunder, to boot!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
The Edward P. Jones Roadshow Schedule - Day 2
Thursday, November 10 in the Philippines.
Will Cocks, our Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer and control officer for Edward P. Jones, reported in an e-mail message this morning that EPJ arrived safely from the U.S.A. via DL-173 at 10:25 last night. EPJ is now in the Ambassador's Residence on Jacaranda Road, where he will remain as house guest through the end of his Philippine tour.
Another e-mail message from Andrea Pasion-Flores, currently Executive Director of the National Book Development Board, informed us that Junot Diaz, also a Pulitzer Prize winner, has decided to come to the Philippines despite his back problems.
EPJ's day began with an Embassy tour led by Vice-Consul Rick Polney and a review of the program schedule and administrative details in the Nox 1 Cafeteria.
The Embassy team then brought EPJ to Cafe Adriatico on Remedios Circle for lunch with Philippine Star writer Jessica Zafra and writer Tina Cuyugan. How I wish, the entire session had been videoed; EPJ was spouting forth gems worth quoting, by the minute! Having EPJ, Jessica, and Tina all together at the table was also too good to be true!
I had my copy of Lost in the City autographed; Jessica, her copy of The Known World. Tina had one over both of us, though: she brought out an already-autographed, first-edition, copy of The Known World and had EPJ autograph it all over again on the same page. EPJ recalled that he had sent a book of those autographed first-edition issues to Harper Collins "a long time ago."
Our most precious discoveries:
Everything in EPJ's works is completely out of his imagination; nothing is ever based on real characters and events.
EPJ does not like writing in longhand or using a typewriter; he goes directly to the word processor to encode his thoughts.
EPJ struggles through the first 30 pages, after which the rest of his work is smooth sailing through the end.
EPJ can write the LAST chapter of a novel immediately after the FIRST, because everything else is already written inside his mind.
Later in the day EPJ bought a black polo barong at The Landmark in Makati. We brought him back to the Residence afterwards.
Will Cocks, our Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer and control officer for Edward P. Jones, reported in an e-mail message this morning that EPJ arrived safely from the U.S.A. via DL-173 at 10:25 last night. EPJ is now in the Ambassador's Residence on Jacaranda Road, where he will remain as house guest through the end of his Philippine tour.
Another e-mail message from Andrea Pasion-Flores, currently Executive Director of the National Book Development Board, informed us that Junot Diaz, also a Pulitzer Prize winner, has decided to come to the Philippines despite his back problems.
EPJ's day began with an Embassy tour led by Vice-Consul Rick Polney and a review of the program schedule and administrative details in the Nox 1 Cafeteria.
The Embassy team then brought EPJ to Cafe Adriatico on Remedios Circle for lunch with Philippine Star writer Jessica Zafra and writer Tina Cuyugan. How I wish, the entire session had been videoed; EPJ was spouting forth gems worth quoting, by the minute! Having EPJ, Jessica, and Tina all together at the table was also too good to be true!
I had my copy of Lost in the City autographed; Jessica, her copy of The Known World. Tina had one over both of us, though: she brought out an already-autographed, first-edition, copy of The Known World and had EPJ autograph it all over again on the same page. EPJ recalled that he had sent a book of those autographed first-edition issues to Harper Collins "a long time ago."
Our most precious discoveries:
Everything in EPJ's works is completely out of his imagination; nothing is ever based on real characters and events.
EPJ does not like writing in longhand or using a typewriter; he goes directly to the word processor to encode his thoughts.
EPJ struggles through the first 30 pages, after which the rest of his work is smooth sailing through the end.
EPJ can write the LAST chapter of a novel immediately after the FIRST, because everything else is already written inside his mind.
Later in the day EPJ bought a black polo barong at The Landmark in Makati. We brought him back to the Residence afterwards.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
The Edward P. Jones Roadshow Schedule - Day 1
EPJ arrives today, and we all shout, "Hooray!"
By the way, it's Wednesday, November 9, in the Philippines!
By the way, it's Wednesday, November 9, in the Philippines!
Monday, November 7, 2011
The Edward P. Jones Roadshow Schedule
Sponsored by the Embassy of the U.S.A., National Book Store, and the National Book Development Board of the Philippines
Thursday, November 10, 2011
12:30 NN, Lunch with Philippine Star writer Jessica Zafra and Tina Cuyugan
Friday, November 11 (U.S. Veterans Day)
10:00 AM, Tour of Albert Avellana's art gallery, Harrison Street, Pasay City
12:00 NN, Lunch with Filipino modern artists
2:30 PM, Roundtable with Literature majors at De La Salle University
6:00 PM, Dinner with Philippine P.E.N. International
Saturday, November 12
Tour of Intramuros
Sunday, November 13 (Dumaguete City)
3:30 PM, Roundtable with Literature majors at Silliman University
4:45 PM, Interview for the Visayan Daily Star and TV Channel 6 Fil-Products
7:30 PM, Dinner with Silliman University President, university officials, and the Creative Writing Workshop Committee
Monday, November 14 (Dumaguete City)
9:30 AM, Media interviews at American Corner
11:30 AM, Lunch at Writers Village, on Mount Tinalis
1:30 PM, Reading of EPJ's works, with members of the creative writing community of Dumaguete City
3:30 PM, Interaction with creative writers, who will read their own works
Tuesday, November 15
7:00 PM, Dinner hosted by Public Affairs Officer Robin Diallo in honor of EPJ and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz
Wednesday, November 16
9:00 AM, Opening of Manila International Literary Festival
10:30 AM, Panel discussion "Writing from the Margins," with Junot Diaz
12:00 NN, Lunch hosted by the National Book Development Board
2:30 PM, Independent film screening and dialogue-discussion with Filipino independent filmmakers, Cultural Center of the Philippines
Thursday, November 17
10:00 AM, Reading of EPJ's works with Literature majors at University of Asia and the Pacific
12:00 NN, Lunch with university officials and faculty members of UA&P
2:00 PM, Media interviews in Makati
5:30 PM, Book signing at National Book Store Glorietta 5
Available titles: The Known World, All Aunt Hagar's Children, Lost in the City
Friday, November 18
9:30 AM, Interview with Lexi Schulze for Cityscape, ANC, at Ayala Museum
11:30 AM, "A Conversation with Edward P. Jones," a feature of the Manila International Literary Festival, moderated by Ruel S. De Vera, associate editor of The Sunday Inquirer Magazine
12:30 NN, Lunch hosted by the National Book Development Board
1:30 PM, Tea with Board Members of the American Studies Association of the Philippines, at Global City
Thursday, November 10, 2011
12:30 NN, Lunch with Philippine Star writer Jessica Zafra and Tina Cuyugan
Friday, November 11 (U.S. Veterans Day)
10:00 AM, Tour of Albert Avellana's art gallery, Harrison Street, Pasay City
12:00 NN, Lunch with Filipino modern artists
2:30 PM, Roundtable with Literature majors at De La Salle University
6:00 PM, Dinner with Philippine P.E.N. International
Saturday, November 12
Tour of Intramuros
Sunday, November 13 (Dumaguete City)
3:30 PM, Roundtable with Literature majors at Silliman University
4:45 PM, Interview for the Visayan Daily Star and TV Channel 6 Fil-Products
7:30 PM, Dinner with Silliman University President, university officials, and the Creative Writing Workshop Committee
Monday, November 14 (Dumaguete City)
9:30 AM, Media interviews at American Corner
11:30 AM, Lunch at Writers Village, on Mount Tinalis
1:30 PM, Reading of EPJ's works, with members of the creative writing community of Dumaguete City
3:30 PM, Interaction with creative writers, who will read their own works
Tuesday, November 15
7:00 PM, Dinner hosted by Public Affairs Officer Robin Diallo in honor of EPJ and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz
Wednesday, November 16
9:00 AM, Opening of Manila International Literary Festival
10:30 AM, Panel discussion "Writing from the Margins," with Junot Diaz
12:00 NN, Lunch hosted by the National Book Development Board
2:30 PM, Independent film screening and dialogue-discussion with Filipino independent filmmakers, Cultural Center of the Philippines
Thursday, November 17
10:00 AM, Reading of EPJ's works with Literature majors at University of Asia and the Pacific
12:00 NN, Lunch with university officials and faculty members of UA&P
2:00 PM, Media interviews in Makati
5:30 PM, Book signing at National Book Store Glorietta 5
Available titles: The Known World, All Aunt Hagar's Children, Lost in the City
Friday, November 18
9:30 AM, Interview with Lexi Schulze for Cityscape, ANC, at Ayala Museum
11:30 AM, "A Conversation with Edward P. Jones," a feature of the Manila International Literary Festival, moderated by Ruel S. De Vera, associate editor of The Sunday Inquirer Magazine
12:30 NN, Lunch hosted by the National Book Development Board
1:30 PM, Tea with Board Members of the American Studies Association of the Philippines, at Global City
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