Alejandro R. Roces (Alejandro Reyes Roces) b. Manila 13 July 1924. Fictionist, essayist. He is the son of Rafael Roces and Inocencia Reyes. He is the brother to visual artist and writer Alfredo Roces. He is married to Irene Viola with whom he has a daughter. He finished grade school and high school at the Ateneo de Manila. He earned his bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from the State University of Arizona, where his “We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers” won in a university- sponsored literary contest. He finished his master's degree from Far Eastern University, where he later served as head of the English and dean of the Institute of Arts and Sciences. He was a captain in Marking's Guerillas. He was a secretary; he drew the nation's attention to the importance of folk customs and festivals. For a time, he ran a column in the Manila Chronicle, and in the Manila Times called “Roses and Thorns.” He was the former president of the Manila Bulletin. He now runs a column in the Philippine Star. His short stories were published in the Arizona Quarterly, Southwest Review, Pacific Spectator, and New Mexico Quarterly. In Arizona he won second prize in a nationwide short story writing contest sponsored by the Writer's Digest. In 1948 and 1951 two of his short stories were included in the list of Martha Foley's Best Stories of the year. In 1959 Roces came out with his short story collection, Of Cocks and Kites, earning him the reputation, as “perhaps the country's best writer of humor stories.” He also authored the book Fiesta, 1980, which features essays on folk festivals like Ermita's bota flores, Pakil's turumba, Marinduque's moriones, Aklan's ati-atihan, and Naga's Peñafrancia. He received the Rizal Pro Patria Award, the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award in 1970 and the Diwa ng Lahi Award in 1988, both from the city government of Manila; and many other awards from the Republic of Germany, Spain, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Republic of China. He was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Tokyo University and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. In 1990 he received the Tanging Parangal of the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining for “promoting the application of the arts not only in the service of education and development but also in the fostering of social consciousness and the transformation of a Filipino society with national pride and dignity. ” - D.J. Bayot |
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