Ninotchka Rosca

Ninotchka Rosca (born in the Philippines in 1946) is a Filipina feminist, author, journalist and human rights activist who is active in GABRIELA Network USA, a sister organization of the militant women's organization, GABRIELA Philippines.^[1]

Rosca is active in the Women's Anti-Imperialist League (WAIL) and is a contemporary Asian-American who is known for the short stories Bitter Country and Monsoon Country. Her short stories had been featured in the 1986 Best 100 Short Stories in the United States by Raymond Carver and the Missouri Review Anthology. She is also the author of the best-selling English language novels State of War and Twice Blessed. The latter won her the 1993 American Book Award for excellence in literature. Her most recent book is JMS: At Home In The World, co-written with the controversial Jose Maria Sison, who has been included in the U.S. list of "terrorists".[1] Rosca was a political prisoner under the dictatorial government of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines (1965-1986). She was forced into exile to Hawaii when threatened by the Marcos regime with a second arrest for her human rights activism. Rosca has been designated as one of the 12 Asian-American Women of Hope by the Bread and Roses Cultural Project. She had been a leader in Amnesty International and the PEN American Center.[1] She was the Director of Communications and Development at the Santa Clara Center for Occupational Safety and Health and lived in San Jose, California.[1] Rosca was also a founder and the first national chair of the GABRIELA, the preeminent women's rights organization of the Philippines. She is the international spokesperson of GABRIELA's Purple Rose Campaign against the trafficking of women, with an emphasis on Filipinas. She was active in planning the UN Conference on Women which took place in Beijing, China. Rosca is particularly concerned with women's human rights focusing on the issues of sex tourism, trafficking, the mail-order bride industry, and violence against women. For her achievements, Rosca has been designated as one of the 12 Asian American Women of Hope by the Bread and Roses Cultural Project. These women were chosen by scholars and community leaders for their courage, compassion and commitment in helping to shape society. They are considered role models for young people of color, who, in the words of Gloria Steinem, "have been denied the knowledge that greatness looks like them." She attended the University of the Philippines and lives in Queens borough of New York City. Her lecture schedules are managed by Speak Out Now. A huge fan of science fiction, Rosca reads four books a week. She is currently a correspondent for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the most widely-read broadsheet in the Philippines. She is divorced and has two children.[1]

Works

Books

Sugar & Salt (2006)
Jose Maria Sison: At Home in the World--Portrait of a Revolutionary by Jose Maria Sison and Ninotchka Rosca (2004)
Twice Blessed: A Novel (1992)
State of War (1988)
Endgame: The Fall of Marcos non-fiction (1987)
Rene Robles: Transcoding (1987)
The Monsoon Collection (Asian and Pacific Writing) (1983)^[2]

Women's Review of Books articles

"Innocent Bystanders" (2002)
"The Idea of Prostitution" (1998)
"Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Redefinition" (1998)
"The Comfort Women: Japan's Brutal Regime of Enforced Prostitution in the Second World War" (1995)
"Patpong Sisters" (1995)

Ninotchka Rosca

Works

Books

Women's Review of Books articles

References

Specific

General

See also