Charlson L. Ong

Charlson L. Ong is a fictionist, playwright, and screenwriter. He has published four novels, including An Embarrassment of Riches (2000), Banyaga: A Song of War (2007), Blue Angel, White Shadow (2011), and White Lady, Black Christ (2021). Additionally, Ong has authored five short story collections: Men of the East and Other Stories (1990 and 1999), Woman of Am-Kaw and Other Stories (1992), Conversion and Other Fictions (1996), A Tropical Winter’s Tale and Other Stories (2003), and Of That Other Country We Now Speak and Other Stories (2016).

Ong’s literary achievements extend to numerous awards, with his writing earning acclaim at the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, National Book Awards for Fiction, Asiaweek Literary Contest, Philippines Graphic Literary Contest, and Philippines Free Press Literary Award, among others. His novel An Embarrassment of Riches secured second prize at the Centennial Literary Prize in 1998. The accolades continued as Ong was honored with the University of the Philippines President’s Award for Outstanding Publication in 1993, the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for English fiction by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas in 2007, and the South East Asian Writers or SEA Write Award in 2013.

Born on July 6, 1960, in Manila, Ong graduated in psychology at UP in 1981.