From Elda Rotor at Penguin Books:Dear writers, teachers, students and Classics readers,
I’m very happy to share that Jose Rizal’s El Filibusterismo is now available in a new translation by Harold Augenbraum published by Penguin Classics, as a highlight of our 65th anniversary year. The Fili is now in the Penguin Classics series along with Noli Me Tangere also translated by Harold Augenbraum. For those of you in the NYC area next Thursday June 16th from 6-8pm I hope you can join us for the book launch event at the Consulate cohosted by CORE. Details and rsvp info below.
If anyone is interested in writing a short article on why you teach Rizal’s Noli and Fili as a “Campus Classic” feature for the Penguin Classics online newsletter, which goes out to thousands of professors and educators, please email me directly. We hope to grow the course adoption for Rizal’s classics for years to come and broaden his readership in the US and abroad. El Filibusterismo and Noli Me Tangere are available wherever books are sold, will be distributed worldwide, and in the Philippines, will be available at National Bookstore, Powerbooks, and Fully Booked, starting June 1st.
Thank you for your support. From an industry perspective, the more sales we can grow for the classics of the Philippines the better it will be for Filipino writers and books in general. – Elda
http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780143106395,00.html?El_Filibusterismo_Jose_Rizal
ELDA ROTOR
Editorial Director, PENGUIN CLASSICS
elda.rotor@us.penguingroup.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Inquiries, please contact:
John Entrada, Director – READ Philippines, CORE: read@core-nyc.org; 646.714.2885
Mark Habana, Immediate Past Chair, CORE; ipc@core-nyc.org; 646.801.2673
Marievic Dimaculangan, Philippine Consulate; pcgnyevents@gmail.com; 212-819-9655
HONORING JOSÉ RIZAL’s 150TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY WITH A NEW TRANSLATION OF EL FILIBUSTERISMO
May 24, 2011 (NEW YORK, NY) – Penguin Classics, the Philippine Consulate General in New York (PCGNY) and Collaborative Opportunities for Raising Empowerment, Inc. (CORE), proudly present a book launch event on Thursday, June 16, 2011 (6pm to 8pm) featuring the new Penguin Classics release of José Rizal’s El Filibusterismo, translated with an Introduction and Notes by Harold Augenbraum.
This new translation comes in time for the 150th birth anniversary of José Rizal, who was born on June 19, 1861. Known as the hero of the Philippines and the largest champion of Filipino nationalism and independence, Rizal traveled extensively throughout the world in pursuit of knowledge and education. He mastered twenty-two languages and practiced various professions, including journalism and medicine. His first novel, Noli Me Tangere, was published in Berlin in 1887, to the ire of the Spanish civil and religious servants in the Philippines whom it satired. Its sequel, El Filibusterismo, further angered the Spanish authorities, and, when the revolution broke out in the Philippines, Rizal was captured and imprisoned for sedition and rebellion. Rizal was executed on December 30th, 1896, at the age of 35.
Picking up the story of Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) thirteen years later, the sequel El Filibusterismo presents a gripping tale of obsession and revenge. Gone are the Noli’s themes of innocent love, its hero, Ibarra, a man of great integrity and vision, replaced by the mysterious jeweler Simoun and a venal—and reprehensible—cast of characters. The result of Rizal’s growth as a writer and influenced by his exposure to international events, El Filibusterismo is a riveting and suspenseful account of Filipino resistance to colonial rule that still resonates today.
This collaboration brings together the national spirit of the Philippines, as represented by the Philippine Consulate General, the Filipino American young professional community, through CORE, and the literary world through Penguin Classics, all to honor the influential work of the Philippine national hero, José Rizal. It also helps to mark 65 years of Penguin Classics, the leading publisher of classic literature in the English speaking world, as well as CORE’s ninth consecutive literary discussion since the revitalization of the READ Philippines Book Club in the summer of 2009. This will also be the fourth consecutive book club related event that allows members to meet the author/translator/publisher of the featured novel, following previous sessions with authors Miguel Syjuco (Ilustrado), Rafe Bartholomew (Pacific Rims) and Luis Francia (The Eye of the Fish). Finally, it opens the series of June events at PCGNY honoring Dr. José Rizal.
The event will be held at Kalayaan Hall at the Philippine Consulate on 556 Fifth Avenue, between 45th and 46th Streets in New York City on Thursday, June 16, 2011. It is scheduled to begin at 6:30pm, featuring an interview and Q&A session with translator, Harold Augenbraum. A special reading in both Spanish and English will be performed by Sir Joe Ramos, a member of the New York chapter of the Knights of Rizal. In addition, a wreath-laying in honor of José Rizal’s 150th Birth Anniversary will be conducted by the Knights of Rizal, New York Chapter, at the Philippine Center lobby at 6:00 pm, just preceding the formal program.
Both Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo by Penguin Classics will be available by Mobile Libris for purchase and book signing. Light refreshments will be served.
To RSVP for this event, please contact CORE at rsvp@core-nyc.org (646.801.CORE) or Marievic Dimaculangan at the Philippine Consulate at pcgnyevents@gmail.com or 212-819-9655 by Friday, June 10, 2011.
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About the Translator and Introducer:
HAROLD AUGENBRAUM is executive director of the National Book Foundation. Among his books are Growing Up Latino, Encyclopedia Latina, Lengua Fresca, and the Norton Anthology of Latino Literature (with Ilan Stavans), The Latino Reader and U.S. Latino Literature (with Margarite Fernández-Olmos), and translations of Chronicle of the Narváez Expedition and José Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere for Penguin Classics.
About PENGUIN CLASSICS:
For more than sixty years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, providing readers with a global bookshelf of the best works from around the world, throughout history, and across genres and disciplines. We focus on bringing together the best of the past and the future, using cutting-edge design and production as well as embracing the digital age to create unforgettable editions of treasured literature. Penguin Classics is timeless and trend-setting. Whether you love our familiar black-spine series, our Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions, or our Penguin Enriched eBook Classics, we bring the writer to the reader in every format available.
About The PHILIPPINE CONSULATE GENERAL IN NEW YORK:
The Philippine Consulate General in New York provides services and assistance to Filipino nationals residing in the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. (www.pcgny.net)
About CORE, Inc.:
Collaborative Opportunities for Raising Empowerment, Inc. (CORE) is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization whose primary vision is to empower Filipino professionals as a collective body in the United States. It also seeks to provide an avenue for socio-economic involvement to build a stronger Filipino American community. COLLABORATE and EMPOWER through engagement and education. For more information, visit www.core-nyc.org.
About READ-Philippines (RP):
Since the READ PHILIPPINES campaign was launched in November 2002, the Philippine Consulate General in New York has worked closely with the Filipino-American community and together, donated over 500 books, videos and CD- ROMS to school and public libraries in the tri-state area to develop in young Filipino-Americans, their friends, and the community at large, greater interest and awareness of the Philippines and its values, history and culture.
CORE has continued this success by creating more READ Philippines collections around the tri-state area. The program has taken a strategic shift to evaluate, assess and research opportunities for expansion and sustainability. The READ Philippines Book Club literary discussion group was re-launched in 2009 as the first major initiative to engage participants to experience these literary works and understand their value. For more information, visit http://www.core-nyc.org/read.html. The June 16 collaborative effort is the result of the great work of the RP-Book Club.
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