Carlos Bulosan (1911-1956), born in Binalonan, Pangasinan, under U.S. colonial occupation of the Philippines, arrived in the United States at the start of the Great Depression as part of a generation of Filipino migrant workers. From 1930 to 1956, Bulosan developed into a leading Filipino writer in the United States committed to social justice. Bulosan established his position as a major Filipino writer with The Laughter of My Father (1944) and America Is in the Heart (1946). An iconic figure of Filipino American literature, Bulosan was recovered by the Asian American movement and the Philippine national sovereignty movement of the 1970s. A pioneering Filipino writer-activist in the United States, Bulosan is an iconic figure of Filipino American literature and Filipino American labor history.
Elaine Castillo was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. America Is Not the Heart is her first novel, and was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.
E. San Juan, Jr. is an internationally renowned literary and cultural critic, and was chair of the Department of Comparative American Cultures, Washington State University. He is currently fellow of the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas.
Jeffrey Arellano Cabusao is an associate professor in the Department of English and Cultural Studies at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
