Last Wednesday evening found me at the Philippine Center on Fifth Avenue at 46th Street, fighting the crowds who converged on Rockefeller Center to see the lighting of the Christmas tree. I was there to speak about my translation of Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere, which was published in late June. Unlike Filipinos, we Americans have been for the most part unaware of Rizal, the foundational writer of The Philippines, whose two novels, known as the Noli and the Fili (the sequel was called El Filibusterismo), were published in 1887 and 1891, respectively. About 160 people attended, and after talks on Rizal's importance and Penguin's commitment to the publication of literature from around the world, I discussed my personal discovery of Rizal in 1992 and the subsequent thirteen years it took me to get a new translation into publication. I was followed by a series of rousing dramatic readings from the new translation by members of the Knights of Rizal, a fellowship organization of Filipinos from around the world, directed by that wonderful and energetic Filipino-American stage actor and director Victor Lirio. We sold out of books, and signing them all was never such a pleasure.

        I'm hoping now that the book's success will allow us to translate and publish the Fili and earlier books from the Spanish Philippines, such as Pedro Paterno's Ninay and Father Burgos' La Loba Negra (whose authorship is disputed these days), and even Rizal's edition of Antonio de Morga's 1609 Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, none of which are (easily) available in the United States.

        Reading Recommendation for Today: With the utmost of self-serving, Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere, translated by yours truly, published by Penguin Classics earlier this year.