NEW YORK, NY: Spanish author and linguistic scholar Isaac Donoso has published his first poetry collection in the United States, which was just released by Centiramo Publishing. Tíndalo de sinamay is an allegory of the life journey of José Rizal, one of the most revered figures in Philippine history whose writings during the Spanish colonial period calling for reforms helped spark the Philippine revolution of 1896.
An expert on Philippine studies, Donoso has dedicated himself especially to the study of the linguistic and expressive richness of Philippine literature in Spanish, which is a mosaic of oral and written traditions in several Austronesian languages. It was in the Spanish language that the idea of a Philippine nation, and the first Asian Republic, was hatched at the end of the 19th century. In his poetry collection, he masterfully traces Rizal's life from his birth to his martyrdom through modern Spanish poetry.
A tenured professor at the University of Alicante, Spain, Donoso was twice awarded (2004 and 2008) the Ibn al-Abbar Prize — the most important Spanish Award in Islamic Studies. In 2010, he received the Premio Juan Andrés de Ensayo e Investigación en Ciencias y Humanas award for his studies of Spanish-Filipino literature. He holds a doctorate in philology and has authored several books on language, literature, history and culture.
Philippine literature is a mosaic of oral and written traditions in various Austronesian languages. It is in the Spanish language that the idea of the Philippine nation, and the first Republic of Asia, emerged at the end of the 19th century. As an allegory of this genetic process, Tíndalo de sinamay threads the life and death of José Rizal, writer, hero and martyr of the Pearl of the Orient Seas, as he lives and suffers it, from early childhood games and popular festivals to a conscious resolution of one who gives his life for the sake of an ideal.
Tíndalo de sinamay is available through various online booksellers, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.