Miguel Syjuco was born and raised in Manila. His debut novel Ilustrado was a NY Times Notable Book of 2010, as well as the winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize, the Hugh MacLennan Prize, the Palanca Award, and the Filipino Readers’ Choice Award. It was also a finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award, the Grand Prix du Livre de Montreal, the Prix Jan Michalski, the Prix Courrier International, the Premio Von Rezzori, and the Commonwealth First Book Prize. It has been translated into 16 languages. 

A journalist and freelance writer, Syjuco is a visiting professor at the Abu Dhabi campus of New York University. He was recently a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and the International Writer-in-Residence at Singapore’s Nanyang University. He has a PhD in literature from the University of Adelaide, a master’s degree in creative writing from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the Ateneo de Manila University. He has received fellowships from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, the Santa Maddalena Foundation, the Adelaide International Scholarship, Canada Council grants for emerging artists, and Quebec Arts Council grants. 

Syjuco has written for the New York Times, Newsweek, the International Herald Tribune, the Walrus, the Globe & Mail, the BBC, the CBC, and many others. He currently lives in Manila.