Biography

Jose Wendell P. Capili was educated at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), University of the Philippines (UP) , The University of Tokyo, The University of Cambridge and The Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (now School of Culture, History & Language, College of Asia and the Pacific), Australian National University (ANU), where he earned his PhD.

He is Professor of English, Creative Writing and Comparative Literature at the College of Arts and Letters (CAL), UP Diliman (UPD) and Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs (May 2009-present) & Director, Office of Alumni Relations (1 January 2018-present), University of the Philippines System.

Previously, he was Program Development Associate to the UP Diliman Chancellor (1997-1999, 1999-2001); UP CAL Associate Dean for Administration and Development (2000-2003, 2003-2004), Associate Dean for Research, Creative Works and Publications (April-May 2007), Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (June 2007-July 2009); Director, UP System Information Office (May 2009-February 2011),  Director, UP System Office of Alumni Relations (February 2011-February 2017) and Officer in Charge, UP System Information Office/UP Media and Public Relations Office (February-June 2017).

He was a recipient of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature (1996), the Cultural Center of the Philippines Award for Literature (1993), the UP International Publication Award (2001), the UP Diliman Gawad Chancellor (1998), the UP System Outstanding Student Artist Award (1989), the UP System Creative Writing Grant (2003-2004), the UP Carlos P. Romulo Professorial Chair (1998-1999, 2000-2001), the UP Centennial Professorial Chair (2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2016-2017), and the One UP Professorial Chair for Teaching and Research (2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019)  as well as scholarships, grants and fellowships from the Arts NSW/Sydney Writers Festival (2007, 2008), The Cambridge Trust (1995-1996), British Council (2000, 2001), The Japanese Ministry of Education (Monbusho)/University of Tokyo (1993-1995), The University of Hawaii at Hilo (2017), The University of Hong Kong/Standard Chartered Bank (2000), Korea Foundation/Seoul National University/Yonsei University (1995), Asia-Europe Institute (2003) and Cultural Centre (2003) of The University of Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM, 2012), Silliman University (1989, 2017), University of Kyoto (2012), Waseda University (1997), UP (1990, 2004-2007) and ANU (2004-2007) in the fields of creative writing, literature, social anthropology and (Pacific and Asian) history.

His books are: A Madness of Birds (poems, University of the Philippines Press, 1998); Bloom and Memory (essays, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2002), Mabuhay to Beauty! (pop culture, Milflores Publishing, 2003), From the Editors: Migrant Communities and Emerging Australian Community (Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, 2007) and Salu-Salo: In Conversation with Filipinos (with John Cheeseman, Blacktown and Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia: Blacktown Arts Centre and Casula Powerhouse, 2008). With John Jack Wigley, he translated and edited Lupito and the Circus Village (written by Rowald Almazar, artworks by Jose Santos III, Manila: University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2008). 

Migrations and Mediations: The Emergence of Southeast Asian Diaspora Writers in Australia (1972-2007), his seventh book, was launched by the University of the Philippines Press on 27 May 2016. On 2 December 2017, the book garnered the 36th Philippine National Book Award for Literary History/Literary Criticism from the Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board (NBDB).

His poems, reviews, creative/critical essays, newspaper articles and academic papers were published in Australia, Austria, China, England, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United States, including Anagram (Johns Hopkins University), Ani (Cultural Center of the Philippines), Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, At Home in Unhomeliness: The Philippine PEN Anthology of Postcolonial Poetry in English (The Philippine PEN Poetry Anthology 2007), Budhi (Ateneo de Manila), Bulawan (National Commission on Culture and the Arts), Business Mirror, Caracoa, Diliman Review, Dyaryo Filipino, Evening Paper, Filipino Magazin, Flame, Flippin' (New York: Asian-America Writers' Workshop, 1996), A Habit of Shores (UP Press, 1998), Korea Times, HanPil (Occasional Papers on Korean and Philippine Studies), Korea Herald, Likhaan Anthology of Poetry and Fiction, Literary Review (Farleigh Dickinson University), Look Japan, Love Gathers All (Singapore), Mabuhay (Philippine Air Lines), Manila Bulletin, Manila Chronicle, Mantala, Mirror, National Midweek, 100 Love Poems: Philippine Love Poetry since 1905 (UP Press, 2004), Philippine Collegian, Philippine Daily Globe, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippines Free Press, Philippine Graphic,  Philippine Panorama, Philippine Studies (Ateneo de Manila), Poet's Voice (University of Graz, Austria), Sands and Coral (Silliman University), Sansiglong Mahigit ng Makabagong Tula sa Filipinas (One Hundred Years of Modernist Poetry in the Philippines, Anvil, 2006), Sarilaysay: Danas at Dalumat ng Lalaking Manunulat sa Filipino (UP Press, 2004), Second Genesis (India), Social Science Diliman, Solidarity (Southeast Asian Magazine of Ideas, Culture and the Arts), Southeast Asian Review of English (Malaysia), Sunday Inquirer Magazine, Tomas, Varsitarian, Varsity (University of Cambridge), Westerly (University of Western Australia), World Poetry Yearbook (China), and the PEN International Poetry Anthology (Japan PEN).

He was interviewed by the BBC, CNN, CCTV (China), Channel NewsAsia (Singapore), El Pais (Spain), SBS (Australia), South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) and The Strait Times (Singapore) for his insights on creative writing, higher education, literature, migration and popular culture.  

In 2005, Capili was a visiting scholar at The National University of Singapore, The University of Sydney, The University of Western Australia, The University of Melbourne, and The University of Queensland. His poems and critical essays were read and featured in several conferences and festivals, including the Cambridge Seminar on the Contemporary Writer, organized by the British Council at Downing College, University of Cambridge, the inaugural Hong Kong International Literary Festival at the Fringe Club and the University of Hong Kong (2001), the 2007 & 2008 Sydney Writers' Festival at Blacktown Arts Centre, Casula Powerhouse, and Liverpool Regional Museum, the 76th PEN International Congress at Keio Plaza Hotel, Japan P.E.N. Club, Waseda University (Tokyo, 2010), and the First International Conference on Multicultural Filipino Studies at the University of Hawaii at Hilo (2017), where he was the Keynote Speaker. 

Administrative Positions

Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs and Director, Office of Alumni Relations, UP System (January 2018-present)          

Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs (Communications, February-December 2017) and Officer in Charge, UP System Information Office(SIO)/UP Media and Public Relations Office (MPRO), UP System (February-June 2017)            

Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs and Director, Office of Alumni Relations, UP System (February 2011-February 2017)

Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs and Director, Information Office, UP System (May 2009-February 2011)

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Arts and Letters, UP Diliman (June 2007-July 2009)

Associate Dean for Research, Creative Works and Publications, College of Arts and Letters, UP Diliman (April-May 2007)

UP CAL Associate Dean for Administration and Development, UP College of Arts and Letters, UP Diliman  (2000-2003, 2003-2004)

Program Development Associate to the UP Diliman Chancellor (1997-1999, 1999-2001)