Jose Wendell P. Capili (カピリ・ ホセ) obtained degrees from the University of Santo Tomas (UST), the University of the Philippines (UP), the University of Tokyo, the University of Cambridge, and the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (renamed School of Culture, History & Language, College of Asia and the Pacific) of the Australian National University (ANU), where he earned his Ph.D.

He is Professor 12 at the Department of English and Comparative Literature, College of Arts and Letters (CAL), UP Diliman (UPD).

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), Coordinator, UP CAL Graduate Studies Office (June 2007-July 2009); Director, UP System Information Office (May 2009-February 2011), Director, UP System Office of Alumni Relations (February 2011-February 2017; January 2018-March 2019), OIC-Director, UP System Information Office (renamed UP Media and Public Relations Office [MPRO], February-June 2017; 18 January 2021-9 February 2023) and Vice President for Public Affairs (February-August 2023).

He is among the 7 Achievement Awardees for 2020 of the Department of Science and Technology-National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP), where he was conferred winner for Humanities. He was a recipient of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature (Essay, 1996), the Cultural Center of the Philippines Award for Literature (Poetry, 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), the UP Centennial Faculty Grant (2021-2022, 2022-2023; 2023-2024) and the One UP Professorial Chair for Teaching and Research (2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024) as well as scholarships, grants and fellowships from Arts NSW (renamed Create NSW)/Sydney Writers Festival (2007, 2008), the city councils of Blacktown, Casula, and Fairfax, NSW (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 Hawai'i at Hilo (2017, 2019), 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 St. La Salle-Bacolod (2001), 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 (poetry, 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, NSW: 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, translations and academic papers were published in Australia, Austria, China, England, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United States, including Banwa at Layag: Antolohiya ng mga Kuwentong Paglalakbay ng mga Pilipino sa Ibayong Dagat (Manila: Limbagang Pangkasaysayan, 2023), The Achieve Of, The Mastery: Filipino Poetry and Verse from English, mid-'90s to 2016 (UP Press, 2018), Amihan, Ang Aklat Likhaan ng Tula at Maikling Kuwento, Anagram (Johns Hopkins University), Ang Pagiging Babae Ay Pamumuhay Sa Panahon ng Digma (translation of poems by Joi Barrios, Babaylan Women's Publishing Collective, 1990), 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 University), Bukal, Bulawan (National Commission on Culture and the Arts), Business Mirror, Caracoa, Carillon, Dadaanin (Anvil/De la Salle University), Daluyan, Dapitan, Diliman Review, Dyaryo Filipino, Environment and Literature (Tokyo), Evening Paper, Filipino Magazin, The Filipino Reporter (New York), Flame, Flippin': Filipinos on America (New York: Asian-America Writers' Workshop, 1996), Get Luckier (Poetry Festival Singapore (2022), ITJ (Tokyo), A Habit of Shores (UP Press, 1998), Heritage and History of the University of Santo Tomas (2012), HanPil (Occasional Papers on Korean and Philippine Studies), Katipunan (Journal ng mga Pag‑aaral sa Wika, Panitikan, Sining at Kulturang Filipino, Ateneo de Manila University), Korea Herald, Korea Times, Le Spirit D’Aujourd'hui (Tokyo: Shibundo Co. Ltd., 1999), Likhaan Anthology of Poetry and Fiction, Literary Review (Farleigh Dickinson University), Look Japan, Love Gathers All: Philippine-Singapore Poetry (Singapore: Ethos Press, 2002), Mabuhay (Philippine Air Lines), Manila Bulletin, Manila Chronicle, Mantala (NCCA), Mirror, Mr. & Ms., Nation and Culture (Solidaridad Publishing House, 2012), National Midweek, Panitikang Filipino, 100 Love Poems: Philippine Love Poetry since 1905 (UP Press, 2004), Paramita: Historical Studies Journal (Universitas Negeri Semarang and Indonesian Historical Society, 2023), Philippine Collegian, Philippine Daily Globe, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippines Free Press, Philippines Graphic, Philippines Graphic Reader, Philippine Panorama, Philippine Studies (Ateneo de Manila University), Poet's Voice (University of Salzburg, Austria), Saligan, Sa Madaling Salita (UP Sentro ng Wikang Filipino, 2019), 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), Starweek, Sunday Inquirer Magazine, The Lives of a Filipino/a High School Student (UST Publishing House, 2022), Tinig, Tomas, 21st Century Literature, Under the Storm, UPdate, UP Forum, Varsitarian, Varsity (University of Cambridge), Westerly (University of Western Australia), World Poetry Yearbook (China), Writ Hop (NCCA, 2005), Writing to the Future: Poetika at Politika ng Malikhaing Pagsulat (NCCA, 2008), 環境と文学：言葉で何ができるか？ (Japan PEN), ), 東京大学国際センターニュース (University of Tokyo), 東部研究の国際会議のトランザクション ( 東京：東方学会) and 詩のアンソロジー (Japan PEN).

He was interviewed by the BBC, CNN, CCTV (China), Channel NewsAsia (Singapore), Agencia EFE (Spain), eldiario.es (Spain), El Pais (Spain), KENH-14 (Vietnam), Madame Figaro (France), Nong Nghiep (Vietnam), SBS (Australia), South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), The Strait Times (Singapore), Telemundo (Latin America), The Nation (Thailand) and Voice TV (Thailand), for his insights on creative writing, higher education, literature, migration, and popular culture.

He is a Life Member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, and a Member of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) for 2024, funded by generous donors. He also sits on the International Advisory Board of the Hawai'i Journal of the Humanities & 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature®️ The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and the Editorial Committee of Chinese Creative Writing Studies (中國創意寫作研究), published by Springer Nature and a peer-reviewed collaboration between the Chinese Creative Writing Centre at Shanghai University, the School of Humanities at Wenzhou University, and the Tin Ka Ping Centre of Chinese Culture at Hong Kong Metropolitan University.

He was a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge, the University of Hawaii at Hilo, the University of Hong Kong, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the University of Malaya, the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, Seoul National University, Silpakorn University, National University of Singapore, University of Sydney, Waseda University, University of Western Australia, and Yonsei University.

His poems and critical essays were read and featured in conferences and festivals, including the Cambridge Seminar on the Contemporary Writer, organized by the British Council at Downing College, University of Cambridge (2000), the inaugural Hong Kong International Literary Festival at the Fringe Club & the University of Hong Kong (2001), the Sydney Writers' Festival at The Liverpool Regional Museum (2007), Blacktown Arts Centre (2008) & Casula Powerhouse (2008), the 76th PEN International Congress at Keio Plaza Hotel, Japan PEN Club, & Waseda University (Tokyo, 2010), Poetry Festival Singapore (2022), and the First International Conference on Multidisciplinary Filipino Studies in Hawai'i (2017), where he was the Keynote Speaker. He also delivered the Keynote Address at the University of Hawaiʻi at the Hilo Humanities International Conference (UHHHIC, 2019), the International Multidisciplinary Academic Conference (IMAC) on "Embracing Teaching and Learning In The New Norm Education" (Kota Kinabalu, 2022) and the International Conference on Literature, Language, History, and Media (Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Jember, Indonesia, 2023)

He was one of the speakers during the Roundtable Session in Honor of the Scholarship of Australian National University Professor Emeritus Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet at the Association for Asian Studies Conference (Virtual/Boston, 2023). The session was sponsored by the AAS Southeast Asia Council (SEAC).

On 2 March 2024, he was elected and inducted to The Department of Science and Technology-National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP) Governing Board as Member-at-Large for 2024-2026

His presentation, "Unlocking The Power of Research for Informed Policymaking in the Arts and Humanities," was delivered at the Department of Science and Technology-National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP) Legislative Capacity for Research in Evidence-Informed Policymaking" (C-REIP), on 24 May 2024, at the Conference Hall, Athletics Stadium, New Clark City, Tarlac, before representatives from the Senate of the Philippines, the House of Representatives, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

He was named UP Artist I (2021-2023) under the UP Arts Productivity System during the 1390th Meeting of the UP Board of Regents on 31 May 2024. 

In December 2024, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) named him Chair of its Technical Committee in Literature.