Brian Ascalon Roley
Photo by J. Sheldon Photography
Bio
Brian Ascalon Roley is a writer and professor. His books include American Son: A Novel (W.W. Norton), which was a Los Angeles Times Best Book, New York Times Notable Book, Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize Finalist, and winner of the Association for Asian American Studies Prose Book Award, among other honors, and has been taught widely. His short fiction, novella work, literary essays, and poetry have appeared in numerous journals and in anthologies published by Norton, Penguin, and elsewhere, including several bestselling books in the Philippines. His interconnected collection, The Last Mistress of Jose Rizal (Northwestern University Press) appeared in 2016. Roley has received fellowships and awards from the University of Cambridge, Cornell University, the Ohio Arts Council, Djerassi, Ragdale, and the VCCA. He is currently professor of English at Miami University of Ohio.
A student came to me the other day, one of the most gifted prose writers I have taught. His imagery and cadences are breathtaking, transporting me not only to his home country but to memories of reading works I have read and loved by other writers we both enjoy (and who are rarely read anymore). He is also an idealist, writing to create something that is valuable in itself and that works in itself, without commercial concern, or concern for the crowd. It’s an attitude I can admire in others. Yet he confessed his writer’s block, his self-doubt, his sense of worthlessness. I gave him a pep talk in which I was honest, and he seemed to come away reinvigorated. It helped him to hear that other literary writers and artists go through the same funks and work our way through them in whatever ways we can.
In fact, at that time I was struggling with my own writing practice, overwhelmed by workload and life load and mind clutter, which feed the various writerly anxieties. The call that came from the National Endowment of the Arts gave me some needed validation, one that has borne fruit even before the fellowship has been announced. I’m excited to use it for concentrated writing, travel, and research. I’m incredibly grateful to the NEA for supporting so many artists.