Francisco Sionil José (born 3 December 1924) is one of the most widely read Filipino writers in the English language.[1][2] His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society.[3][4] José's works—written in English—have been translated into 28 languages, including Korean, Indonesian, Czech, Russian, Latvian, Ukrainian and Dutch.[5][6]