Ninotchka Rosca

Ninotchka Rosca is an outstanding contemporary writer, human rights activist and feminist. She is the author of six books: her short story collections include Bitter Country and Monsoon Country; her two novels are State of War and Twice Blessed which earned the 1993 American Book Award for excellence in literature; and her books of non-fiction are Endgame: The Fall of Marcos and Jose Maria Sison: At Home in the World - Portrait of a Revolutionary.

Rosca is an internationally-known activist for human rights. A political prisoner under the Marcos regime in the Philippines, she was forced into exile when threatened with a second arrest. Rosca has participated in numerous world forums and conferences for human rights. For the tenth UN Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, Rosca joined the Survivors Committee created by Amnesty International USA. She wrote the Committee's declaration, signed by several Nobel Prize laureates and the Dalai Lama. She was with the AI USA's Speakers Bureau and spoke at many events highlighting the struggle for human rights.

She helped establish GabNet, a Philippine-US women's solidarity organization, and was included in Ms Magazine's 50 Feminists To Watch. She was the international spokesperson for the Purple Rose Campaign against the trafficking of women. She joined the US delegation to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. Rosca was involved in campaigns against sex tourism, the mail-order bride industry, and for women's rights.

For her achievements, Rosca has been designated as one of the 12 Asian American Women of Hope by the Bread and Roses Cultural Project. These women were chosen by scholars and community leaders for their courage, compassion and commitment in helping to shape society. They are considered role models for young people of color, who, in the words of Gloria Steinem, "have been denied the knowledge that greatness looks like them."