JESSICA HAGEDORN
Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn
Born 1949
Manila, Philippines
Occupation playwright, writer, poet, storyteller, musician, multimedia
performance artist
Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn was born (and raised) in Manila, Philippines in 1949.
With her background, a Scots-Irish-French-Filipino mother and a Filipino-Spanish
father with one Chinese ancestor, Hagedorn adds a unique perspective to Asian
American performance and literature. Her mixed media style often incorporates
song, poetry, images, and spoken dialogue.
Moving to San Francisco in 1963, Hagedorn received her education at the American
Conservatory Theater training program. To further pursue playwriting and music,
she moved to New York in 1978.
Joseph Papp produced her first play Mango Tango in 1978. Hagedorn's other
productions include Tenement Lover, Holy Food, and Teenytown.
In 1985, 1986, and 1988, she received Macdowell Colony Fellowships, which helped
enable her to write the novel Dogeaters, which illuminates many different
aspects of Filipino experience, focusing on the influence of America through
radio, television, and movie theaters. She shows the complexities of the love-hate
relationship many Filipinos in diaspora feel toward their past. After its
publication in 1990, her novel earned a 1990 National Book Award nomination and
an American Book Award. In 1998, La Jolla Playhouse produced a stage adaptation.
She lives in New York with her husband and two daughters, and continues to be a
poet, storyteller, musician, playwright, and multimedia performance artist.
Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn
Born 1949
Manila, Philippines
Occupation playwright, writer, poet, storyteller, musician, multimedia
performance artist
Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn was born (and raised) in Manila, Philippines in 1949.
With her background, a Scots-Irish-French-Filipino mother and a Filipino-Spanish
father with one Chinese ancestor, Hagedorn adds a unique perspective to Asian
American performance and literature. Her mixed media style often incorporates
song, poetry, images, and spoken dialogue.
Moving to San Francisco in 1963, Hagedorn received her education at the American
Conservatory Theater training program. To further pursue playwriting and music,
she moved to New York in 1978.
Joseph Papp produced her first play Mango Tango in 1978. Hagedorn's other
productions include Tenement Lover, Holy Food, and Teenytown.
In 1985, 1986, and 1988, she received Macdowell Colony Fellowships, which helped
enable her to write the novel Dogeaters, which illuminates many different
aspects of Filipino experience, focusing on the influence of America through
radio, television, and movie theaters. She shows the complexities of the love-hate
relationship many Filipinos in diaspora feel toward their past. After its
publication in 1990, her novel earned a 1990 National Book Award nomination and
an American Book Award. In 1998, La Jolla Playhouse produced a stage adaptation.
She lives in New York with her husband and two daughters, and continues to be a
poet, storyteller, musician, playwright, and multimedia performance artist.