Sulpicio Selerio Osorio
Born in Dalaguete, Cebu on the 17th of January 1898 and died on the 26th of March 1970. Fictionist.
He is the son of Estanislao Osorio, a wealthy farmer-merchant, and Hilaria Selerio; he was the cousin of writer Amando Osorio. He studied in the local elementary school and finished his high school in Cebu. In 1909 he enrolled at the Philippine Normal College (now University) in Manila for a teacher’s degress, but did not complete his course. He returned to Cebu in 1914, got married, and devoted himself to writing. He also served as municipal secretary of Dalaguete.
Osorio published his first articles in the Cebu papers in 1918 and became Cebuano editor for El Democrata in 1921. In the 1920s and 1930s, he was extremely active in publishing his stories, novels, and articles in various Cebuano magazines. At one time, he had four novels running in serial form simultaneously. One of the most popular Cebuano writers of the pre-WWII period, he had considerable narrative gifts but, like many of his contemporaries, wrote too much too hurriedly.
Osorio’s best known work is the novel, Mga Bungsod nga Gipangguba (Destroyed Fish Corrals), 1929, which generated controversy because of its anti-cleric bent. His other novels include Sa Gingharian ni Kupido (In the Kingdom of Cupid), 1936, and Carlito ug Amparing (Carlito and Amparing), 1947.
Source: Compilation of Cebuano Writers – CSCL
Category: Special Collections