Peter Bacho

Peter Bacho was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in the city’s famed Central Area. He teaches at The Evergreen State College, and is the author of seven books: Cebu, Dark Blue Suit, Boxing in Black and White, Nelson's Run, Entrys, Leaving Yesler, and his latest, a memoir, Uncle Rico’s Encore: Mostly True Stories of Filipino Seattle.

Bacho’s books have received several awards, including the 1992 American Book Award for his novel Cebu. His short story “The Wedding” received a “distinguished” cite, Best American Short Stories of 1993. His second book, Dark Blue Suit, won the Murray Morgan Prize and a Washington State Governor's Writers Award, in 1998. His nonfiction work, Boxing in Black and White, was listed in the top 100 books of 1999 by the Center for Children’s Books (University of Illinois).

In 2005, Seattle University named Bacho the Distinguished Northwest Writer in Residence. In 2006, the University of Washington listed Cebu as one of the top 100 books written by a UW writer over the past century (1906-2006). In 2008, Northwest Asian Weekly honored him as a literary “pioneer.”