By BLOOEY SINGSONThe Manila BulletinWho says Filipinos aren’t bookworms? With bibliophiles, book collectors, and even professionals in the book industry banding together just to share their love for books and reading, forming discussion groups to trading posts and organizations that further the growth of the book industry, it is clearly the advent of a reading culture in the Philippines.
Irene Lloren, president of Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) organizer Primetrade Asia, confirms this.
"Filipinos do read. At the annual Manila International Book Fair, we get more than 50,000 visitors in a matter of five days. Reading is a part of the lifestyle of more and more people – the importance of books has evolved and its significance is now immeasurable."
READ...OR DIE!Even the most engrossed bookworms can be articulate speakers, especially when it comes to the books they read. Powerbooks’ Power Book Club is a venue for book lovers to discuss the featured selection of the month.
"The Power Book Club was established to promote reading and learning," says Vivian Angeles, marketing manager of Powerbooks. "It is one way to share their opinions with other people, and to learn through the opinions of other people. We wanted to provide a good venue for book lovers for these kinds of discussion."
Two book club sessions are held every month, one at Powerbooks Greenbelt and one at Powerbooks Megamall every last Tuesday and Wednesday of the month, around 6:30-9 pm. A featured selection is given, along with guidelines for discussion. Participants are given discounts on the featured book. A facilitator guides and keeps the sessions from deviating from the set themes and topics. Participants also get free coffee and a chance to win raffle prizes in each session.
"We get about 12 participants per session, usually regulars," Angeles shares. "Every now and then, new people join us, which shows a lot of promise for the club."
Read Or Die Philippines, a readers group founded in 2005, also holds monthly book discussions. Founding member Kristin Mandigma notes: "We read a lot of books and were also interacting online. Because we couldn’t find other book clubs to join, we decided to put up our own club."
Today, Read or Die has about 50 members, 20 of which are active in monthly meetings held at different bookstores in Metro Manila, while the rest volunteer for their various events.
"On our monthly meetings, aside from our book discussions, we also plan for activities which are part of our advocacy in making an independent, strategic and practical contribution to the creation of a literate society," Mandigma shares. "We want to promote reading for purpose and for pleasure, and to encourage public appreciation for all kinds of literature, especially writing produced by Filipino authors."
Read Or Die also manages Libro.ph, a new online literary portal and community for Filipinos that hosts blogs, author and group sites, reading guides and reading lists, news of events on literacy and literature, online book clubs, and digitized publications.
Read Or Die will also host special events with the theme "Ang Bagong Libro" at the MIBF. Read or Die will also be participating in events organized by other groups and institutions at the MIBF, such as the Pistang Panitik 2007 as presented by the UP Institute Of Creative Writing. They will also cover the MIBF through blogs, podcasts and videos in Libro.ph.
"We’re re-imagining the Filipino book," states Mandigma. "We’ll be focusing on new books, new writers, new literature, and new forms of reading."
ALL FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKSProfessionals in the children’s book industry have also banded together into organizations for their respective fields, helping the industry by establishing a growing awareness of the craft and providing a venue for building professionalism in the areas of writing, illustrating, packaging, and marketing of children’s books.
In June 1991, Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang I.N.K. was founded) as the offshoot of a Children’s Book Illustration sponsored by the PBBY (Philippine Board on Books for Young People) and the Goethe Institute Manila.
"Ang INK was born out of a need by the workshop participants to organize towards the professionalization and development of the industry," says Jovan de Ocampo, president of Ang INK. "Since then, Ang INK has worked towards setting up an effective linkage and communication network among and between artists, writers, publishers and educators engaged in the production of children’s books and other visual materials for children through monthly general meetings, newsletters, catalogs and exhibitions."
The networking provides career opportunities for its members, and has helped them to be more aware of their rights, as well as the ins and outs of the industry.
The organization Kuwentista ng mga Tsikiting (KUTING), was founded in the 1995 UP Writers’ Workshop. It is an organization of writers for children, cited in 200 by the Reading Association of the Philippines "for having professionalized writing for children, raising it to the level of art, and for ensuring the emergence of the Golden Age of children’s literature." Famous and prolific authors number as members, including Dr. Luis Gatmaitan, Augie Rivera, Carla Pacis, Becky Bravo, Christine Bellen, May Tobias-Papa, and Eugene Evasco.
Meanwhile, Alitaptap, a guild of volunteer storytellers whose mission is to instill among children the love for reading and the appreciation of children’s literary art through story telling, was founded in 1999.
The Philippines and Asia-Pacific regional chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is another active organization in the industry, with a common passion and a shared commitment to creating and promoting children’s literature.
Under the leadership of regional adviser Beaulah Pedrosa-Taguiwalo, the SCBWI-Philasia, the group holds a Booktalk and group critique of manuscripts and portfolios every second Monday of the month, and seminars and workshops on writing and illustrating for children and young adults once or twice a year.
With special industry events like the Manila International Book Fair, book lovers have more venues to propagate the love for reading and promote the growth of the book industry. The MIBF showcases the largest and most varied collection of literature, textbooks, educational supplements, general references, religious and inspirational titles, self-help books, management books, Filipiniana, coffee table books, popular novels, children’s books, art books, graphic novels, rare and hard-to-find titles, magazines, audio and e-books, multimedia, teaching supplies and services, publishers’ technology, and travel materials.
The Philippine book industry is infused with new life, with local publishing houses consistently churning out new titles, book retailers aggressively offering a wide range of book genres, and an international book fair bringing them all together under one roof!
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Topic: Filipinos are not Bookworms? (Read 1241 times)