Recap 3rd Filipino American International Book Festival in San Francisco

Lisa Suguitan Melnick at the mic, and Edwin Lozada behind her

THE 3rd Filipino American International Book Festival was held in San Francisco last October 2-4, 2015. It was presented by PAWA (Philippine American Writers and Artists), the San Francisco Public Library, the Filipino American Center (SFPL), in partnership with the Consulate General of the Philippines in San Francisco and other community organizations.

l-r: Nikki Alfar, Dean Francis Alfar, Penelope Flores, Veronica Montes, Cecilia Brainard, Lisa Suguitan Melnick

Invitation to the 2015 HOT OFF THE PRESS Literary Readings, FilAm Book Fest

I'll be moderating the HOT OFF THE PRESS Author Readings on Saturday October 3 and Sunday October 4, at the Koret Auditorium, see schedules below. These literary readings are part of the Third Filipino American Book Festival, Oct. 2-4, 2015, San Francisco Main Library: 100 Larkin Street, Civic Center, San Francisco, CA 94102

I'll also be moderating the panel on Filipino American Literature on Saturday, October 3, from 11-noon (a discussion on the direction of Fil Am literature in the 21st century, with Panelists: Barbara Jane Reyes, Luis Francia, Eileen Tabios, Erin Entrada Kelly.)

Here's the lineup of the 2015 HOT OFF THE PRESS Literary Readings:

RECAP OF THE FILAM BOOK FEST

Recap of the FilAm Book Fest
By: Cecilia Manguerra Brainard



The first ever, Filipino American International Book Festival (FilAm Book Fest) was held in San Francisco Oct. 1-2, and was, in my opinion a success. Talk is that the organizers will do this again in two years, and I'm certainly hoping they do so because the event is a win-win situation to the authors, publishers, as well as the Filipino American Community.

The event started with a reception at the Philippine Consulate on Friday night. Cocktails were served and consulate people, authors, and publishers mingled. Ex-president Fidel V. Ramos was present to promote his biography as well as many writers, many of whom I know, such as: Isagani Cruz, Marily Orosa, Paulino Lim, Ambeth Ocampo, Butch Dalisay, Pete Lacaba, Cris Yabes, Felice Sta. Maria, Almira Gilles, Penelope Lopez, Oscar Penaranda, Edwin Lozada, and many more. Linda Nietes of Philippine Expressions was also present, as were Anvil Publishing folks represented by Karina Bolasco and Gwenn Galvez.

My husband kept pointing at a sign that said something like “No More Than 50 people Allowed in the Room” when in fact there must have been over a hundred people present. I wasn't sure if it was a political event, a literary event, or a book launch of Ramos' biography, but it was all energetic and fun. A lot of official introductions and talks took place, most of it lost in the organized chaos in the room. Throughout the room there was a lot of hugging and handshaking; and media people were busy taking pictures and doing interviews. It was, in short, like going to a class reunion – just a lot of good energy and high spirits all throughout. One must understand that out of the 100 some authors present in the Festival, around 20 flew in from the Philippines, and even among the US-based authors, some came from Chicago, or the East Coast. There were even a few who came from Canada and Europe; I met a Filipina from Copenhagen. I should also add that Philippine publishers were there and brought with them thousands of books.


The site of the Book Festival itself was in the San Francisco Civic Center and nearby San Francisco Public Library and Asian Art Museum. The outdoor area had a section for the food vendors, an outdoor stage, and booksellers and other booths. Fortunately, the weather was great over the weekend, mild enough so the authors and publishers from the Philippines were comfortable.


I shared a booth with John Silva (who just released the book, A Token of Our Friendship, Philippine Photos of Male Affection) and Marily Orosa, publisher of award-winning coffee table books. Even though there wasn't a huge crowd at the festival, those who showed up were very enthusiastic and snapped up books. By the end of the festival, John had sold out his book, and I sold out some titles. The books were, as the saying goes, "selling like hotcakes."



I was very impressed with the Festival visitors. In all honesty it wasn't a big crowd. Early Saturday morning, I started to worry because there weren't a lot of people. More people came mid-day, but the place really wasn't packed. However, those who attended were really interested in literature and books. They talked to the authors, bought books, and were excited and happy because they were in this literary event. I'm thinking here of Donna Bella whom I met at an earlier literary reading in Berkeley. I had invited her to the festival; she went, and was so happy, she glowed.

There were many students present, including Galileo High School students and Skyline College students who stopped by my booth. Parents, grandparents were there. And the wonderful thing about it was that they were truly interested in literature. It was awesome.



Aside from spending time in my booth, I moderated (along with Veronica Montes) the literary reading programs, HOT OFF THE PRESS on Saturday and Sunday. The literary readings celebrated newly published books by Filipino and Filipino American authors, including: Tony Robles, Almia de los Santos, Peter Jamero, Sunny Vergara, Gloria Ramos, Romy Honorio, Bob Flor, Geraldine Solon, Rafe Bartolomew, Angela Torres, Sarita See, Karen Llagas, Aileen Ibardaloza-Cassinetto, Lilia Rahman, Tilay Angbetic, Emmie Velarde, Myles Garcia, and Samantha Sotto.

I was particularly delighted that the readers were all professional and kept to their 8 minute limit. Both events were quite popular and drew an audience of some 150-200 people each day.

I should add that there were numerous talks and activities going on, all very interesting. For instance, Ambeth Ocampo gave a provocative talk “Queridas ni Rizal: Love and Sex in Philippine History.” Felice Sta. Maria and Claude Tayag gave talks on Philippine Cuisine. Children’s storytelling went on with Almira Gilles, Dorina Lazo-Gilmore, and Sol Manaay. The members of Bindlestiff Studio, an all Filipino-American theatrical group in San Francisco, did several performances. The Babaylan Group had a Healing Arts Pavilion where they gave talks and had hilot sessions. The artist BenCab talked about his creative process. Barbara Jane Reyes, Reme Grefalda, Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, Marites Vitub, Ben Pimentel, Marivi Blanco, Leny Strobel, and many others talked in various panels.

There was also a Tribute Night honoring Carlos Bulosan, NVM Gonzalez, Bienvenido Santos, Jose Garcia Villa, F. Sionil Jose, Al Robles, Ceres Alabado, Fred and Dorothy Cordova, Evangeline Buell, Linda Ty-Casper and Nick Joaquin. In short there was something for everyone, and from what I could see visitors were not disappointed.
The organizers are numerous and I do not mean to leave anyone out, but I do wish to thank those I dealt with: Gemma Nemenzo, Penelope Flores, Oscar Penaranda, Edwin Lozada, and Mitchell Yangson. I hope that the organizers will hold another festival it in the future — for the good of the writers, publishers, book sellers, and the Filipino and Filipino American communities.



For more, here's a video clip about the FilAm Book Fest:

www.balitangamerica.tv/book-festival-celebrates-fil-am-authors/
~~
Photos from the top:
Top - l-r: Paulino Lim, Barbara Lim, Lauren Brainard, Cecilia Brainard, Marily Orosa,Karina Bolasco, Penelope Flores, Ambeth Ocampo
next - l-r: Cecilia, Almira Gilles, Penelope Flores, Ambeth Ocampo, Paulino Lim
next - l-r: Cecilia, Felice Sta. Maria, Marily Orosa, Ex-President Fidel Ramos, guest
next - l-r: Pia Lopezbano-Carrion, Jeremiah Ysip
next - l-r: Barbara and Paulino Lim, Lauren Brainard
next - John Silva taking a break
next - l-r: Percival Arcibal, Cecilia Brainard, Paolo Salazar
last - Jonathan Best and John Silva taking a break

Articles re FilAm Book Festival

I found these article about FilAm Book Fest:

http://208.184.76.173/Article.aspx?articleId=731108&publicationSubCategoryId=111

Filbook Fest: Hot Off The Press Literary Readings
(The Freeman) Updated September 26, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (0) View comments

CEBU, Philippines - The first Filipino American International Book Festival (FilBookFest) will be held in San Francisco’s Civic Center on October 1 & 2, 2011. The book festival is the first-ever of its size and focuses on literature, music, art, and performances by and from Filipinos and Filipino Americans.

The book festival will take place in three adjacent locations in Civic Center: the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin St., the Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St., and on Fulton Street between Hyde and Larkin Streets. Lectures, author readings and panel discussions will take place through the Library; the Asian Art Museum will host culinary demonstrations and tastings; and booksellers, vendors and food booths will be located on Fulton Street.

Some 100 Filipino and Filipino American authors will be attending the Festival. Eighteen of these authors will be featured in two literary readings called HOT OFF THE PRESS, which will be held on October 1 and October 2, from 12-1:30 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium.

Those participating in HOT OFF THE PRESS include Tilay Angbetic who received her Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of the Philippines. After her year-long world tour with “Up With People,” Tilay moved to New York City, where she worked in the fashion industry and studied the craft of writing. She now lives in San Diego, pursuing her passions for writing, travel, photography, and food. She will read from her new novel entitled, Love & Other Firsts.

Still another participant is Benito M. Vergara, Jr. who was born and raised in the Philippines, and is the author of Displaying Filipinos: Photography and Colonialism in Early 20th-Century Philippines (University of the Philippines Press, 1995) and Pinoy Capital: The Filipino Nation in Daly City (Temple University Press, 2009). He received his PhD in Anthropology from Cornell University and has taught Asian American Studies and Anthropology at different universities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Two other featured readers in HOT OFF THE PRESS were born and raised in California. Tony Robles is a writer and activist. His poetry has appeared in numerous journals including DisOrient Journalizine, Pinoy Poetics, The Asian Pacific American Journal, and the anthology Seven Card Stud with Seven Manangs Wild. He is the author of the children’s books Lakas and the Makibaka Hotel and Lakas and the Manilatown Fish. Tony is an editor of Poor Magazine.

Peter Jamero is the eldest son of Filipino immigrants, and was raised on a Filipino farm worker camp in California. He is the founding national vice-president of the Filipino American National Historical Society and the author of Growing Up Brown: Memoirs of a Filipino American and Vanishing Filipino Americans: The Bridge Generation.

The hosts of HOT OFF THE PRESS are Cecilia Brainard and Veronica Montes. Cecilia Brainard is the multi-award author of eight books, and editor of ten more. Cecilia’s work has been widely anthologized; her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish.Veronica Montes’ short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies such as Growing Up Filipino, and Going Home to a Landscape. Her work has also been published in the literary journals Bamboo Ridge, Prism International, and maganda. She is co-author of the dugtungan (“connecting”) novel, Angelica’s Daughters.

These authors will read in the Saturday HOT OFF THE PRESS: Bob Flor, Janet Stickmon, Geraldine Solon, Marivi Blanco, Paulino Lim, Veronica Montes, Almia de los Santos, Peter Jamero, Tony Robles, and Gloria Ramos.

On Sunday, these authors will read in HOT OFF THE PRESS: Tilay Angbetic, Benito Vergara, Angela Narciso Torres, Reme Grefalda, Cecilia Brainard, Aileen Ibardaloza-Cassinetto, Marily Orosam and Myles Garcia.

Booksellers and organizations, such as Anvil, Philippine Expressions, Arkipelago, PALH, PAWWA, and others will have the authors’ books available.

~~
(another article)
Book Fairs To be held in Manila, San Francisco
http://thechinesenewsoflasvegas.com/photo-gallery/book-fairs-to-be-held-in-manila-san-francisco/

By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)
(© 2011 Journal Group Link International)
IN SAN FRANCISCO

While the Filipino American International Book Festival will be held from Oct. 1-2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at three venues in the Civic Center area of San Francisco. They are at Fulton Street where the booksellers,’ vendors’ and food booths, as well as an outdoor stage will be located; the San Francisco Public Library where lectures, readings and panel discussions will be held; and the Asian Art Museum, which will host the culinary lectures, food tasting, and a conversation with National Artist BenCab.

Ushering in the Filipino American History Month for 2011, the book fair will be the first-ever book festival in the U.S. to focus on literature, music, art and performances by and of the Filipinos and Filipino Americans.

Everyone is invited to take part in this free public event – as authors, booksellers, exhibitors/vendors, volunteers, sponsors/donors and performers, or just to enjoy Philippine culture and food at its best.

Among the authors of Filipino heritage, who have confirmed their attendance, are National Artists BenCab, Rio Alma and F. Sionil Jose, and well-known authors Ambeth Ocampo, Jose Dalisay, Pete Lacaba, Marites Vitug, Cecilia Brainard, among almost a hundred others.

Books that could browsed or be bought are of a wide variety of genres, for adults and children, artists and artisans, gays and straights, for those who seek inspiration and those who provide it, and many more. There will be new books to be launched at the event. Videos will also be available.

FilBookFest is sponsored by the Literacy Initiatives International Foundation (LIIF) a California nonprofit; the San Francisco Public Library, the Philippine Consulate, the Asian Art Museum and the Philippine Department of Tourism, in cooperation with TFC/ABS-CBN Foundation International. Among its sponsors are the Asia Foundation, the University of San Francisco’s Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program, Inquirer.net and Philippine News.

~~~

And more articles (may be repeats) here:

http://208.184.76.173/Article.aspx?articleId=731108&publicationSubCategoryId=111


http://thechinesenewsoflasvegas.com/photo-gallery/book-fairs-to-be-held-in-manila-san-francisco/

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/10/03/11/book-festival-celebrates-fil-am-authors

http://www.balitangamerica.tv/book-festival-celebrates-fil-am-authors/


http://www.usnewslasvegas.com/foreign/filipinos-foreign/book-festival-celebrates-fil-am-authors/

Reprint from ABC-CBN News.com

(I found this on the internet. To clarify, Flip Gothic is a work of fiction. I do want to thank the folks from ABS-CBN because they have a video report:
hwww.balitangamerica.tv/book-festival-celebrates-fil-am-authors/

or try this YouTube link
www.youtube.com/watch?v=irZTH9r7EyE&feature=player_embedded

SAN FRANCISCO, California - Activist Tony Robles, author of "Lakas" and "The Makibaka Hotel" shared his poetry. Nurse Almia de los Santos, author of "Journey to the Beginning," traced her steps back to when it all began.

"It began with just a dream or maybe a child's fantasy. I would visualize coming to America as a cultured and beautiful woman," de los Santos said.

A Filipino-American in his 70s, Peter Jamero, who wrote "Vanishing Filipino Americans," talked about a generation lost.

Cecilia Brainard, award-winning author of "Flip Gothic," read letters about rediscovering one's roots. "I am still trying to figure out why you left for America when you had a good life here," Brainard said.

They were just some of the one hundred or so authors whose works were celebrated at the Filipino-American International Book Festival.

For two days, San Francisco hosted the largest gathering of artists and authors of Filipino heritage outside the Philippines.
~~
Same article reprinted in Philippine Times of Southern Nevada

re the Filipino American International Book Festival

The first ever, Filipino American International Book Festival (FilAm Book Fest) was held in San Francisco Oct. 1-2, and was, in my opinion a success. Talk is that the organizers will do this again in two years, and I'm certainly hoping they do so because the event is a win-win situation to the authors, publishers, as well as the Filipino American Community.

The event started with a reception at the Philippine Consulate on Friday night. Cocktails were served and consulate people, authors, and publishers mingled. Ex-president Fidel V. Ramos was present to promote his biography as well as many writers, many of whom I know, such as: Isagani Cruz, Marily Orosa, Paulino Lim, Ambeth Ocampo, Butch Dalisay, Pete Lacaba, Cris Yabes, Felice Sta. Maria, Almira Gilles, Penelope Lopez, Oscar Penaranda, Edwin Lozada, and many more. Linda Nietes of Philippine Expressions was also present, as were Anvil Publishing folks represented by Karina Bolasco and Gwenn Galvez.

My husband kept pointing at a sign that said something like “No More Than 50 people Allowed in the Room” when in fact there must have been over a hundred people present. I wasn't sure if it was a political event, a literary event, or a book launch of Ramos' biography, but it was all energetic and fun. A lot of official introductions and talks took place, most of it lost in the organized chaos in the room. Throughout the room there was a lot of hugging and handshaking; and media people were busy taking pictures and doing interviews. It was, in short, like going to a class reunion – just a lot of good energy and high spirits all throughout. One must understand that out of the 100 some authors present in the Festival, around 20 flew in from the Philippines, and even among the US-based authors, some came from Chicago, or the East Coast. There were even a few who came from Canada and Europe; I met a Filipina from Copenhagen. I should also add that Philippine publishers were there and brought with them thousands of books.


The site of the Book Festival itself was in the San Francisco Civic Center and nearby San Francisco Public Library and Asian Art Museum. The outdoor area had a section for the food vendors, an outdoor stage, and booksellers and other booths. Fortunately, the weather was great over the weekend, mild enough so the authors and publishers from the Philippines were comfortable.


I shared a booth with John Silva (who just released the book, A Token of Our Friendship, Philippine Photos of Male Affection) and Marily Orosa, publisher of award-winning coffee table books. Even though there wasn't a huge crowd at the festival, those who showed up were very enthusiastic and snapped up books. By the end of the festival, John had sold out his book, and I sold out some titles. The books were, as the saying goes, "selling like hotcakes."



I was very impressed with the Festival visitors. In all honesty it wasn't a big crowd. Early Saturday morning, I started to worry because there weren't a lot of people. More people came mid-day, but the place really wasn't packed. However, those who attended were really interested in literature and books. They talked to the authors, bought books, and were excited and happy because they were in this literary event. I'm thinking here of Donna Bella whom I met at an earlier literary reading in Berkeley. I had invited her to the festival; she went, and was so happy, she glowed.

There were many students present, including Galileo High School students and Skyline College students who stopped by my booth. Parents, grandparents were there. And the wonderful thing about it was that they were truly interested in literature. It was awesome.



Aside from spending time in my booth, I moderated (along with Veronica Montes) the literary reading programs, HOT OFF THE PRESS on Saturday and Sunday. The literary readings celebrated newly published books by Filipino and Filipino American authors, including: Tony Robles, Almia de los Santos, Peter Jamero, Sunny Vergara, Gloria Ramos, Romy Honorio, Bob Flor, Geraldine Solon, Rafe Bartolomew, Angela Torres, Sarita See, Karen Llagas, Aileen Ibardaloza-Cassinetto, Lilia Rahman, Tilay Angbetic, Emmie Velarde, Myles Garcia, and Samantha Sotto.

I was particularly delighted that the readers were all professional and kept to their 8 minute limit. Both events were quite popular and drew an audience of some 150-200 people each day.

I should add that there were numerous talks and activities going on, all very interesting. For instance, Ambeth Ocampo gave a provocative talk “Queridas ni Rizal: Love and Sex in Philippine History.” Felice Sta. Maria and Claude Tayag gave talks on Philippine Cuisine. Children’s storytelling went on with Almira Gilles, Dorina Lazo-Gilmore, and Sol Manaay. The members of Bindlestiff Studio, an all Filipino-American theatrical group in San Francisco, did several performances. The Babaylan Group had a Healing Arts Pavilion where they gave talks and had hilot sessions. The artist BenCab talked about his creative process. Barbara Jane Reyes, Reme Grefalda, Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, Marites Vitub, Ben Pimentel, Marivi Blanco, Leny Strobel, and many others talked in various panels.

There was also a Tribute Night honoring Carlos Bulosan, NVM Gonzalez, Bienvenido Santos, Jose Garcia Villa, F. Sionil Jose, Al Robles, Ceres Alabado, Fred and Dorothy Cordova, Evangeline Buell, Linda Ty-Casper and Nick Joaquin. In short there was something for everyone, and from what I could see visitors were not disappointed.
The organizers are numerous and I do not mean to leave anyone out, but I do wish to thank those I dealt with: Gemma Nemenzo, Penelope Flores, Oscar Penaranda, Edwin Lozada, and Mitchell Yangson. I hope that the organizers will hold another festival it in the future — for the good of the writers, publishers, book sellers, and the Filipino and Filipino American communities.



For more, here's a video clip about the FilAm Book Fest:

www.balitangamerica.tv/book-festival-celebrates-fil-am-authors/
~~
Photos from the top:
top - l-r: Cecilia, Almira Gilles, Penelope Flores, Ambeth Ocampo, Paulino Lim
next - l-r: Cecilia, Felice Sta. Maria, Marily Orosa, Ex-President Fidel Ramos, guest
next - l-r: Pia Lopezbano-Carrion, Jeremiah Ysip
next - l-r: Barbara and Paulino Lim, Lauren Brainard
next - John Silva taking a break
last - Jonathan Best and John Silva taking a break

What is Cecilia Brainard Up to?

COMING UP:

Thurs, Sept. 29 7 p.m. - Reading at Eastwind Books, 2066 University Avenue, Berkeley
Friday, Sept. 30 - Talk to Students of Galileo High School, attend Bindlestiff production in San Francisco
Saturday, Oct. 1 - FilAm Book Fest, mind the book I'm sharing with John Silva, Marily Orosa, and Veronica Montes, read in Hot off the Press;
Sunday, Oct. 2 - still at the book fest, moderate Hot off the Press

More later on, with pictures!