Looking for a quick weekend getaway right in the heart of the Metro? Calling all bookworms, aspiring writers, pop culture junkies, and art enthusiasts! From August 28 to 30, Raffles Makati and National Bookstore will be hosting the Philippine Literary Festival, a three-day event consisting of panel discussions, book signings, and author talks facilitated by a roster of different writers and artists from both here in the Philippines and abroad.
Now on its second year, the Philippine Literary Festival will usher in a talk with New York Times bestselling author Matthew Quick, author of Silver Linings Playbook, as well as other critically acclaimed novels like The Good Luck Of Right Now and Love May Fail on August 30. Author Meg Wolitzer, who penned The Interestings and The Ten-Year Nap will also have a talk and book signing on August 29. Aside from these internationally renowned authors, however, the festival will also host a stellar line up of award-winning writers and novelists from both around the world and our archipelago.
The Philippine Literary Festival will further host a variety of seminars and panels on different writing styles, techniques, and trends in Philippine literature. Seminars hosted by The Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Young Blood, as well as talks on novel and other kinds of writing, facilitated by greats like Ambeth Ocampo and Nick DeOcampo, will be available to attendees of the three-day festival.
If you’re in search of pop culture quirks and panels, there will be a screenplay talk with Antoinette Jadaone, one of the brains behind last year’s fan favorite film That Thing Called Tadhana. For those looking for a more colorful panel, Summit Media presents the launch of Hue Can Do It!, a coloring book for adults hooked on therapeutic coloring books, with different Filipino artists who will exhibit their works as well as be on hand to sign a few autographs here and there. Local artist and letterer, Abbey Sy, who recently just published the first Filipino hand lettering guidebook, The ABC’s of Hand Lettering, will also be present at the festival to give a workshop on hand lettering on the morning of August 29.
For aspiring writers, meanwhile, there will be workshops in novel writing, young adult fiction writing, opinion writing, and tackling genres as challenging as comedy and erotica, by several esteemed writers in the country. As proven by last year’s success, the banter between the different authors will help set the tone that the Philippine Literary Festival is not just about the craft, but also about having fun with the work.
With local and indie comics flourishing today, this year’s literary festival also includes a Color Our Comics Activity, plus other komiks sneak peeks hosted by Meganon Comics and Visprint. You can also have your favorite komiks signed by some of the biggest names in the industry, like Budjette Tan, Manix Abrera, Tepai Pascual, Brent Sabas, and Paolo Herras. Works by the talented roster of INK Illustrator ng Kabataan will be displayed, while Bicolano Kerby Rosanes will be present to talk about his world famous sketches and incredibly detailed pen doodles in his book launch, Animorphia.
Last year’s inaugural festivities were done with the presence of New York Times bestselling author Amy Tan, writer of The Joy Luck Club, and Chang Rae Lee, PEN Award-winning author of Native Speaker. Some other notable figures from last year’s festival were Boy Abunda who launched his book, Make Your Nanay Proud, and writer Danton Remoto, who facilitated the Chang Rae Lee panel.
Not to be outdone, this year’s festival also features some notable Lasallians like RJ Ledesma to speak about writing biographies. Professors from the literature department and philosophy department, like Prof. Genaro Gojo-Cruz and Prof. Noelle de Jesus, will also give talks on writing children’s books and flash fiction. The University’s official publication, The LaSallian, will also be in a panel discussion with other student publications The Guidon, The Varsitarian, The Philippine Collegian, and The Benildean, regarding the state of newspaper publication and journalism in the age of social media on the first day of the festival.
For more information on the Philippine Literary Festival and its various sessions, please visit http://www.philippineliteraryfestival.com/events.html.
