Assessing PH presence in Frankfurt

The Frankfurter Buchmesse (FB), or Frankfurt Book Fair, has just ended and most of the members of the Philippine delegation have returned home. But we know too well that more challenging work lies ahead for the Philippine publishing industry in its efforts to be recognized and read beyond our shores.

Not that it was a dismal and disappointing trip. It never is, but that is just how the game goes in what has been called the “United Nations of publishers.”

This is only the third year that we had a country stand. The commitment to consistently participate in FB is mandatory, for one’s presence cannot be sporadic: In one year, out the next. One is not expected to come home after the initial years with signed and sealed contracts governing acquisitions and translation rights, unless one is truly favored by the stars. A more typical development involves discussions begun at FB, to be explored and negotiated beyond it.

The Philippines is coming close to the end of the “being noticed, being recognized” phase. After being noticed, it is expected that its titles would be recognized and read, and especially made available to the non-English-speaking part of the world through translations.

That is why this year’s participation was deliberately bigger, as was expected of us. It was the way of the National Book Development Board (NBDB) and the Book Development Association of the Philippines (BDAP) to strategically strengthen and enhance the country’s brand—and maximize the government subsidy that has made our growing visibility possible.

Even before the opening of FB itself, three delegation members had been invited to speak at the Business Club, where the CEOs of the publishing world gather to listen to current issues and cutting-edge developments: National Book Store’s Xandra Ramos Padilla, Anvil’s Andrea Pasion Flores, and Adarna and BDAP president Ani S. Almario. It was in the same venue last year that the Philippines was featured as an emerging market.

As we opened our stand in partnership with the Philippine Embassy in Berlin represented by Minister and Consul Adrian Cruz and Honorary Consul Torsten Griess-Nega, we launched five titles which could perhaps be considered representative of publishing in the country today: Vicarish Publications, a Grade 1 math workbook, ABC Educational Development Center’s “Malong: the Magic Cloth,” Anvil’s “Bumasa at Lumaya 2: A Handbook of Children’s Literature in the Philippines,” Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and Adarna’s “Kian”; and Ateneo University Press’ “The Duterte Reader.”

Four forums were organized by the NBDB especially to highlight the presence of two women who are National Commission for Culture and the Arts grantees—writer Carla Pacis and illustrator Liza Flores, both worthy representatives of children’s literature.

At the forum “The Underside of Sunshine,” Pacis and Flores spoke of their craft and how they use it to deal with sensitive or traditionally taboo topics in Philippine children’s books.

Another forum featured Almario and Pacis in a conversation on Philippine Youth and Narcopolitics. This topic was a crowd-drawer, especially for a number of Germans with Filipino wives.

There was an all-Asean forum organized by the NBDB in which representatives of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the host, the Philippines, took part. They responded to five questions and issues in rapid fashion: One had to answer within 90 seconds. It was comforting for the NBDB to realize that the Philippines is not alone in its current plight. Its Asean neighbors are also feeling the need to gain strength in numbers and to strengthen the Asean brand to be
recognized and appreciated.

The Philippine Embassy in Berlin recognizes this need. As Consul Ady mentioned in his remarks at our reception, his colleague and writer Catherine Torres had once said, “Books are not the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the Philippines…,” which is better known for its beaches and islands.

It is time to make our books better known.

Neni Sta. Romana Cruz (nenisrcruz@ gmail.com) is chair of the National Book Development Board and a member of the Eggie Apostol Foundation.