A first in the heart of San Francisco

October has been marked Filipino-American Heritage (or History) Month in the United States since 1988 and is especially celebrated in Hawaii and California where a large number of Fil-Ams reside. The earliest documented proof of the first wave of Filipinos landing on the shores of California comes from “Filipinos in California” (1982) by Lorraine Jabocs Crouchett. She pegs the date of landing on Oct. 18, 1857. Though officially recognized by the California Department of Education, it has been noted that with only a pending House resolution on the month’s designation, the month has not quite acquired the status of Black History Month in February or Women’s History Month in March.

Nonetheless, what a meaningful start the month will have in northern California with the first ever Filipino-American International Book Festival (FilBookFest) scheduled on Oct. 1 and 2 at the Civic Center in San Francisco. Spearheaded by the Literacy Initiatives International Foundation, the San Francisco Public Library, the Philippine Consulate of San Francisco, the Asian Art Museum, and the Philippine Department of Tourism, this book festival, which is open to everyone, is expected to draw a large multi-cultural audience to the exhibition that will highlight different aspects of Philippine and Filipino-American culture. Not your typical fiesta with food and the usual trappings of folk dances, beauty and singing contests, this will celebrate our literature, visual and electronic arts, culinary traditions, and music.

The venue is the large open space between the city library, the Asian Art Museum, the symphony hall and the opera house and the lovely park with a children’s playground that only allows adults in when accompanied by children. This part of the city is a convenient and accessible BART stop and draws a large weekend crowd. For the FilBookFest weekend, Fulton Street will be closed to vehicular traffic to accommodate the bazaar-like display of books and videos for sale from Philippine and US publishers.

The open area will have a stage for performances of the balagtasan (in case you may have forgotten, a literary joust in verse) of Filipino poets Teo Antonio, Vim Nadera and Mike Coroza. There will be music, dramatic and SpokenWord poetry features as well. Food booths will be part of the open air exhibits, for what Philippine festival will be complete without that?

This promises to be the largest gathering of authors of Filipino heritage outside the Philippines. As of last count, 100 authors have signed up. Other attractions are lectures by National Artists Virgilio Almario and Benedicto Cabrera, authors Jose Dalisay, Pete Lacaba, historian and Rizal scholar Ambeth Ocampo, storytelling, arts and crafts for children, and a digital storytelling workshop, panel discussions on writing, publishing, and marketing. Filipino culinary history and regional cuisine will be discussed by Felice Sta. Maria and Claude Tayag.

Eagerly anticipated are two special by-invitation-only events: a live nude sketching session by BenCab and “A Tribute to Filipino Literary Laureates,” a special program honoring Filipino authors such as Carlos Bulosan, NVM Gonzalez, Bienvenido Santos, Jose Garcia Villa, F. Sionil Jose, and Nick Joaquin.

Only a book lover and one proud of her Filipino heritage like San Francisco-based journalist Gemma Nemenzo would have the energy and the determination to see this ambitious project through two years of planning and negotiations.  It was a tremendous help that San Francisco Consul General Jun Paynor and his staff were supportive partners from the inception of the book festival. Anvil publishing manager Karina Bolasco is Nemenzo’s counterpart in Manila. It was Anvil that coordinated with the Book Development Association of the Philippines the shipment of books of Philippine-based publishers, a yeoman’s job in itself. Aside from that, Anvil took care of encouraging authors to be present in San Francisco, a delegation that I am happy and privileged to be part of.

Philippine publications to be launched during the FilBookFest are “Our Rights, Our Victories: Landmark Cases in the Supreme Court” by Marites Dañguilan Vitug and Criselda Yabes and “Trustee of the Nation,” a biography of former President Fidel V. Ramos, by W. Scott Thompson. They will be launched at the Philippine Consulate on Sept. 30, the eve of the festival.

One major reason Nemenzo wanted the FilBookFest to happen is to give the richness of Philippine literature, art and traditions the exposure and prominence they merit, considering the large cultural group we have become in the United States. The question that begged to be asked then and now was, if we are no longer just a minority group in terms of numbers and influence, how come our culture remains virtually unknown to Fil-Ams, and sadly, even to the very Filipinos who are in their native land? It is hoped that with the books made more accessible, public libraries would have Philippine-American sections, as has been developed in the San Francisco Main Library.

As in all other things, perhaps when our culture is appreciated by those outside the country, we may learn to value and appreciate what is so richly ours.

Neni Sta. Romana Cruz (nenisrc@gmail.com) is a member of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People, the Eggie Apostol Foundation, and a trustee of the Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation.