In this marvelous article about Elda Rotor, a Filipino-American who runs Penguin Classics (yes, did you know that?), there’s
this quote by her:
"If
you want Filipino writers to be published, you must support their publications.
Publishers, marketers, etc. look at comparative titles and their sales. My
ability to publish “El Filibusterismo” is connected to the success of “Noli Me
Tangere.” The opportunity to publish Jose Garcia Villa is informed by the
community who buys Rizal. There is no obligation to read exclusively but there
are many reasons to read supportively."
Every so
often I’ve found myself in a situation of advocating for Filipino-authored
books. But I’ve never really looked at my own buying habits—I have assumed I’ve
been supportive but never checked. So I checked and here are my buying results below.
I was able to find records for 2015 and 2014 purchases but they’re likely
incomplete because they’re focused on poetry or books of other genres but
authored by a poet. But even if I accept my numbers are understated, I discover my results are not as high as I thought: four books to
date in 2016, 18 in 2015 and 5 in 2014. This result, though, also shows why I'm a fan of lists—sometimes the actual list reveals something under your nose but which your eyes have not dropped to see...
Dear
advocates for Filipino literature (you know who you are), What does your
record show?
2016 (so far): 4
AGE OF
BLIGHT: STORIES by Kristine Ong Muslim
KALI’S BLADE, poems by
Michelle Bautista
VINCIGUERRA, novel by
Elaine Castillo (an author directed to me by Elda Rotor through her article)
POETRY IS: JOSE GARCIA
VILLA’S PHILOSOPHY OF POETRY Edited by Robert King (I want to purchase this though
there seem some logistical difficulty…)
2015: 18*
HOLLYWOOD
STARLET by Ivy Alvarez
BEYOND
LUMPIA, PANSIT and SEVEN MANANGS WILD, edited by Evangeline Canonizado Buell
EVERYDAY
THINGS by Fidelito C. Cortes
THE BEAUTY
OF GHOSTS by Luis Francia
THE
DESCARTES HIGHLANDS by Eric Gamalinda
STAGE
PRESENCE: CONVERSATIONS WITH FILIPINO AND FILIPINO-AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTISTS
edited by Theodore Gonzalves
COLLECTED
VERSE by Nick Joaquin
PRIME TIME
APPARITIONS by R. Zamora Linmark
#30
COLLANTES STREET by Lisa Suguitan Melnick
LITTLE
ANODYNES by Jon Pineda
APOLOGY: a
novel by Jon Pineda
TO LOVE AS
ASWANG by Barbara Jane Reyes
NOT SO, SEA
by Mg Roberts
COOL DON’T
LIVE HERE NO MORE: A LETTER TO SAN FRANCISCO by Tony Robles
THE MANGO
BRIDE by Marivi Soliven
SPARSE
ANATOMIES OF SINGLE ANTECEDENTS by Felino A. Soriano
FLIPS 2015:
A FILIPINO AMERICAN ANTHOLOGY (a reprint) edited by Serafin Syquia and Bayani
Mariano w/ new introduction by Juanita Tamayo Lott
MONSTRESS by
Lysley Tenorio
2014: 5
AMULET by Jason Bayani
POST
SUBJECT: A FABLE by
Oliver de la Paz
ODE TO
THE HEART SMALLER THAN A PENCIL by Luisa A. Igloria
THE DAY
OF SHELLY’S DEATH by
Renato Rosaldo
RELIQUARIA by R.A. Villanueva
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