Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

Because of Typhoon Haiyan the 3rd Filipino ReaderCon and 2nd Filipino Readers' Choice Awards ceremony were moved to Dec. 7.

I'd like to congratulate the finalists for the 2013 Filipino Readers' Choice Awards , especially the finalists in the children's picture book category: Ako’y Isang Mabuting Pilipino by Noel Cabangon and Jomike Tejido (Lampara Books)  Mga Saranggola sa Tag-ulan by Eugene Evasco and Bernadette Solina-Wolf (LG&M Corporation)     Ninoy, Cory, and Noynoy by Yvette Fernandez and Abi Goy (Dream Big Books) And the finalists in the novel in English category, all young adult novels! Salingkit: A 1986 Diary by Cyan Abad-Jugo (Anvil)  Voices in the Theater by A.S. Santos (Flipside Publishing)  Woman in a Frame by Raissa Rivera Falgui (Flipside Publishing) If you want to catch the announcement of the winners of the 2013 Filipino Readers' Choice Awards, please attend the 3rd Filipino ReaderCon on Nov. 9 at the Rizal Library of the Ateneo de Manila University!

THANK YOU to Studio Dialogo for designing the new logo of the Filipino Readers' Choice Awards . Studio Dialogo is the design company of Filipino children's book illustrators Abi Goy , Fran Alvarez , Liza Flores , and Rommel Joson . The entire Filipino Readers' Choice Awards committee thanks and applauds you!!!!

Nominate them for the 2013 Filipino Readers' Choice Awards - Children's Picture Book Category! The Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards develop awareness and appreciation of Philippine literature, recognize the reader’s role in creating the meaning and experience of a literary work, and give readers a voice in the Philippine book industry. For the 2013 Filipino Readers' Choice Awards, you may now nominate your favorite Philippine-published books from 2012, in the following categories: * children’s picture book * chick lit * novel in English * novel in Filipino * comic/graphic novel * short story anthology * essay anthology * poetry Nominations are open until August 23.  To nominate a book, just fill out the online nomination form on the Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards website.

* The winner of the EDSA giveaway is . . .  Kathryn Anne Hilario ! Congratulations, Kathryn. Please contact me soon (asiaintheheartATyahooDOTcom) with your mailing address so that I can get the book out to you. :o) * For those of you who missed it, here is the link to Michael Jude Tumamac 's interview of me for Kalatas Literary Ezine . * The Filipino Readers' Choice Awards - Children's Picture Book Category will be open for nominations on the 9th of this month! Go to this link on the 9th and nominate your favorite Filipino children's picture book from 2012! 

Click on the picture below to read an invitation! On July 20, the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) will be in Cebu City to give a FREE seminar. PBBY Chair and representative for librarians Zarah Gagatiga will be speaking about library activities, and as the PBBY representative for book reviewers I will be speaking about book reviewing. I really hope to meet many of the children's books supporters in Cebu City! Again, please click on the picture above for more details. :o)

We invite those of you with blogs to share stories of how you celebrate International Book Giving Day via our International Book Giving Day blog hop! International Book Giving Day is a volunteer initiative aimed at increasing children’s access to and enthusiasm for books. We are inviting people to celebrate International Book Giving Day on February 14 by 1. giving a book to a friend or family member, 2. leaving a book in a waiting room for children to read, or 3. donating a gently used book to a local library, hospital, shelter, or organization that distributes used books to children in need. One of the things that makes International Book Giving Day special is connecting with others from around the world who are giving books to kids. This blog hop offers one way for people from around the world to connect and share stories of how they celebrated International Book Giving Day. To participate: 1. Write a post describing how you celebrated International Book ...

Links, links, links! * Click here for a report on the very active Filipino reading community - it's my last post as the PaperTigers June guest blogger! * Author Candy Gourlay was one of the first to blog about the 3rd Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) in Singapore. Read her posts here . * Little, Brown editorial director Alvina Ling blogged about the AFCC and Book Expo America (BEA) here . Meeting Alvina was one of the highlights of the AFCC for me! =D *major fangirl spazzing* * Illustrator Blooey Singson summarizes the AFCC here . * Here author Trevor Kew shares key points he took away from the festival.

Shweta Ganesh Kumar shared with me this TED Talk from novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about how "a single story" about another person or country can cause critical misunderstanding, and I felt that the talk really reflected why I started this blog. Please watch it below, if you haven't already: I sometimes teach creative writing to children and teens and have been very shocked to see that the first impulse of my students - all Filipinos or Chinese Filipinos ages 11-15 - is to write stories featuring characters with blond hair and blue eyes. It seems that, like the seven-year-old Adichie, my students have "a single story" about what literature is and do not think that people like them can exist in literature. (Needless to say, I am now trying to expose my students to more Filipino literature and literature from other Asian countries.) I blog because our students, nieces and nephews, children, grandchildren, and godchildren NEED AND DESERVE more than "a ...

THANK YOU to all the sponsors of the first Filipino Reader Conference : Vibal Publishing House, Inc. Primetrade Asia, Inc. Flipside Digital Content Company, Inc. Scholastic Philippines OMF Literature Hachette Philippines Tie Me Up, Buttercup National Book Development Board The ReaderCon included a keynote speech on "prosumers" (producers who are also consumers/consumers who are also producers), panels on book clubs and book blogging, and book raffles. It felt like a party with fun people eating yummy food, sharing their love and passion for books and social media, and celebrating and promoting the reading COMMUNITY. I'd like to thank the sponsors again, and I'd most especially like to thank the head organizer and my good friend Honey de Peralta . ~^o^~ I look forward to next year's ReaderCon. Par-tay, par-tay!

Filipino Readers Make It Social! The 1st Filipino Reader Conference When: September 14, 2011, Wednesday, 1-6 PM (during the Manila International Book Fair) Where: SMX Mall of Asia (Metro Manila, Philippines), Meeting Room 2 Objectives: 1. to provide support, instruction, and social time for book club members and book bloggers 2. to celebrate readers and reading in the Philippines 3. to promote a closer connection between readers, writers, and publishers Program: 1:00 – 1:20 PM Registration 1:20 – 1:30 PM Welcome Remarks 1:30 – 2:00 PM Keynote Speech: How readers can help promote Filipino authors, publishers, and Philippine literature Speaker: Carljoe Javier Author of And The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth , The Kobayashi Maru of Love , and Geek Tragedies . Also published stories in anthologies and magazines, such as Free Press , Philippine Graphic , and Fudge . Taught Creative Writing at UP Diliman and was a fellow for fiction at the UP and Dumaguete...