By Erin L. Cox, Publisher | @erinlcox
‘Nothing exists without community.’
Soon, many of us will travel to Germany for this year’s Frankfurter Buchmesse (October 15 to 19), where the Philippines will be celebrated as this year’s guest of honor market. Ahead of the trade show, Publishing Perspectives spoke with Rica Bolipata-Santos, director of Ateneo de Manila University Press, to learn about her experiences as a publisher, a bookseller, a writer, and a professor, and to learn her thoughts about the changing book market in the Philippines.
“Literature in the Philippines is as old as time, but we have a twisted history having been colonized by the Spanish, the United States, and the Japanese,” says Bolipata-Santos. “We are hybrid beyond hybrid. Most of us are born bilingual or trilingual.”
In a country with so many languages, writers always have to consider “who are you writing for, who are you writing to, who are you speaking for,” she says. That consideration is a unique aspect of the writing community in the Philippines and one that you can see reflected in stories and poetry.
Growing up, Bolipata-Santos says she didn’t have the same access to books that Filipino readers today might have, so when she’d visit her brother in New York City, she’d take books home with her to share with her friends, her colleagues, her community—which led to her role as a bookseller. Although her bookstore no longer exists, it helped build a community of readers, writers, and literary-minded individuals that endures.
It is the confluence of this community of artists—not just writers, but visual artists, musicians, dancers—that Bolipata-Santos says drives Philippine literature and culture today. She finds this central to her work at Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Rica Bolipata-Santos
“Rights and translations,” she says. “Of course I take them very seriously, but those are end-points. First, that requires really sitting down and talking to people and listening to people and telling them your stories.”
As Frankfurt approaches, she says she hopes to continue to build on the relationships she began in her past visits to the show, and to expand her community with new colleagues and friends from many parts of the world.
Speaking of community, the bus called a Jeepney in the Philippines is sometimes referred to as a “community vehicle.” A Jeepney will be at Frankfurt city center during Buchmesse, and you can learn more about it on Page 6 of our magazine. Image – Getty: Aleksandr Rybalko
More from Publishing Perspectives on Frankfurt’s 2025 Guest of Honor Philippines program is here, more on the Philippine market is here, more on guest of honor programs in world publishing’s book fairs and trade shows is here, and more on Frankfurter Buchmesse is here.
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