More than a Village: Connecting 7,641 Islands One Book at a Time
Panel Aklat Alamid, Carlo Ebeo, KB Meniado, Xi Zuq | Moderator: Daniel Lorenzo Mariano
It takes more than a village to raise a child so it will take much more to create stories and make it accessible for them. What kind of work does it actually take to craft children’s books that reflect the socio-historical experience of kids from the margins?
Not only that, how do a national agency create more than a hundred reading and storytelling spaces in indigenous and remote areas of the Philippines?
narratives publishing inclusivity storytelling cultural representation cultural identity curiosity book development regional languages literary landscape diversity community engagement
Aklat Alamid (Philippines)
Aklat Alamid is an independent publishing house of children’s and young adult books written in the various languages of the Philippines. It partners with individuals, government agencies, organizations, and private institutions in conducting seminars, workshops, storytelling sessions, book-giving events, contests, book fairs, and other activities that promote children’s literature in the different regions of the Philippines.
Represented by China Pearl, Patria De Vera and John Romeo Venturero
Carlo Ebeo (Philippines)
Carlo Ebeo is a cultural worker with a growing resumé of domestic and international engagements in research, production, education, and festival organising. An advocate in public cultural policy in local and national government, he has devoted his life to advance issues and ideologies in the arts, culture, tourism and governance, working intensively on cultural education through peace-building initiatives, poverty reduction, social artistry and other related social infrastructures with various international organisations.
KB Meniado (Philippines)
KB Meniado is a writer and editor with over 14 years of professional experience in media and publishing, with exposure to public policy, youth development, and entrepreneurship. As an avid reading advocate, she runs Bookbed, a Filipino book community, and is part of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People and other Filipino creative communities like Bibi Mangki #thereadingmonkey, Book Writers Club, and a soft landing., among others.
Xi Zuq (Philippines)
Xi Zuq is a writer and reading advocate from Southern Mindanao. He is also a publishing personnel of Aklat Alamid, an independent publishing house for children’s books.
Moderator Daniel Lorenzo Mariano (Philippines)
Daniel works as a Project Development Officer III and OIC Division Chief at the Readership Development Division of the National Book Development Board (NBDB), spearheading flagship reading engagement projects such as the Book Nook Project and the Read for Empowerment and Advancement (READ) Campaign. He revels in writing Filipino creative nonfiction and conducting research in literary criticisms and language studies, particularly in orthography development.
Programme dates and times are subject to change.