Pamana: The Storytelling Tradition in the Lives of Filipino Children in the Diaspora

Camille Faylona (Philippines/Hong Kong)

Camille loves stories and she tells them for a living. A 10-year veteran of broadcast production, she has helmed over 20 hours of award-winning original factual content. Today, she uses her passion for storytelling to fuel Campfire Crates, a multicultural content company that creates quality Filipino activity books.

Her range of books include My Big Book of Filipino Food, My A-Z Filipino Activity Book, My Filipino Story, My Filipino Christmas, and My Visit to the Philippines. Through her work, she hopes to connect Filipino kids growing up overseas with the language, customs, and values of the Philippines. All her books are available on Amazon.com.

Claire Betita De Guzman (Philippines/Singapore)

Claire Betita de Guzman is a Filipina writer based in Singapore and is author of five novels. A former journalist, she started as a lifestyle reporter for the broadsheet Today before becoming an editor for international and local magazines including Preview, Cosmopolitan Philippines, and Harper’s Bazaar Singapore. She works closely with the Migrant Writers of Singapore and has led talks, workshops, and panels at literary events, including the Singapore Writers Festival and Poetry Festival Singapore.

Migs Bravo Dutt (Philippines/Singapore)

Mignon ‘Migs’ Bravo Dutt is a writer and researcher who has published work in several countries, regions, and cultures. She is the author of the contemporary novel, The Rosales House, and the interlinked novella collection, Room 216, both from Penguin Random House SEA (PRHSEA).

Her short fiction was selected for 22 New Asian Short Stories, Kitaab’s The Best Asian Short Stories, and Growing Up Filipino 3. Migs has co-edited Get Lucky: An Anthology of Philippine and Singapore Writings (2015) and its sequel, Get Luckier: An Anthology of Philippine and Singapore Writings II (2022). She has co-authored Dreaming of the Divine Downstairs, a poetry collection.

Moderator Charisse Aquino-Tugade (Philippines)

Charisse Aquino-Tugade is the Executive Director of the National Book Development Board (NBDB). She is a cultural worker, primary mover for CulturAid, founder of The Manila Collectible Co., and founding Director of Museo ng Muntinlupa. As the NBDB Executive Director, she is working on the National Book Database to standardize publishing industry metadata and bibliographic information of Filipino-authored publications. She also envisioned and spearheaded The Book Nook, which are storytelling and reading communities that provide Pinoy books for kids and kids-at-heart from Ifugao to Tawi-Tawi. Charisse has a B.A. in Anthropology and Marketing from San Francisco State University and is pursuing her graduate studies in Museum Studies at Harvard.