From Calamba to Frankfurt

Because I am an avid reader and a strong supporter of Philippine books and the publishing industry, I am always interested in industry developments and these days, in the country’s participation as the Guest of Honor (GoH) at the Frankfurter Buchmesse on Oct. 14-19. I get more than an armchair view because my wife Neni was former chair of the National Book Development Board and today is a member of the GoH Core Team as co-chair of the Translation Committee and is always enthused about the project.

I am giving her column space today:

Today was the fourth press conference we have had for GoH. The first was in Frankfurt in October last year, the second was in March 2025 in Berlin, the third in June 2025 in Frankfurt. The fourth and final one was fittingly held in Manila for the local press. These press conferences have always featured authors whose books have been translated into German. In the previous such conferences, we have had Butch Dalisay, Allan Derain, Daryll Delgado, Jay Ignacio, Paolo Herras, Blaise Gacoscos, London-based Candy Gourlay.

It was not the usual press conference with long speeches because the highlight of the event was the interesting “From Calamba to Frankfurt” exhibit of Rizal memorabilia curated by writer-historian Lisa Guerrero-Nakpil. It is a collection turned over to the National Library during Rizal’s centennial in 1961 by the grandsons of Pastor Karl Ullmer, a family in Heidelberg Rizal befriended while he was a student at the University of Heidelberg. Their home was Rizal’s home, a refuge for Rizal and it was here where he completed the Noli and where the kind Pastor introduced him to German writer Friedrich Schiller.

The collection is precious as it includes Rizal’s calling cards, a first edition of the Noli Me Tangere with a special dedication to the Pastor and personal correspondence. There is also a feature on the all-women printing press in Berlin that first printed the Noli.

It is logical that we go back to Rizal and not only because our ties to Germany begin with Rizal. He is the centerpiece of the GoH because of the significant role his two novels, the Noli and the Fili, played in our country’s history. Thus too, in paying homage to Rizal, we borrowed the GoH theme from his chapter on Sisa, “The imagination peoples the air.” Imagination comes into play all the time as we speak of the diversity and richness of our Philippine literature.

It is right that Sen. Loren Legarda, the project visionary, was the only speaker today. After all, it was she who dared dream of the country as GoH, when she witnessed Indonesia as the first ASEAN country so honored in 2015. Just as she brought the Philippines back to the Venice Biennale after a 50-year absence, she brought back the Philippines to the Buchmesse after a 15-year hiatus.

We ourselves thought this impossible, but here we are in 2025, ten years after, as the second ASEAN country to be GoH. (Last year, it was Italy and next year, it will be the Czech Republic.)

The journey to be GoH in the Buchmesse has been years long and challenging, but we all agreed it was time to muster collective effort and energy to showcase what the Filipino creatives are capable of. The Philippines is hardly known to the western world and much less, its books and its culture.

It cannot happen without the collaboration of several government agencies: the Office of Senator Loren Legarda, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Department of Foreign Affairs and the National Book Development Board. And of course, the extraordinary support of the Philippine consulate in Frankfurt headed by Yvette Banzon Abalos and Ambassador Susan Irene Natividad of the Philippine embassy in Berlin.

When Sen. Legarda is dubbed the patroness of the arts, I agree not in mere adulation but because she has been consistent in her budgetary support for the Philippine participation not just in the Buchmesse but in other international fairs like London, Bologna, Angouleme and wherever the budget can be stretched to allow us to bring our books overseas. The budget is never adequate but we are certainly grateful and benefitting from this unprecedented attention given the publishing industry. No one in government has ever given this much attention and care for our creatives and their books.

For this GoH year, 125 grantees were selected and funded to be part of the official delegation. A call was made through publishers and a screening committee deliberated on the applications. There was a conscious effort to ensure that regional writers were represented, with the Buchmesse also emphasizing the need for young writers. And to help writers whose works were yet in their local language, some English translation was facilitated – to ease the promoting and selling of rights.

The NCCA also has its share of delegates whose trip and accommodations are paid for, like National Artists Kidlat Tahimik, Ramon Santos, Virgilio Almario. It has also ensured the constant participation of the Philippine Madrigal Singers whose music has been enthralling the international audience since last year. (How they thrilled the outgoing GoH country Italy with their “Volare” at the Handover Ceremony last year.)

If the delegation is now close to a total of 400, it is because many interested Filipinos are attending to show support for this once-in-a-lifetime endeavor.

Sen. Loren was not saying it lightly when she remarked that it was her imagination that sparked the idea for the Philippines as Guest of Honor.

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