The Filipino American International Book Festival (FAIBF) is back for its 6th edition this October weekend, open for free to the public hosted by the San Francisco Public Library at 100 Larkin Street in San Francisco, California.
Paused during the pandemic, this year’s festival features in-person programs by both children’s and adult literary luminaries, the Larry Itliong musical performance, a talk by Nobel Peace Prize for Press Freedom winner Maria Ressa, and activities for children and families fitting for the marking of Filipino American History Month.
The largest book festival in the country will run from October 15 to 16, 2022, with readings, book signings, panels, and workshops by more than 40 authors and artists from the Philippines, United States, France, and the United Kingdom coming together at the San Francisco Public Library’s Main Library.
The Bay Area festival is scheduled to open on October 15 with a live performance from “Larry the Musical”, a much-anticipated production about Filipino labor activist Larry Itliong. The performance is followed by the Keynote Speech of Rome Literature Prize winner Gina Apostol.
The festival’s other keynote speakers include Newbery Award winner Erin Entrada Kelly and Lambda Literary Award in Transgender nominee Meredith Talusan.
The festival culminates on October 16 at 4 pm with Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Ressa in a special pre-recorded one-on-one interview about democracy, press freedom, and her upcoming book “How to Stand Up to a Dictator”.
The Festival Marketplace sells books and comics while the Kids & Teens program offers book giveaways, a puppet show, a zine workshop, slime-making, readings, and book signings with over 14 children’s, middle-grade, and young adult authors.
“Having postponed the festival for a year due to COVID-19, this festival is a coming together, an emergence from the difficulties and isolation of the past 3 years, to celebrate Filipino/a/x literature and art in community. The Filipino/a/x writing community has seen phenomenal growth in the past few years. Together we move towards the next, despite the uncertainty of current times,” said Edwin Lozada, President of the Philippine American Writers and Artists (PAWA) and festival organizer.
Historically, FAIBF has been held in-person at the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) every two years. Founded by Gemma Nemenzo and Literacy Initiatives International Foundation, Inc. (LIIF) in 2011, with PAWA taking over its organization in 2013, this festival is unique in that it brings together Fil-Am writers, both emerging and established, as well as writers from the Philippines and the global diaspora.
“As San Francisco’s home to the literary arts, the Library is proud to host this stellar lineup of authors who have dreamed, imagined and written about the Filipino experience, past, present and future. Our hope is that this festival helps to cultivate even more inspiration for budding writers and artists for years to come,” said Abraham Ignacio, librarian and manager of SFPL’s Filipino American Center.
Get the Full Schedule of Events here.
LINKTELL US in the comments below, what are you looking forward to experiencing at the Filipino American International Book Festival in San Francisco?
Biggest Filipino Book Festival in America coming up this weekend @FilBookFestival hosted by @SFPublicLibrary featuring virtual talks headlined by @mariaressa FULL STORY on @GoodNewsPinas_ https://t.co/nKlftK4zhI
— Angie Quadra-Balibay (@AngieQBalibay) October 13, 2022
Good News Pilipinas is a Lasallian Scholarum Awardee. TELL US your good news story tips by messaging GoodNewsPilipinas.com on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or e-mail editor@goodnewspilipinas.com and WATCH Good News Pilipinas TV YouTube & Good News Pilipinas TikTok for more Filipino Pride stories!
