Filipino authors with internationally-published books

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Some of the books from Filipino authors published by intl. publishers. Clockwise from top left: Age of Blight by Kristine Ong Muslim; The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco; The Courageous Princess Vol. 1 by Rod Espinosa; Learning To Fall by Mina Esguerra, Smaller And Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan; The Last Time I'll Write About You by Dawn Lanuza.
It seems an exciting time for Filipino authors. A Filipina YA author was at the Brooklyn Book Festival and other festivals, some Filipino authors just wrapped up panels during the Fil-Am International Book Festival in San Francisco, a few other Fil-Am authors are coming out with new books from a major publisher in the next few months (literary fiction, young adult, and middle grade), and another classic author was recently published by Penguin Classics.

Not to mention that a few Filipino authors have been pitching at #dvpit and have already found agents.

And I'm pretty sure I'm barely scratching the surface here.

A few weeks ago, too, People Of Color Destroy Science Fiction, a book that Kristine Ong Muslim--a Filipina author born and based in Mindanao--co-edited, won the British Fantasy Award for Best Anthology. Which led a friend to post this on Facebook.

The post resonated a lot because when I started out in publishing not very long ago, I often heard how difficult it was for Filipino authors to get the attention of international publishers. But perhaps things are changing or perhaps authors know (or are willing to try) more that this is no longer necessarily true. So whenever I hear about Filipino authors who live in the country and yet have gotten international agents and/or book deals from international publishers, I internally do a fist-pump and maybe the dance of joy.

Fellow #lovethemidlist-er Tarie and I have been informally keeping tabs on some of these authors, because we love that many of them have created their own path for themselves. And we finally decided that we should list them down, both to celebrate them and let other people know. Because perhaps other writers or aspiring writers who have similar dreams can look at this list and realize that, hey, it may not be easy, but it's not impossible.

A few caveats: 1) We only considered authors who are still alive. 2) We only considered authors who've published an entire book with an international publisher. We acknowledge that there are many more Filipino authors who have had short works published in international anthologies, but we decided that that would be a list for another day.  3) This list was put together by looking and asking around. Which means we're pretty limited in our scope. So if you find there's a missing name or work on this list, please let me know and I would be more than happy to add it.

And a few notes: 1) We only included works that were published by international publishers, though the author may have other books published locally or self-published. 2) Where the title is a series, I indicated "series."

So here, so far, is the list: (updated May 3, 2018)

Gerry Alanguilan
  • Elmer (SLG Publishing, Ca et La - French edition)
  • Tagalog for Beginners (Tuttle Publishing)
  • Easy Tagalog (Tuttle Publishing)
  • Intermediate Tagalog (Tuttle Publishing)
  • Survival Tagalog Phrasebook Dictionary (Tuttle Publishing)
F.H. Batacan (Ichi is now based in Singapore, but I believe she was in the Philippines when she got the book deal. Correct me if I'm wrong, Ichi!)
  • Smaller and Smaller Circles (Soho Press)
  • Hanami (MLR Press)
Rin Chupeco
  • The Girl in the Well, The Suffering (Sourcebooks Fire)
  • The Bone Witch (Sourcebooks Fire)
  • The Never Tilting World (HarperTeen, 2019)
Suzette de Borja
  • Entitled series (Flirt Publishing)
  • When She Fell For The Billionaire (Flirt Publishing)
Antonio Enriquez
  • Dance A White Horse To Sleep: Stories (Univ. of Queensland Press)
  • Surveyors of the Liguasan March (Univ. of Queensland Press)
Mina Esguerra
  • Addison Hill series (Flirt Publishing)
Rod Espinosa
  • The Courageous Princess, Vols. 1-3 (Dark Horse)
  • Alice In Wonderland, graphic novel (Dark Horse)
  • A Christmas Carol: The Night That Changed The Life of Eliza Scrooge (Dark Horse)
Kate Evangelista
  • Taste (Crescent Moon Press)
  • Dodge Cove series (Swoon Reads)
  • Reaper Series (Omnific Publishing)
  • Til Death (Entangled Teen)
  • Romancing the Bookworm (Omnific Publishing)
  • No Holding Back (Swoon Reads)
  • Vicious Feast series (Crescent Moon Press)
  • The Boyfriend Bracket (Swoon Reads)
F. Sionil Jose
  • Dusk (Modern Library)
  • Don Vicente (Modern Library)
  • The Samsons (Modern Library)
Dawn Lanuza
  • The Last Time I'll Write About You (Andrews McMeel)
Sophia Lee
  • What Things Mean (Scholastic)
Kristine Ong Muslim
  • Age of Blight (Unnamed Press) - Chicago Review of Books named it as one of the Best Books of 2016
  • Butterfly Dream (Snuggly Books)
  • Meditations of a Beast (Univ. of Wisconsin - Stevens Point)
  • Grim Series (Popcorn Press)
  • We Bury the Landscape (Queen's Ferry Press)
  • A Roomful of Machines (Searle Publishing)
  • People Of Color Destroy Science Fiction (editor, at Lightspeed Magazine) - won Best Anthology for British Fantasy Awards
  • Tropical Living: Contemporary Dream Houses in the Philippines (Periplus Editions)
  • Tropical Interiors (Periplus Editions)
  • Tropical House: Cutting Edge Design in the Philippines (Tuttle Publishing)
  • 25 Tropical Houses in the Philippines (Periplus Editions)
  • Exciting Philippines (Periplus Editions)
  • The Philippines: A Visual Journey (Tuttle Publishing)
  • All About The Philippines: Stories, Songs, Crafts, and Games for Kids (Tuttle Publishing)
  • Filipino Children's Favorite Stories (Periplus Editions)
  • My First Book of Tagalog Words (Tuttle Publishing)
  • Filipino Friends (Tuttle Publishing)
  • Filipino Celebrations: A Treasury of Feasts and Festivals (Tuttle Publishing)
  • My First Book of Tagalog Words: An ABC Rhyming Book of Filipino Language and Culture (Tuttle Publishing)
Kerby Rosanes
  • Sketchy Stories, Never Quit Drawing (Race Point Publishing)
  • Mythomorphia, Animorphia. Imagimorphia (Plume)
Tara FT Sering
  • Amazing Grace (Marshall Cavendish)
Camilla Sisco
  • Submission Moves: An MMA Romance (Flirt Publishing)
Samantha Sotto
  • Before Ever After (Crown)
  • Love & Gravity (Ballantine)
Marian Tee
  • Sooooooooooooo many books with Jaded Speck Publishing (over 30?) I swear, check out her Goodreads and Amazon page. But also, check out her great Road to Publication post. (Marian, if you're reading this, I'm so sorry I couldn't list all of them down! But if you give me a list, I swear I will fix this.)
Catherine Torres
  • Sula’s Voyage (Scholastic)

A few other things about this list:
  1. I know of two of these authors who've already done author tours in the US (as in they were toured by their publisher and went from US city to US city visiting festivals or bookstores). These are Kerby Rosanes and Rin Chupeco. (Do let me know if you know of more!)
  2. Did you note that this list is composed of mostly women? ;P 

And as a final caveat of sorts, we also acknowledge that international publication is not everyone's goal, nor do we claim that it is the ideal goal. Nevertheless, we want to celebrate those who have this goal and have achieved it. So, as I said, feel free to suggest people to add to the list! We certainly hope it grows.

Comments

Diane said…
Hi there, Honey, just wanted to say, love your blog! And I think it's cool that you compiled this list. I've been catching up on my reading due to this enforced quarantine going on (or 'circuit breaker' as it's being referred to where I am). It is so inspiring to see Filipino writers and their voices being recognized locally and internationally :-) I've got a couple of names for you to consider in case you decide to do an update: Gina Apostol whose 'Insurrecto' was published by Penguin Random House US, Miguel Syjuco, whose 'Ilustrado' was snapped up by another publishing house but who's now with Penguin Random House US too. Cheers!
May 13, 2020 at 1:14 PM
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