Coffeespoons

Last Nov. 20 and 24, I was at Colegio de San Agustin to accompany some Penguin Random House authors and illustrators to give author talks. This was in celebration of CSA’s Book Week. The invitation came through Ms. Cristina Larracas, CSA head librarian, whom I met a couple of years ago at the   PASLI (Philippine Association of School Librarians, Inc.)   in Baguio. Ms. Cris asked for speakers for Grades 4-6 and 7-10. I was fortunately able to invite… Ara Villena , illustrator of  GOBBLING GOBLINS  for Grade 4 Tori Tadiar , author and illustrator of  ILUSTRA: DAYBREAKER  for Grades 5&6 Mae Coyiuto , author of  CHLOE AND THE KAISHAO BOYS  for Grades 7-10 Ara and Tori gave their talks on Nov. 20, while Mae was slated for Nov. 24. And it was an audience of around 300 kids per session. It was amazing. Especially with the younger kids. Let me just say…I’ve never seen an audience more engaged than the kids were with the illustrators. And even the high...

PRH US titles from Filipino creators Obviously this post is work-related, but I also love doing this, so let's call this a mix of business and pleasure. A few months ago, I posted a version of this on my IG, but lists and announcements in the industry are constantly updated, so I've updated this list as well. This is supposed to be a list of Filipino authors and illustrators (creators) who are being published this 2025 by Penguin Random House US and its distribution clients (publishers who do not belong to PRH US, but who are distributed by PRH both in the US and worldwide). But I snuck in two kids' titles that were pubbed in 2023, because, well, I just found out that the illustrator was from the Philippines. Does this happen often, that I realize belatedly that a creator is from the Philippines? Not often, because we honestly make it a point to find the Filipino creators on our lists. But it does happen occasionally because, well, we have a very big list. This list also h...

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 her...