Events: The 34th Manila International Book Fair

 

It was a crazy day at SM Mall of Asia, Pasig City last Sunday, September 15, 2013. Despite the rainy weather, the grounds were full of vehicles and individuals due to the big events that had took place. The first event is SM Mall of Asia's Big! Big Sale, then there's the UAAP Cheerdance Competition 2013 at SM MOA Arena, and the Best of Anime 2013 at Function Rooms 3 & 4 of the SMX Convention Center. But the event that I'm more interested on during that time was the one that took place on Exhibits 1-4 of the SMX Convention Center which is the 34th Manila International Book Fair.

Crazy weather and traffic it really was on that day.

This 5-day book fair started out last September 11, 2013. It's a book fair that will surely entertain and get the attention of most bookworms. It will also be an attraction to others who are fond of sales since a lot of books being sold there can be bought at discounted prices. Along with these, other events also took place such as story telling for kids, seminars for individuals interested in starting their own book, and even for bloggers. There are also some interesting book launches and book signing that has occurred which geared fans of their respective authors to patiently line up just to get close to them and have their books signed.

While browsing thru the different facebook pages of some publishers that I know, I luckily came across some free entrance tickets to the book fair. Thanks for Anvil Pub. for saving me some money in entering the event. It's really a convenience that most of the publishers, where most of the local books that I got, have posted a line up of the activities that they'll be having at their booths. The three events that caught my attention was the book signing of Manila Noir made by Kajo Baldisimo & Rosario Lucero at the Anvil Pub Booth, the giving away of free comic books at the National Book Store Booth, and the book launch of This is a Crazy Planets Volume 2 by Lourd de Veyra at Summit Media Booth. Among these three, the only thing that I wasn't able to attend was the one done at the National Book Store Booth. As for the book signing at the Anvil Pub. Booth, I only got my book signed by Kajo.

 

Here's a copy of the free passes that I got.

The event at the Summit Media Booth was the one that really made my day at the book fair. As Lourd de Veyra signs a book, Jun Sabayton keeps the line in place and also acts as a barangay tanod as he holds a rattan stick to keep order. All of this he does while entertaining the people in line and the crowd as well. It was also the first time that I had drank an alcoholic beverage at a book signing, as Lourd made it a new policy that any man who comes at the table should have a shot first before his book gets signed. Crazy right? But nonetheless cool and an enjoyable one, although I resisted drinking a little more for it might trigger my cravings to continue drinking upon returning back home. As if things weren't crazy enough, Ramon Bautista sneaked beside the area of the book signing of Summit Media. Well sneak might be the closest word to use since most of the crowd recognized him at once.

Lourd signs my book after I drank some of the beer.

Ramon Bautista promoting his book not published by Summit Media.

Lourd continues his book signing while having his "yosi"

It was a memorable experience that day. Thanks to all of the organizers, not only for Summit Media, but for the organizers of the Manila International Book Fair in general. Events like this are always a treat for us book lovers.

Anthology: Trese: Stories from the Diabolical ~ Volume 1

Story by: Budjette Tan

Illustration by: KaJo Baldisimo

VISPRINT
(5/5 ★★★★★)

 

This is one of the main reasons why I attended Aklatan 2013. It was one of the three books being launched by Visprint Publication. This is a treat that Budjette and KaJo has given to us in anticipation for the release of the 6th book of the Trese series.

Budjette, before starting his signing of the Trese books of fans, said a few words. He mentioned that this book, Trese: Stories from the Diabolical Volume 1, came about after receiving so many requests from the fans of the Trese series. They requested to have the stories that were put up in the website (www.diabolical13.blogspot.com) to be published in print after one story from the said website made its appearance in the Trese 6 Preview comic, which was released last Summer Komikon 2013. The story that was made part of the preview was "The Choir", which was also included in this book. The book contains 5 stories which are titled: "One Last Drink at the Diabolical", "The Usual Spot", "The Last Full Show", "The Choir", and "Coffee Black".

In here KaJo used a different style to illustrate some scenes in the story. As I had come to know, the artist used watercolor this time instead of having the usual sketching that he does for the Trese comics. He also did an interesting thing on the story "Coffee Black" in which the art is comparable to the abstract paintings you would usually see in coffee shops. The stories was written and edited really neatly by Budjette, knowing that there were some minor grammatical and typographical errors that can be seen on the ones uploaded on the website. These side stories, or as some would term them as supplemental stories for the Trese series, especially the story "One Last Drink at the Diabolical", are really nice to be read as they give us a wider perspective of the world of Trese. Since that story is clearly seen to be a prelude to the very first case of the Trese series. The end of that story signaled the beginning of the story "Case 1: At the Intersection of Balete and 13th Street". The other stories, even though they are not in direct correlation to any cases of the Trese stories that are published as of now, nevertheless are still equally good. The stories "The Usual Spot" and "Coffee Black" are short stories about love, in which I find the former story to have a more interesting love story. "The Last Full Show", on the other hand, tells of an interesting life being proposed to the elderly. This is by being able to have a moment to see a part of your life which you would like to reminisce before deciding if the experiences he or she had gone thru is already enough or satisfying. On the other hand, "The Choir" is a great Christmas story perfect for the coming Christmas season.

Overall, Budjette and Kajo gave us a treat by releasing this book. It really is a nice goodie while we await the release of the 6th book about the 6th child of the 6th child of Trese in the Winter Komikon 2013

More stories from the diabolical can be seen at:

www.diabolical13.blogspot.com

More of Trese at:

www.tresecomics.com

Facebook Page: "Trese Comics"

Events: Aklatan: The First All-Filipino Book Festival

This is another sideline event for me this year before the much awaited Winter Komikon 2013. This year an all Filipino book festival was made possible by Visprint, Inc. in cooperation with The National Book Development Board. It was held at The Alpha Tents. It is located at the 6th floor of Alphaland Southgate, EDSA cor. Chino Roces Avenue. This is one event that I made sure I had time to attend, despite the busy and full packed schedule that I had today (September 7, 2013).

Aklatan 2013, aims to promote and encourage Filipinos to read more Filipino authored books and someday be also an author of a book. There are a lot in store for this year's event such as Visprint's book launching, the Write Pitch, talks regarding e-books, and a lot more. There are a lot of surprises and announcements that was made. One of those was the announcement of a movie adaptation of Bob Ong's ABNKKBSNPLAko?!

Well one of the main reason why I want to attend this event is because it is the place where the book launch of Stories from the Diabolical Volume 1 are going to be done. The story is still written by Budjette Tan and the art is now made by KaJo Baldisimo. The stories were originally published online at http://www.diabolical13.blogspot.com/ with Elbert Or as the illustrator back then. This event was held at the Balesin Room.

There are other events which was held at The Tents that occurs simultaneously at the Balesin Room. The first event that was done in the Balesin Room was Visprint's launching of its new titles. These are Wakasang wasak by Siege Malvar, Project 17 by Eliza Victoria, and Diabolical by Budjette Tan and KaJo Baldisimo. When I got there, which was around 10 a.m., there was already a short line for Manix Abrera and KaJo Baldisimo. Budjette came along a little after.

 

Manix never fails to have a line, whether it be short or long, wherever
it may be on a Komikon or not, whenever he launches a new book or not.

Budjette just came in with a cup of coffee while KaJo signs a copy of Trese.

Budjette Tan, writer of Trese, The Diabolical, and The Dark Colony among others

Budjette Tan browsing thru The Diabolical for the first time

KaJo Baldisimo, artist of Trese and The Diabolical

There's a lot of things happening that I forgot to take a picture of it. There's also the trouble that I need to get out of the place since I need to tend to other things. But as far as I can see from it, events like this do a big job in helping the promotion of Filipino books. It helps the current generation continue to enjoy the fun of reading and maybe later on be inspired to write a story for others or perhaps draw them such as what the others had done in order to contribute and help the Filipino Comics industry.

Well I hope we all continue to support our locally published works, let they be printed by a local publisher and even those that are self published. I know there are also good works written from other countries. But let us not forget that we also have good writers and illustrators here in our country whose works deserve being read most especially by us Filipinos.

Here are the things that I got from Aklatan 2013:

• Confused Volume 1
• EM Zine 
• Project 17
• Stories from The Diabolical Volume 1
• Wasakang Wasak

Hope next time I'll have more time, and hopefully more money on the next Aklatan.

Note: Some of the images were taken from the internet.