PH Book Festival 2024 | The Last Day

The Philippine Book Festival is slowly becoming a staple event for those who have an affinity to still have the time to pick up a physical book instead of a Kindle or digital copy that doesn’t have the tactile feel of flipping through pages. This year’s event has immensely grown to expand some of the exhibitors divided into four genres, and it’s interesting to see new things from the local komiks community. Filipino Komiks were under-represented in the past years before the first book festival last year, it was given quite a spotlight to see independent comics and other related things that would get some eyeballs looking forward to some titles and graphic novels that some haven’t heard of. It’s something worth exploring through some of these new publishers that bring new talent and stories to the wider audience.

Día del Libro 2024 | Celebration of Reading

If there’s one thing that will remain constant in this society it is that books or any printed material will not go away. In these relevant times of digital and social media, there would still be books or graphic novels being put out there. People like the tactile feel and smell of a newly printed book not to mention how you flip[ pages. Every year, some organizations continue to passionately organize these events like book fairs and anything with publications. Despite that the audio and video media stores have slowly faded away due to piracy and streaming the publication of books will still be there because there is something about reading something on your hand.

Philippine Book Festival 2023 | The Book Experience

In the age of digital and streaming, the one thing that is still relevant from the analog age is books. Reading is essential despite there are digital versions of physical books and other print material. But you can’t replace the tactile feel of flipping pages and the smell of a newly printed material in a physical format that continues to allure readers. Recently, the National Book Development Board (NBDB) organized its first-ever event that invites not only local authors, creators, and publishers. But also, inviting foreigners from all over the world to let them know that books in the Philippines and reading is very much relevant in the industry.

12 | Random Surreal Tales

01.03.2019 – Filipino komiks is still an underrated medium in the country being supplanted by popular opinion of going digital. But for those who keep holding on to the analog culture and keeping up with that heritage good on yeah. It’s something that is irreplaceable with that tactile feel to go through the freshly printed inks. It’s the year 2019 and there are more creative and imaginative individuals out there who are still daring to share their stories. There’s so much good stories out there that some might try to pick up interesting works that continue to churn out through these Komikons that hardly seen by the general populace or getting lost inside bookstores that carry local and original published graphic novels that have been around waiting to be read and discovered by a new set of eyes. One book that I’ve been hoping to get to read is Manix Abrera’s “Twelve” or simply by the number “12”, which was one of his first books that is not part of the Kikomachine Komiks that is a comic strip published daily in the Philippine Daily Inquirer that still continues today with the latest compilation of strips with the 14th volume. But with ‘12’ it’s something different from the maestro that everyone lines up to have their book signed.