German pens touch PH soil
It was a welcome and pleasant challenge to figure out how best to showcase Philippine culture and literature to our initial visiting group of journalists from the German press during their brief eight-day visit in mid-May. This is again another event that is meant to bring us closer to the Philippines as guest of honor (GoH) at the Frankfurter Buchmesse in October.
The GoH has been a planned decade-long initiative for the Philippine publishing industry of the Office of Sen. Loren Legarda, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the National Book Development Board, and the Department of Foreign Affairs. Together, they came up with a schedule for the German press.
How rapidly they were broken in because arriving on May 14, there was the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon, awaiting them the very next day. There they went to enjoy the color, the vibrance, and flavors of a Philippine fiesta—in the summer heat. But with four vegetarians in the group of seven, the meat-heavy dishes on the Philippine dining table could not be savored. It was a chance to meet with local writers, capping the day trip with a visit to writer An Mercado-Alcantara’s Casa San Pablo.
The next day was spent in Manila, with literary conversations with Manila-based writers at the lovely, newly opened Centro de Turismo Intramuros which was newly rebuilt from the ruins of the Jesuits’ San Ignacio Chapel.
A literary visit in Manila cannot be complete without an afternoon at the iconic 60-year-old Solidaridad Bookshop, allowing the group to be acquainted with National Artist F. Sionil Jose, bookshop founder. His eldest son, Antonio/Tonette, now bookshop manager, hosted the afternoon.
It was a chance to be in a stimulating roundtable conversation moderated by Karina Bolasco with the “pillars” of Philippine literature to discuss current trends and prospects. Invited authors were National Artist Virgilio Almario, poet Marjorie Evasco, literary and pop culture scholar Soledad Reyes, fictionist and essayist Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo.
It was around that round narra table Manong Frankie was so proud of (“A table that knew many secrets,” he liked to boast) for it had hosted so many important literary figures and dignitaries.
But the journalists were also busy at work. With one rushing off in the midst of the meeting for an interview with Maria Ressa and two others braving the Manila to Quezon City traffic for a video taped interview with Butch Dalisay in University of the Philippines Diliman. They all managed to do their interview assignments for their respective outlets.
Memorable interview
The interview with Dalisay was memorable because the video equipment and floodlights were all set up in the garden full of trees—a perfect setting for a summer evening in May. Except that in the course of the interview, a mango from the overhanging branch of the nearby tree fell and disconnected the power cords, causing a brief power interruption.
Dalisay whose two novels (“Soledad’s Sister” entitled “Last Trip Manila,” and “Killing Time in a Warm Place”) enjoy popularity with its German editions was a sought-after interviewee as he already has a German readership. Among other sought-after interviewees because of their German editions were Daryll Delgado, Allan Derain, Patricia Evangelista, Paolo Herras, Ambeth Ocampo, Katrina Tuvera.
This was only their second full day in the country and there were to be regional trips north and south of Manila with more literary conversations ahead. They were discovering how much ground had yet to be covered.
Roll call
The German journalists in the entourage included: Katharina Borchardt, a freelance journalist with a strong interest in Philippine literature. She was literature editor for public radio broadcaster SWR (Südwestrunkdfunk). In March, she published an extensive article on Rizal in the most important Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
Jobst-Ulrich Brand is with Focus Magazine, which is one of the three most widely circulated German weeklies. He is deputy head of the Culture & Lifestyle Department.
Holger Heimann is a freelance journalist who has had extensive experience in reporting on GoH countries at the Frankfurter Buchmesse and the Leipzig Buchmesse. He reports for various public broadcasting stations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Julia Marie Hubernagel is with the media organization taz, die tageszeitung, a daily digital newspaper with a nationwide reach and with a printed edition on weekends. She is interested in reporting on the Philippines as GoH.
Sabine Kieselbach is with Deutsche Welle, the German public international foreign broadcaster. She is correspondent for literary issues.
Tina Schraml is with Bücher, an independent monthly literature magazine with a nationwide reach which reports regularly on GoH projects.
Alexandra Stiller is a popular blogger with a large following and partners with GoH for content on media channels.
