THE UST Publishing House launched 10 new titles on Sept. 14, during the opening of the 2023 Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay.
The MIBF is the biggest annual event the UST Publishing House joins, according to its director, Asst. Prof. Benedict Parfan.
“The MIBF is the time of year when publishers, writers, school librarians, book collectors, and readers get to meet,” Parfan told the Varsitarian. “It’s part of many writers’ calendars because it’s where they can show support for their fellow writers, and where they get to meet and interact with their readers.”
“The only thing that’s different this year is it’s our first time back onsite at the MIBF since 2019,” he added.
Among the new titles unveiled were “Si Balagtas at ang Panitikan para sa Kalayaan” by National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario, and Epifanio San Juan Jr.’s “Lualhati Bautista, Nobelista: Ang Mapagpalayang Sining ng Kababaihan sa Pilipinas,” a recipient of the 2023 National Book Development Board publication grant.
San Juan’s “Ang Armadong Paraluman sa Panahon ng Kilabot,” Enrique Vilassis’s “Manansala,” Vicente Groyon’s “Everything is Realism: Essays on Narrative Craft,” Raphael Coronel’s “Will You Tell Me What I Look Like?,” and Jaileen Jimeno’s “Boarding House” were also launched.
The UST Publishing House unveiled books on medicine and architecture, such as Eva Irene Maglonzo’s “The Filipino Physician Today: A Practical Guide to Holistic Medicine (Third Edition),” and Rino Fernandez and Kristina Banzon’s “Isinalarawang Introduksiyon sa Arkitekturang Filipino.”
“Pagtawid: Filipinos in the Time of the Covid-19 Pandemic,” a book edited by Stephen Redillas, O.P. and Richard Jonathan Taduran, was also launched during the MIBF opening.
Book signing
Apart from the launch of new titles, the UST Publishing House will host book signings throughout the four-day event.
National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Ricky Lee held signings of three of his books during the MIBF opening day and will hold another signing during the closing day on Sept. 17.
Also present during the book signing on Sept. 14 were UST Publishing House authors Paolo Mangahas, Taduran, and Redillas, as well as Asst. Prof. Joselito delos Reyes and Prof. John Jack Wigley of the Department of Literature.
Wigley will speak at a book-writing seminar on Sept. 16 at the MIBF.
The UST Publishing House is at booths 392 and 393.
The MIBF marks the culmination of the publishing house’s Sinag Festival, a multi-event book launching of 2019 to 2023 titles that began in June.
The MIBF will run from Sept. 14 to 17. Jenna Mariel A. Gonzales
