New anthology featuring Filipina authors and artists encourages women to speak out against discrimination, harassment, and other women’s issues.
It’s always a big deal.
When women speak out about discrimination or harassment, people often reply, “It’s not a big deal.” The response is so common that it’s become idiomatic.
Some women have unfortunately even internalized this saying, dismissing what they have gone through because they have been culturally conditioned to do so. They want to avoid being accused of “making a big deal” out of a particular problem they’re facing.
A new book, appropriately entitled Big Deal: An Anthology of Filipino Women’s Stories and Art Volume I, aims to invert and reclaim the phrase for Filipino women everywhere.
Published by Bookshelf PH, a publishing house in the Philippines focused on books, ebooks, and audiobooks, Big Deal is an anthology featuring Filipina authors. The diversity of voices - and indeed, mediums (there are also artists showcased in the anthology) - was intentional, according to editor Katya Lichauco.
“When it comes to discussing the issues women face, we didn’t want a single voice. We wanted a chorus of voices. The message of each author and artist on an individual level is important, but what they signify as a whole may be just as significant: Filipino women everywhere must speak out,” said Lichauco.
That the book is being released during National Reading Month in the Philippines may also be fitting. The aim of the month is of course to promote reading. One of the best ways to do that is to create books that resonate with a particular demographic. From this vantage, Big Deal is a model book - it is made by women, for women (and allies who want to learn more about women’s issues). Editor Yanna Garcia elaborated further.
“It was important that the anthology was created with a primarily female team. We didn’t want a top-down approach. We wanted to surface the issues and challenges that women deal with from the bottom up, so that both the depiction and the discussion are more organic, authentic, and most of all, dynamic,” said Garcia.
Women’s literature is a mature category in other literary markets, but still emerging in the Philippines. Big Deal is part of a recent thrust from publishing company Bookshelf PH to produce more content that caters to the complexity of being a Filipino woman in 2021, including Happy Buhay, Happy Mama from Risa Hontiveros and Fearless Filipinas: 12 Women Who Dared to Be Different.
Big Deal is also meant to be the first in a longer series. Many more volumes are set to follow, again in keeping with the mandate to promote a diversity of women’s voices. Kyle Nate, the deputy editorial director of Bookshelf PH, is proud to have helped with the inaugural edition of Big Deal.
“While it’s easy to think of Big Deal as just a book, I like to think of it as a platform. A new generation of Filipina authors and artists can now bring their message to readers across the Philippines. If it was a bold first step for them to share their voice, it will be equally bold of us as readers to sit down and listen, before we stand up and make a difference,” said Nate, who added that Bookshelf PH welcomes collaboration from other women writers or aspiring writers, along with allied booksellers or brands.
A portion of proceeds from Big Deal will be donated to CRIBS Foundation, a residential facility for abandoned or surrendered babies as well as sexually abused young girls in Manila.
ABOUT BIG DEAL
Big Deal: Volume I is an anthology of works from different individuals that center around the struggles of Gen-Z and Millennial Filipinas. These stories and artworks illustrate the plurality of women’s voices, likewise celebrating the myriad of ways there are to tell a story. Big Deal hopes to recognize women’s talents, and slowly build an archive that emphasizes and highlights experiences unique to Filipinas.
Big Deal is edited by Katya Lichauco and Yanna Garcia, and copyedited by Mio Borromeo, Monica Padillo, Leanne Tria, Veno Centeno, Kyle Nate, and Sam Balinado. The cover was designed and illustrated by Maxine Garcia, who also did the layout with assistance from John David Isono.
Love this book. Daming mga inspiration stories from different women.
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