Tuttle Provides Showcase for Filipino Graphic Novels and Prose
Tuttle Publishing, which has been bringing English-language editions of Asian books to an international audience since 1948, has set it sights on showcasing new voices from the Philippines with a slate of graphic novels, novels, and short story collections. Tuttle is set to release a total of seven books by Filipino authors between now and October.
The additions to their catalog are, in part, a recognition of the significance of the Filipino diaspora, said Tuttle’s sales and marketing director Christopher Johns. “Filipinos are the second biggest Asian population in the United States,” he said, “and so as an Asian publisher we want to reflect that in our publishing.”
Tuttle has found success with editions of Filipino children’s books and cookbooks, Johns said, but the titles being launched this year mark its first foray into genre fiction and comics from the Philippines. The new releases also include The Mythology Class by Arnold Arre, a foundational work of contemporary Filipino comics (or “komiks,” as they’re called in the Philippines). The book won the Philippine National Book Award in 2000, the first comic book to do so. The Tuttle edition will be released in August.
“I wanted to read a comic about Philippine mythology, but since I couldn’t find one that was in depth and contemporary enough that was closer to what I envisioned, I ended up making my own,” Arre told PW. “It was also my intention to showcase our myths and legends and introduce them to the next generation.”
While Tuttle is also publishing another graphic novel by Arre—Halina Filipina, a romantic comedy—many other Tuttle titles in the graphic novel and fiction categories reflect a growing effort in the Philippines to revive indigenous folklore, legends, and mythology. Paolo Chikiamco—author of the graphic novel Muros: Manila Behind (drawn by Borg Sinaban), to be published by Tuttle in March 2023, and the editor of Alternative Alamat, an anthology of Philippine short fiction coming in August—credits The Mythology Class with exposing him to this heritage. Read More…
