My second time attending Dumaguete Literary Festival has been ahhhhmazingggg! <3 This year’s festival happened from April 17-20, and had a leaner program but no less satisfying. Check out the goings-on through my phone camera’s lens:
DAY 1
It was our first time tabling at the Duma Lit Fest, and my first sale was to Ms. Genevieve Asenjo, whom I met for the first time at last year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. She’s a professor at my former university, kaya haha medyo nakakakaba. Thank you for supporting #RomanceClass, Ms. Gen!
Did you see our resident mermaid? Surprise yan! Last time we saw Six was around May last year, at kung hindi pa dahil kay [redacted], hindi pa siya aahon. Little Mermaid yorn? LOL. But thank you. Let us bully you into finishing your manuscript, yes? The world needs a new Six de los Reyes romance. Or fantasy. Or romantasy. Kung ano man yan, go.
We were so happy to see the guys from Brunch Club Bakery again. I swear their sugarcane calamansi soda is THE BEST THING EVER on a hot summer day. And oh—their foccacia breads and cookies? Delicious. Solid budol talaga.
At the end of the first day, Mina, Six, and I were able to attend the designation event of Dumaguete as a UNESCO Creative City of Literature. What an achievement! I’m excited to see how this helps progress the city’s mission to nurture more homegrown talent and encourage more people to read. Congratulations, Dumaguete, and to everyone who worked really hard to get this distinction!
DAY 2
Day 2 was SUPER BUSY because it was #RomanceClass Day! We started off with the Kilig Kraft Workshop led by Mina at the Marina Spatial Clubhouse. This was pretty special, because we were able to meet new readers and potential new authors as well. We were invested in the story concepts that were shared in class, and I’m really hoping the authors continue writing them.
During the writing break, I found Chi interviewing Six for her new not-a-podcast thingamajig, and it was the funniest. Just two awkward kids holding microphones in front of a camera. I had to take a photo.
Back at E.J. Blanco, we did our latag again and enjoyed coffee and ice cream. I also did a little window shopping at Divaguete, and visited the different tables selling books and artworks. Sir Rody Vera (who was my seatmate at lunch the day before) dropped by and I had to give him a copy of Waiting in the Wings (with the MNor and half-of-Gio’s face cover). He also bought a copy of Mina’s Iris After the Incident. Sana magustuhan niya both.
Not in photos: My emotional support sugarcane calamansi soda that I had put in my Aquaflask because WHY NOT. The Brunch Club Bakery guys were happy to fulfill my request, anyway, and it lasted me until 9:30 pm that night! Tell me I’m smort, lol.
In the evening, we had the Bossing’s Spice Level Five (a local reference, by the way, because of a tempura place named Bossing’s…na hindi namin na-try, bad trip) live readings. This was all sorts of AMAZING because we were given eight new people to work with, AND THEY ALL DELIVERED!
Unlike last year when we kinda held back on the heat, the readings this year were pretty explicit. I’m so thankful to the Duma Lit Fest team for giving us Treana Havranek, Raushan Chawdhury, Drei Nazareno, Theya Havranek, Wanella Ursos, Himig Adviento, Samuel Marc Udarbe, and Jecho Adrian Ponce, who were all G that night. Watch out for the spicy live readings because we’ll upload them soon. Heh.
DAY 3
There were more panels on Day 3, but one of the most memorable was the Yvette Tan soundbyte at The Writing of Fiction, Now. The host asked if fiction writing is already dead, and she said “AO3 is alive and well, so I don’t think so.” (This is paraphrased ofc. You may watch the replay on the Duma Lit Fest Facebook page.) Anyway, yes. Everyone at the #RomanceClass table cheered. And everyone who didn’t have an Yvette Tan book yet bought one at the Libraria table. Haha, mga mabilis kausap.
The heat was truly getting to me at this point so everything seems hazy now, but I do remember Sir Rody Vera saying he was getting a more steady stream of work now in theatre than film, which was a surprise. Especially considering how little theatre companies work with in terms of budget. I remain curious about the trajectory of film and theatre in the Philippines, but I am hopeful both industries experience a renaissance soon.
Ang amats ko for the day? Vietnamese coconut latte from The Slow Sipper at siyempre ang walang kamatayang sugarcane calamansi soda ng Brunch Club Bakery. Too bad hindi ko naabutan yung foccacia nila with the tomatoes, Carla said it was really good. I got their banana bread instead, which was also YUM.
The crowd grew bigger when the guest keynote speaker Atom Araullo arrived and did his Writing in Dangerous Times talk. I tried my best to take photos and videos but I had very unfortunate angles. Dinaan ko na lang sa estetik, haha. I would have gotten a copy of Atom’s book and had him sign it but the loooooong line had me going “nah.” We’ll meet Atom again, I can feel it.
As we were packing up, I was able to catch parts of an English version of Sisa, a one-act play written by Allan Derain and Wena Festin that debuted at the 2025 Frankfurt Book Fair. I was also able to see Ernest Acar’s presentation of the illustrations created throughout the different DLF2026 panels—really cool, by the way—before Ian Casocot delivered the closing remarks.
And just like that, it was over.
I’m glad I went to Duma Lit Fest this year (despite missing the SB19 Wakas at Simula Concert). Last year, I was new to everything that was happening and didn’t really know where to go or what to focus my energies on, but I planned things better this year. It also helped that most of the events happened at one venue only, which meant that even if we’re just seated at our table, we were able to catch the discussions happening at the stage area. I appreciated the panels this year—most of them were about things I’m into (fiction, theatre, film), and I hope next year there’ll also be a panel or two about komiks.
Again, congratulations to everyone behind the Dumaguete Literary Festival! Already excited for what you have in store for 2027.
See you next year!
