Yesterday at the Filipino Readercon, we unveiled the winners for the 2013 Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards, honoring 2012 titles that engaged the Filipino reading public.
It’s the second year that we’ve executed the awards, and as chair of the organizing committee, I can say that it’s been a constant learning experience. Even as we worked double time to address the setbacks we encountered the first year, new challenges were constantly presented to us, and it’s no small feat, but ultimately, it has been so rewarding.
Not only have we seen the FRCA seal on the covers of last year’s winning titles; we’ve also received over 8,000 responses during our public voting phase, signifying the growing support of both the book industry and the reading public. The FRCA (and of course, the Filipino ReaderCon) was created precisely for that purpose. It is an exercise in discovering who the Filipino reader is, to establish that yes, there is a Filipino reader, that Filipinos do read, and that we Filipino readers would like to make our voice heard in the Philippine book industry — to complete the cycle, so to speak.
Again, a big thank you to all those who made another year of the FRCA possible: our judges, who took time to read the finalist works and deliberate the results of each category; the publishers, who provided generously provided review copies of their books for our judges; and of course, all the Filipino readers who actively participated in the process.
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