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The Rough Guide to the 31st Manila International Book Fair

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, and before I knew it, voila — it’s now the eve of the opening of the much-awaited Manila International Book Fair, the biggest book event in the country!

Now I know a lot of you have been waiting for the rough guide to this year’s book fair like the one I posted last year. A bit of the background — the nature of my work requires me to attend the Manila International Book Fair year after year (contrary to popular belief I don’t actually get to shop until the last few days!), and this is the sixth year running now. While I generally make my rounds, I do have some top picks for the must-see booths.

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Are you ready for this?

The Manila International Book Fair is set on Sept. 15-19 at the SMX Convention Center! Woot! Woot! (*happydancing*)

Mark your calendars, bibliophiles (and start saving your shopping money), as the biggest and longest-running book fair in the Philippines turns 31 this year. For three decades now, MIBF has been a one-stop shop for local and foreign publishers, wholesalers, retailers, book lovers and collectors, librarians, authors, and publishers’ representatives. It has also continuously contributed to the reading awareness of the Filipino by being the venue for book launches, dialogues with readers, and other book-related activities that reach out to a wide audience.

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Robotars! (Earth Day 2010)

Robotars: robotic tarsiers that were designed to destroy, but lived to love.

The first Robotars designer toy custom show is now open at the Art Asia Gallery, 4/F, SM Megamall until May 15, 2010!

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A rough guide to the Manila International Book Fair

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Three days to go until the Manila International Book Fair! A lot of people have been asking me for tips about the Manila International Book Fair, so I decided to create this (unofficial) guide based on what I’ve seen over recent years.

I’ve been attending the MIBF for five years running now, covering events, shopping, and just generally enjoying the flurry of bookish activity around me. And every year, the exhibitors offer something new, and there is always a different lineup of special events to look forward to.

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Reading in the 21st century

Reading never goes out of style, even in the age of technology.

In the August 1894 issue of Scribner’s magazine, an article by Octave Uzanne, predicted “The End of Books,” proposing that in the 20^th century, the printed page will be replaced by “storyographs,” patented cylinders containing recordings of books, and writers replaced by “Narrators” that read stories aloud for the recordings. Uzanne imagines today’s libraries transformed into “phonographotecks” or “phonostereoteks,” repositories for the “storyographs.” He also imagined portable players that he called “pocket phono-opera-graphs.”

While Uzanne’s predictions almost accurately cover audiobooks, ebooks, mp3 players, and personal ebook readers, he was wrong on one count: the introduction of these technologies did not herald the end of books, but rather gives the 21^st century person new ways to enjoy the printed page, enhancing the reading experience for the page-turner.

The Manila International Book Fair lists the top reading technologies, proving just how relevant reading still is in the 21^st century.

As the Manila International Book Fair, the paramount event of the Philippine book industry, marks its 30^th anniversary this year on Sept 16-20 at the SMX Convention Center, it once again welcomes book lovers to celebrate it celebrates the written word in all its forms.

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