New Book of Fil-Canadian Writing Launches This November

Magdaragat: An Anthology of Filipino-Canadian Writing features 45 writers who deftly explore Filipino Canadian identities and experiences and a rich and complex past.

New Book of Fil-Canadian Writing Launches This November

By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez

Magdaragat: An Anthology of Filipino-Canadian Writing features 45 writers who deftly explore Filipino Canadian identities and experiences and a rich and complex past that highlight the diversity and strength of Filipino Canadians. The book will be launched during two in-person the diversity and strength of Filipino Canadians. The book will be launched during two in-person events in Vancouver and Toronto in November.

Edited by Teodoro Alcuitas, C.E. Gatchalian, and Patria Rivera, who also contribute to the volume, and published by Cormorant Books, it opens with the line “Magdaragat is Filipino for ‘seafarer’ or ‘mariner;” which heralds the expansiveness of the collection and the often-overlooked aspects of Filipino identity and history.

Alcuitas, publisher of Philippine Canadian News, will engage the audience in a Q&A session during the November 14 launch at the Massy Arts Gallery in Vancouver. Another book launch will be held in Toronto’s Ben MacNally Books on November 28.

The book’s promo reads: “There have been Filipino people in Canada for more than 150 years, and their essential contributions have shaped our country. Often, like many racialized groups, their achievements have been minimized and appropriated. Magdaragat is the joyful resistance to that minimizing, a celebration and full-throated cry of pride at the strength and resilience, often in the face of discrimination and stereotypes, of Filipino-Canadians and their invaluable place in the fabric of Canadian society.”