What to expect at the Philippines’ Frankfurt Book Fair 2025 Guest of Honour programme?

Juergen Boos, director of Frankfurter Buchmesse (FBM), which is internationally known as the Frankfurt Book Fair, said: “I am very excited about the Philippines’ Guest of Honour presentation in 2025. The motto The imagination peoples the air resonates with the universality of storytelling.”

Boos also shared that he lived in the scenic Heidelberg, one of the places in Germany Rizal had lived in and would pass by the sights Rizal mentioned in his journals. This connection between the two countries, with Rizal being a consummate traveller, writer, and revolutionary figure in shaping the Filipino consciousness, provides an interesting foundation for the Philippines’ participation as Guest of Honour next year.

“Even though the Philippines is the world’s thirteenth largest nation with more than 109 million citizens, I believe for many of us in Europe, Philippine literature is currently still rather unknown territory,” says Boos. “As the country steps into its role as Guest of Honour, we will learn a lot about the importance of storytelling and today’s cultural scene for Philippine civil society. With an incredible 183 different languages spoken on its 7,641 islands, the country’s diverse influences are one of the aspects I am looking forward to seeing in Frankfurt in 2025.”

The Philippines as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2025 is an achievement made possible through the joint efforts of the NCCA, NBDB, Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda. 

After making its debut at the FBM in 1998, presenting 302 titles from 45 publishers, the Philippines made a powerful comeback in 2015, driven by the unwavering support of Legarda. In 2023, the country received confirmation that it had been selected as the Guest of Honour for 2025. For this year’s edition, more than 70 publishers, authors, and creatives joined the delegation to participate in the B2B transactions and lectures held at the FBM, with 700 titles gracing the National Stand at Hall 5.1 of Messe Frankfurt, among other sections—the largest programming to date.

“This is a moment of immense national pride,” Senator Loren Legarda, the project’s main supporter, remarked via video presentation. “With the Philippine government’s support, we see the country being celebrated at the world’s largest book fair as a testament to the relentless efforts invested in promoting our literary and creative soul. We are excited to share the stories of the Filipino people with the world.”

Two members of the authors’ delegation, the transfeminine thinker and artist Jaya Jácobo and Trese comics author Budjette Tan gave insights into their works during the press conference.

To give the attendees a taste of talinghaga, Jácobo indulged the guests with an excerpt reading of her poetry book Arasahas, first published by Kristian Sendon Cordero’s Savage Mind and translated by Christian Jil Benitez.

“The poetic tradition of my country, the Philippines, is grounded in the conditions of creation, premised on the comparison of seemingly disparate thoughts and things, in the end affirming a world that remains whole after nearly being broken and, in many instances as well, absolute decimation,” Jácobo said. “Talinghaga—metaphor but also something more as the diversity of concepts and the objects that hold them in place traverses the borders of language as well as existence itself, in order for a gender of being to be always affirmed and never nullified from poem to poem.”

Meanwhile, Tan took guests on a tour of the supernatural side of Manila, which underlines the Filipinos’ penchant for folklore, the supernatural, and the mystical realm. This weaves the stories of Trese, Tan’s comic book series in collaboration with artist Kajo Baldisimo and Nida Ramirez’s Avenida Books, which Netflix adapted into an animated series and recently been published in the German language thanks to the efforts of Paolo Herras of Komiket.

“There is a 400-year-old Catholic church in Manila and a lot of people go there praying for miracles. Funnily enough, right outside that Catholic church is a group of vendors selling supposedly magical amulets...” Tan began. “In this magical city, crime takes a turn for the weird. There are drug dealers that sell magical pills that give you the powers of the enchanted just for one night. There are kidnappers who grow batwings that fly and steal children from the highest condominiums. And there are demon horses—tikbalang—who decide to drag race along the highway, causing accidents. So when crime takes a turn for the weird, that‘s when the police call Alexandra Trese. She is the babaylan-mandirigma, healer, warrior, and defender of the city.”

Flores told Tatler that choosing Jácobo and Tan to speak at the press conference about their work sets the tone for the strength of the Philippines’ literary production. The curator said an established writer or a novelist could have been equally befitting of the opportunity, but they chose to defy the expectation and present that there are a multitude of stories to be told from the Philippines’ perspective.

“Boos mentioned that our strength lies in our Filipino writers’ ability to talk about their sexuality or engage in forms like animation. We had Budjette and Jaya to draw attention to the strength of literary practice in trans poetics, graphic novels, and folklore,” he said.

Literature in the Philippines is more than storytelling; it is a social practice that connects readers to global ideas and future aspirations. Philippine narratives span genres and mediums, offering a unique perspective on history, culture, and contemporary realities. “The Guest of Honour Pavilion will be the space, the climate for sharing: democratic, deliberative, daring, convivial, peopled by imagination, prompted to action by struggle and dream,” Flores added.

The visual identity, Flores introduced, also follows the theme: The imagination peoples the air while conveying the act of ‘imagining’ as a graphic and geometric abstraction brought to life. The main logo visualises this process by an ascending grid lifting in the air, recalling the collective aspirations of the nation. The colour scheme reflects Rizal’s descriptions of vivid tones of gold, blue, red and green in the settings and characters of his book. The typefaces refer to letters used in the first printing of Noli Me Tangere around 1890. Finally, the visual design also includes glyphs, inspired by the baybayin script, an ancient writing system, used by early Filipinos before the Spanish colonisation. They represent characters or objects playing a central role in Noli.

Meanwhile, Bolasco presented in the press conference that the Philippine Pavillion will showcase the literary development of the country by focusing on pioneering, unique works that represent significant aspects of Filipino culture. “Collaborating with experts and stakeholders, the delegation aims to highlight titles that not only delve into Filipino heritage but also appeal to international markets interested in diverse stories.”

In 2025, the Philippines will double the number of representatives and books to take up space in the 2,000sqm pavilion, creating a hub for dialogue and inspiration. Moving beyond traditional marketing, the Philippines’ participation seeks to engage with readers, writers, and publishers through a creative exchange: Panels, lectures, and interactive exhibits will explore the role of literature as a catalyst for social change, bridging historical and contemporary realities. The Philippines is working with German institutions to launch a comprehensive cultural program, focusing on Philippine perspectives on global issues and offering a space where the past, present, and future come together in a dynamic exchange.

As the world gathers at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2025, the Philippines promises an inspiring vision of literary and cultural exchange. The Philippine Pavilion will be a nexus of ideas, cultures, and history and a vibrant highlight of the fair, where stories come alive, and the imagination peoples the air.

Flores asserted that the 2025 Guest of Honour role should not only highlight literary works but a contextual perspective in the curatorial approach to emphasise how Philippine writings have emerged throughout the years.

“Culture is there to surround the production of the book and also the production of the writer,” says Flores. “Rizal was an important inspiration among Southeast Asian revolutionaries—in Indonesia or Malaysia, for instance. I can say that in the 19th century, we had a strong impact in the region with Rizal and the rest of the ilustrados making their mark on a global scale.”

Flores mentioned that the proliferation of Filipino visual artists and performers making waves in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is set as the intersection of various cultures rooted in our inter-cultural exchange with our pre-colonial trade partners and colonisers.

“We’re having an interdisciplinary approach in the curation of the Philippine pavilion, where the ecology of creativity has to be referenced,” said Flores.

Although not set in stone yet, Flores and his team aim to partner with the cinematheque in Frankfurt to screen films made by National Artist Kidlat Tahimik and Mike De Leon, who spent their education in Germany. There are also artists, Joscha Steffens from Germany and the other Stephanie Misa from Cebu now based in Vienna, who will have a collaborative exhibition in Heidelberg.

This series of activities, which will take place before the Frankfurt Book Fair opens in 2025, is set to increase the buzz about the Philippines’ role as Guest of Honour. Flores credits Legarda and other agencies behind this effort with bringing this undertaking to fruition, as promoting our arts and culture wouldn’t have been possible without the support of both the private and government sectors.

“This significant milestone of being Guest of Honour in the largest book fair in the world will help internationalise Philippine literature and artistic culture. Rizal was an example of a cosmopolitan, worldly figure that reflects the Filipino race. This opportunity gives Filipino artists the confidence to put themselves on the world stage,” Flores concluded.

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