Book tour on this weekend

THE Pinoy Book Stop tour goes back on the road another round of book stops this year.

This time around, the project — spearheaded by the National Book Development Board ( NBDB) — will tour seven libraries, bookstores, and book museums within Metro Manila and in areas to the south on April 7 and 8. Independent and campus- based bookstores will be additional stops.

Launched in 2016 as the Pinoy Bookstore Tour, it kicked off with a Quezon City to Baguio City itinerary with six book stops. This year, the tour will start in Quezon City and end in the province of Laguna.

Stops on Day 1 will be the Book Museum Cum Ethnology Center, the Quezon City Public Library, and University of Santo Tomas Publishing House Bookstore. Day 2 will include visits to the Bodhi Mind and Body Shop in Tagaytay City, and the Komikero Komiks Museum, DepEd Laguna Library Hub, and Books, Crafts, and Coffeeshop in Laguna.

Activities will be held in each book stop including talks, poetry readings, and music performances to further promote local titles, particularly the recent winners of the National Book Awards and the National Children’s Book Awards.

Speakers include Filipino writers and literary experts such as Ergoe Tinio, MJ Tumamac, Isabela Banzon, Jenny Orillos, Mayette Bayuga, Ericson Acosta, Gerry Alanguilan, Amy Uy, Enrique Villasos, Joselito Delos Reyes, and Rino D.A. Fernandez.

The Pinoy Book Stop Tour is one of the activities of National Literature Month or Buwan ng Panitikan. The NBDB, together with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino ( KWF), has been promoting Philippine literature, supporting the growth of independent book stores, and encouraging reading of Filipino-authored books since declaring April as National Literature Month in 2015.

While the deadline for registration to the Pinoy Book Stop Tour has passed, walk- in participants are welcome to every book stop.

For updates on NBDB’s other programs, visit www.booksphilippines.gov.ph. —