Vancouver, B.C.
“Writing Our Diaspora: Literature Across Generations”
Historian Adrian De Leon is keynote speaker
Teodoro ‘Ted’ Alcuitas
Editor
After a one-year hiatus the Filipino Canadian Book Festival returns with a vengeance – with an impressive list of nearly 30 writers from across Canada and beyond on August 14-17 at the Museum of Vancouver (1100 Chestnut St) and VS Creative Labs ( 1884 Main St, The festival is the only one of its kind in Canada devoted to Filipino Canadian literature.
This year’s theme is “Writing Our Diaspora: Literature Across Generations,” bringing together nearly 30 authors for panels, workshops, and readings. Attendance is free but registration is encouraged.
The idea for a festival was conceived in 2024 by writer and digital designer Nathalie De Los Santos and poet and Sampaguita Press co-founder Maria Bolaños during a conversation in a Carl’s Jr. parking lot after they attended a literary event in Long Beach, California. They later teamed up with Dani Alcalde-Sidloski to launch the inaugural festival in July 12-14 in Vancouver.
Keynote speaker Adrian De Leon
Adrian De Leon was born in Manila and raised in Scarborough, Ontario. He is the author of several books, including Bundok: A Hinterland History of Filipino America (2023), Balikbayan: A Revenant History of the Filipino Homeland (2026), and Notes from a Wayward Son: A Memoir (2026). A prolific writer, historian, and scholar, De Leon’s work has helped shape urgent conversations around Filipino history, diaspora, migration, memory, and belonging. He currently teaches American and Philippine histories at New York University.
The theme invites audiences to consider diaspora as something living, expansive, and ever-changing — shaped across generations, geographies, languages, and communities.
It asks “what we inherit, what we carry, and what we create together. We are honoured to welcome such an incredible group of writers, artists, and community members into this space.”
While rooted in Filipino/a/x stories, the festival continues to grow as an intercultural space where communities can gather around interconnected experiences of immigration, intergenerational memory and trauma, and the importance of finding community in IBPOC-prioritized spaces.“After our year away, we’re returning with so much gratitude, care, and excitement,” says the Filipino-Canadian Book Festival team.
Alongside in-person panels, workshops, and marketplace programming, the 2026 festival will also include virtual panels and a children’s storytelling event in December, extending the festival’s commitment to accessibility, intergenerational connection, and community-building beyond the main festival weekend.
From poetry and picture books to literary fiction, memoir, speculative fiction and beyond, this year’s festival brings together writers from coast to coast whose work explores identity, family, history, imagination and community. Whether you’re searching for your next favourite read or looking to connect with the vibrant world of Filipino Canadian literature, you’ll find a diverse range of voices, perspectives and stories here. We’ve also invited creatives from other communities to help facilitate and chat through shared struggles and histories.
28 authors, seven of whom are contributors to the landmark anthology, Magdaragat: An Anthology of Filipino Canadian Writing published in 2023 by Cormorant Books. Meet the authors thru this link:
https://www.filcanbookfest.com/2026-authors
The festival’s 2026 visual identity is created by Mar Cortez, a Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist whose work explores Filipino folklore and pre-colonial history through a contemporary lens. In Cortez’s artwork, diaspora becomes a place where stories accumulate, overlap, and continue. Gestural forms inspired by Baybayin move through the composition like a living script — a visual echo of migration, memory, and the many ways stories are carried across time. Layered with regional textile patterns, land and sea references, circular forms, and the bangka, the artwork honours the distinct roots of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao while allowing them to intersect, blend, and become something new.
The Filipino-Canadian Book Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, whose funding has made the return of the festival possible and helped bring this celebration of literature, storytelling, and community to life.
For updates, follow the Filipino-Canadian Book Festival online at @filcanbookfest and www.filcanbookfest.com
The Team:
Dani Alcalde-Sidloski
Dani Alcalde-Sidloski (she/her/they/them) is a Filipinx-Canadian settler living in the stolen and occupied lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaɁɬ təməxʷ (Musqueam) nations.
Dani is a prairie farm girl who sewed her heart onto her sleeve and then followed it out to the West Coast 11 years ago. She is a long-time book lover, bookseller, and one of the co-founders of the FilCan Book Festival and Place To Be Grief Library. You can find Dani between the book stacks at Iron Dog Books, finding homes for her favourite fantasy novels and weird novels in her community of East Vancouver. She is also a certified breathwork & mindfulness practitioner, a part-time quilter, and a full-time dreamer.
Nathalie De Los Santos
Director of Marketing
Nathalie De Los Santos (NAT-uh-lee dee lohs SAHN-tohs) (she/her/they/them) is a writer and creative. She created PilipinxPages, a platform that features Filipinx authors. She was a fellow of the 2025 Lambda Literary Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices, where she workshopped her YA fantasy novel Diyosa Mata under the mentorship of Aiden Thomas. Her short story “Bakunawa and the Seven Sisters” was shortlisted by Fractured Lit’s Ghost, Fable and Fairy Tales Prize (judged by Dan Chaon). She won Anvil Press’s 3-Day Novel Contest in 2024, and her winning novel, Debt of the Heart, is forthcoming from Anvil Press in Winter 2027.
Nathalie is one of the key organizers of the Filipino-Canadian Book Festival. Her work has appeared in Magdaragat: An Anthology of Filipino-Canadian Writing, The Globe and Mail, SAD Magazine, and more. She also hosts the Filipino Fairy Tales, Mythology, and Folklore podcast. Her current novel in progress, Bakunawa and the Seven Sisters, is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the BC Arts Council.
A writer, creative and founder of PilipinxPages. Nathalie is a 2025 Lambda Literary Fellow and author of the forthcoming novel Debt of the Heart.
Asia Alcalde-Sidloski | Operations Specialist
Asia Alcalde-Sidloski
Asia Alcalde-Sidloski (she/her) is a Filipina-Canadian creative originally from the prairies of Saskatchewan, who now lives in Vancouver, BC. Much of who she is, is rooted in her Filipino family and culture, especially the values of closeness, care and resilience. She works as an assistant director in film and more recently, as a matcha-rista. Asia finds joy in dance, travel, photography and baking, which are some of the many ways she continues to shape her life with intention and connection.
Dee de los Santos
Communications & PR Specialist
Dee de los Santos is a Vancouver-based consultant, writer, and PR professional with over 25 years of experience across film, food, culture, and community. Her work has included the Vancouver International Film Festival, the Filipino Canadian Book Festival, La Taqueria, and Blasted Church Vineyards, among others.
Deeply rooted in Vancouver’s communities, Dee also serves as Gala Coordinator and Digital Marketing Lead for the Children’s Heart Network, and is the voice behind Gastrofork, a long-running food and travel blog. As a mom and active school parent, she brings both personal and professional insight into the importance of family-centred support networks.
Dee is passionate about amplifying underrepresented voices and building meaningful connections — values that align closely with the mission of the Filipino Canadian Book Festival.