This year’s Komikon partnership jighlights the festival’s evolution into a platform where traditional publishing and visual storytelling converge.
The Philippine Readers & Writers Festival (PRWF) returns this week with an expanded programme and a landmark collaboration that signals fresh momentum for the country’s publishing sector. Running from 14 to 16 August at the NBS Building in Araneta City, Cubao, the free-entry festival offers more than 40 events organised by National Book Store.
A Historic Partnership
This year’s edition marks PRWF’s first partnership with Komikon, the Philippines’ first and longest-running annual comic book convention, founded in 2005.
The collaboration arrives as the Philippine publishing industry experiences robust growth: ISBN applications rose by 26.5 per cent between 2023 and 2024, according to the National Library of the Philippines, whilst the book publisher market is projected to expand from $412 million in 2025 to $575 million by 2032.
Programming for Professionals and Fans
The festival’s agenda reflects the sector’s diversity. Comics enthusiasts can attend a retrospective on two decades of Pinoy komiks with Jon Zamar, whilst Ian Velasquez discusses the cultural legacy of Kenkoy and Velasquez.
Aspiring authors will find practical guidance through sessions on manuscript development, author branding, and the publishing process, including a manuscript clinic with editors R. Jordan Santos and Kath Eustaquio-Derla.
Genre programming spans romance, speculative fiction, fantasy, and horror, featuring New York Times bestselling authors Thea Guanzon and Samantha Sotto-Yambao alongside BookTok creators. Historian Ambeth Ocampo, horror writer Yvette Tan, and Chef Tatung also headline signing sessions.
Commercial and Networking Opportunities
Attendees will benefit from discounts of up to 20 per cent on selected titles, with participating books available from P99.
The festival also offers free entrance passes to the Manila International Book Fair 2026, which runs from 9 to 13 September at the SMX Convention Center Manila and is supported by the Book Development Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Book Association.
The View From The Beach
Since its launch in 2013, PRWF has hosted international luminaries including Pulitzer Prize winners Viet Thanh Nguyen and Adam Johnson, as well as National Artist Ricky Lee. This year’s Komikon partnership highlights the festival’s evolution into a platform where traditional publishing and visual storytelling converge.
This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.
