The Philippines is the Guest of Honour country at the 2025 Frankfurt Book Fair, marking a significant moment for Filipino literature on the international stage, with over 77 events here in Frankfurt. Among the participating authors is Candy Gourlay, a London-based writer whose novels for young readers have garnered numerous awards and nominations, including listings for the Carnegie Medal and the National Children’s Book Award of the Philippines. Born in the Philippines and having lived in the U.K. for 35 years, Gourlay brings a unique perspective to themes of colonialism, migration, and identity that define much of contemporary Filipino literature.
Can you tell us about your latest novel, Wild Song?
It’s set in 1904 and won the National Book Award in the Philippines. The story follows characters from my previous book about the U.S. invasion of the Philippines. My characters go to the 1904 World Fair in St. Louis thinking they’ve been invited for an adventure, then discover they’re on display in a human zoo. This was based on fact. It was the era of eugenics, but also called “the Progressive Era” when Americans were discovering women’s rights and conservation.
Does it reflect any predominant themes in contemporary Filipino literature?
Absolutely. When I compare Filipino writers with other East and Southeast Asian writers, we’re still writing about the wound of what the Americans did to us after they invaded in 1899. When I meet Malaysians, they’re post-colonial, writing about love and horror. We’re still in that space, still talking about the effects of colonialism. The other major theme is emigration, which is the beating heart of the Filipino story. We have about 10% of our population working abroad and every single person in the Philippines has a relative who’s part of the diaspora.
Philippine authors writing in English face unique challenges with territorial rights. How does this affect you?
When I was published in England, I discovered my book’s rights included the Philippines as part of American-English language rights. This means my book gets imported and becomes unaffordable for Filipinos to read—a Filipino story by a Filipino author that Filipinos can’t afford. U.S. rights still include Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Canada and Australia can extract their rights because they have power, but little countries like us can’t. I’m hoping Frankfurt will change that.
How is the digital generation changing Philippine literature?
The Philippines has 110 million people with an average age of 24—they’re digital natives. Platforms like Wattpad are huge. When I went to the Manila International Book Festival, the queues for Wattpad authors were incredible. If you go to Philippine schools and ask who likes to read and write, thousands of kids raise their hands because they’re all on Wattpad. It’s created a generation of young writers and readers.
What can international readers expect at Frankfurt?
We have a very different story from other Asian countries. We’re not Sino-influenced. Our colonial story and story of resistance is so powerful and current that it should be of interest to everyone. One big thing to look out for are our comics and graphic novels—we have a long tradition of this, which is a hangover from American influence.
What authors should readers look out for?
Miguel Syjuco won the Man Asian Literary Prize for his novel Ilustrado; his latest novel is called I Was the President’s Mistress. Gina Apostol wrote Gun Dealer’s Daughter. José Dalisay’s Soledad’s Sister was translated into German—a funny book about an overseas Filipino worker’s body that gets lost in transit around Manila. Patricia Evangelista wrote Some People Need Killing, a chilling and powerful book about recent Philippine politics. They are all written by writers of the highest caliber who deserve international recognition. Frankfurt represents a crucial opportunity to introduce these voices to the global literary community.
