Nurturing the Filipino Diaspora Through Literature
November 6, 2007
Marie Romero, owner of Arkipelago Books, proudly displays her collection of Filipino literary treasures.
The intersection of Sixth and Mission streets straddles San Francisco’s battle with time and architecture. To the east, a mayhem of bars and grills, the Sony Metreon and the Westfield Mall.
To the west, a mish-mash of parking lots, old brick buildings and empty metered-parking spaces.
Amidst this transitioning neighborhood is Arkipelago Books, a literary diamond in the dust, at home in an area where the city’s first Filipino immigrants resided in the early 1900s. Previously located in the Mint Mall, once a bustling cultural haven for the Filipino community, but now a block away at 1010 Mission Street in the Bayanihan Community Center, it stands as the only bookshop and small-press publisher in San Francisco that offers an extensive collection of works by authors and artists of the Filipino diaspora.
Currently in its 14th year, Arkipelago Books’ presence is a strong statement for a small business that survived the dot-com boom/bust of the 1990s—a challenging time that also displaced many Filipinos who immigrated to the South of Market area many years ago.
“It was a very unsettling experience, going through that era and with the rivalry of the dot-coms. There were several mom-and-pop operations in the Mint Mall that did have to close down,” said Marie Romero, owner of Arkipelago Books. “But having been in business as long as I have and going through that time, I am a testimony of the wealth of Filipinos who continue to enjoy literature.
There are many of my customers who are now parents, Filipinos and non-Filipinos, who encourage their kids to read about Filipino culture.”
Arkipelago Books has long been committed to the Filipino writers community, and has been an inexhaustible resource for anyone hunting and gathering for information about the history, traditions and culture of the Philippines.
The store’s bookshelves are lined with literature written by prominent Filipino luminaries, such as Jose Rizal (Noli Me Tangere) and Carlos Bulosan (America is in the Heart), as well as books about architecture, art, food, history and linguistics.
Additionally, their collection offers the local flavors of Bay Area authors, such as Tony Robles (Lakas and the Manilatown Fish), Leny M. Strobel (A Book of Her Own: Words & Images to Honor the Babaylan) and Janet Stickmon (Crushing Soft Rubies).
The store also offers a wide assortment of handcrafted items from the artisans of the Philippines, which includes soaps, tapestries, coffee, jewelry, sculptures and ceramics.
For more information, visit www.arkipelagobooks.com.
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Nice to know. I had never heard of this bookstore before.
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Good day. I wonder if you can assist me on this. I am doing a research on diaspora and how it contibutes to the formation of a literary identity. The research will focus on Postmodern to contemporary Philippine literature set abroad, particularly in Europe. Might you recommend relevant literature for this topic? Thank you in advance for your assistance.
To Michelle: There are some interesting selections by filipina writers in gloria anzaldua’s “Making Faces” anthology. also, you might try the filipina women’s network. some of their members might be readers.