Author Visit: At the University of Batangas, Lipa

 

The highlight of my Author Visit in the University of Batangas was my interaction with 600 plus high school students. It was a huge audience which made pre-writing activities challenging, but we pulled through. I gave students thinking prompts that center on local knowledge and history, especially stories of folk people in Lipa. What they gave back were modern stories about food, geography and community relations. The teachers and librarians, headed by Madame May Corong and Ms. Angel Aldovino, will send over works of students for me to read. I hope we could get at least 30% of written output.

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Author Visit: KYu at the Beacon Academy

 

Author Visit: Learning From Young Readers

Why Author Visits are a lot of fun, and the possibility of it becoming an intergenerational experience! 

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Author Visit: Russell Molina at The Beacon Academy

📣 Author Visit: Russell Molina at The Beacon Academy

We are honored to welcome Russell Molina , multi-awarded author and graphic novelist, to The Beacon Academy!

Join us for his talk, "Creative IRL: Turning Real Events into Epic Stories" where he will share his writing process with a conscious awareness of young audiences, and reflect on the author's role in navigating social-cultural issues and global realities. He will also speak on the responsibilities authors hold in shaping consciousness, dialogue, and compassion through literature.

🗓 Date: Wednesday, August 27, 2025
🕐 Time: 1:50–2:50 PM
📍 Venue: Auditorium

We greatly admire Russell Molina's body of work and his enduring impact on Philippine literature for young readers. This is a rare opportunity for our school community to learn from one of the country's most compelling storytellers, whose works like 12:01 , Sixty Six, EDSA and Josefina continue to preserve memory, provoke thought, and inspire change. 

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Author Visit and Talk at the School's Division Office

 

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Author Visit 2023: Grand Opening of the Valenzuela City Library

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Notes and Letters of Thanks from Grade 2 Students of the UP Integrated School

I received a host of messages from grade 2 students of the University of the Philippines Integrated School. I visited their class last month for an Author Visit. It was fun. As always, the teachers of the class sent me the students' letters and messaged. 

I am pleased to share some of them here in the blog.

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Mga Katanungan ng Mga Batang Paslit

Ang mga piling mag-aaral ng UP Integrated School na nasa ikalawang baitang ay may mga katanungan tungkol sa aking buhay manunulat. Abangan ang mga sagot.

1) Hi Teacher Zarah! Paano po namin kayo maiinspire na magsulat ng marami pang kuwento? 

2) Hello Teacher Zarah! Gaano katagal mong naisulat ang isang kuwento? Sa iyong mga kuwento, alin ang mas mabilis mong naisulat? Alin ang pinakamatagal mong naisulat? 

3) What's your favorite thing about being a writer?

4) Teacher Zarah, anong paborito n'yo pong gawin kapag walang pasok?

5) Kailan po kayo nagsusulat ng mga kuwento?

6) Bakit po kuwentong pambata ang naisip mong isulat? Sino po ang inspirasyon mo sa pagsusulat ng kuwento?

7) Ilan na po ang nagawa ninyong libro at may tumutulong ba sa'yo gumawa ng libro? 

8) Hi Teacher Zarah! Ano ang paborito mong basahing libro?

Virtual Author Visit at Lowell Elementary School, Chicago, Illinois

What technology can do! 

I had my first Author Meet and Greet this year with the kindergarten class of Ms. Rebecca Cotto and Ms. Genevie De Castro of Lowell Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois. It was on Book Giving Day, February 14 in the US and 2am of February 15 Manila Time.

I had a wonderful chat with the students as they all responded eagerly to the stories I told them. My Daddy My One and Only is always a winner for this age group while I am Happy to Be Me opened a lot of insights about the self and the decisions we can make  to be a little kinder to ourselves. Even 6 year olds are able to grasp that idea. Amazing 🤩 

Thank you Genevie! Thank you Lampara Books! Thank you young readers! This is grace upon grace upon grace! 🙏🏽💜🙏🏽

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Isang post na ibinahagi ni Genevie de Castro (@littlepeopletamer)

The Lighthouse Diary #35: What I Learned from Being an Impresario for the Library

Of course I enjoy organizing literacy and bookish events for the learning community! 

These activities and events are in part relevant to school library programming. Last November, we had an Author Visit and this February, we will have a POP Talk. From these experiences, I learned to respect the author's and the content creator's work. One of the things I added in the process of organizing a library event is the Author/Content Creator Agreement.

This is how it looks like.

1. Provide us with bank account information for the transfer of your honorarium/professional fee. Upon receipt, you will send back to me a proof of transfer via email: *****@beaconacademy.ph. 

2. Your talk will be recorded as part of the school's documentation process. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns about this. If you agree, you will be given a copy of the video recording.

3. It is advisable to log in 15 minutes before _____ to test audio and video as well as WiFi connection.

4. Promotion of book and current projects during the talk and publication of collateral in the Newsletter will be made possible. Please send us your materials, content and posters.

5. Please provide us with a 30 min recorded video of your talk three days before the event. This is when and if we encounter tech problems. On the day of the talk, you may choose to go live or have the recorded video presented to the community.

6. Rest assured that the materials and content you made for this event will be respected under existing academic honesty policies of the school. 

There will be more learning to be gained from this. We learn as we go!

Preparing for an Online Author Visit: Ms. Natasha Vizcarra

GET TO KNOW OUR GUEST AUTHOR, MS. NATASHA VIZCARRA!

We are excited to watch and listen to Ms. Natasha Vizcarra share her experiences as a Science writer and editor on Assembly this Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at 2PM. She writes interesting topics on science that are grounded on sound research and integrated into different subjects and disciplines.

Here is a sample of Ms. Vizcarra's article on fermentation. The storytelling voice is strong but the history and cultural background of fermentation to Asian cuisine and its relevance to health, wellbeing and a nation's economy are given emphasis. How can non-fiction sound so, ah, literary?

"In early March, Filipino writer and plant-based cook Mabi David plunged her hand into a vat of a bright red purée, Chinese cabbage, julienned carrots and radishes, and chopped green onions. She was mixing a fresh batch of kimchi, a fermented side-dish from Korea. Sharp scents of ginger, garlic and hot pepper wafted in the air as a crowd of vegetable farmers watched and jotted down notes.

David was teaching the class in Bauko, in the Philippines’ Mountain Province, where the high altitude and low temperatures allow farmers to grow temperate weather crops – like cabbage, carrots and salad greens – in the country’s hot and humid climate.

Like other Asian cuisines, Philippine cuisine is rich with well-loved fermented foods, turning local fruits, vegetables and seafood into dishes and condiments such as pickled green papaya and permutations of fermented rice, fish and shrimp pastes. Many evolved decades before the age of refrigeration, subsequently passed on from generation to generation

But David is expanding traditional practices by borrowing from other Asian cuisines to take advantage of new market demands for fermented foods as well as reduce food waste; as the Korean migrant population in the Philippines has grown since the 1990s, so too has Filipinos’ taste for Korean food. “We wanted to introduce [different] fermentation techniques to help the farmers deal with surplus harvest,” says David.

Barely a week after the kimchi-making class, however, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreaks a pandemic on 11 March. A few days later, the Philippine government placed Manila under lockdown, keeping people home from shopping in stores to avoid infection. By late March, lower demand for their produce began forcing farmers to give away much of their harvests or dump them by roadsides.

Had David’s students explored kimchi-making as a side-business much earlier, tons of produce would not have gone to waste."

~ Excerpt from HOW FERMENTATION’S NEW HEYDAY IS BENEFITTING HUMAN AND PLANETARY HEALTH, April 29, 2020

You are highly encouraged to read the article on the topic. What piqued your interest? What did you observe on the handling of language and the rendition of facts to an intended audience? Imagine the amount and time of research the writer invested on a piece such as this. Visit Ms. Vizcarra's website for more interesting non-fiction.

See you all on Wednesday!

PS - Ms. Vizcarra has a new book, Spikeys, Prickles and Prongies: A Corona Virus Story published by Ilaw ng Tahanan. The publisher will sell copies!

Online Author Visit: Character Development and The Hero's Journey at the Beacon School

I have always been fascinated with The Hero's Journey (John Campbell, 1949) as a framework for understanding and writing stories as well as developing character. Based on the writings of John Campbell, the Hero's Journey is a pattern that is present in all myths and religions of the world. Many writers and storytellers make use of it to craft stories and works of fiction. Thus, in my Author Visit at the Beacon School a few weeks ago, I started the grade 8 students with a priming activity on The Hero's Journey.

Good timing! According to the English Teacher, they are to begin with Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing where characters are flawed and blessed with the will to overcome them. The Hero's Journey, though plot driven focuses on the character and how he/she responds to events and people of his/her world.

For my input session, I first defined what I believe stories are and moved on to present the Hero's Journey connecting it to my views as an author. I then presented a compressed framework I use to develop character. For this, I made use of Nico, Daddy Elephant, Ate and Ino putting emphasis that what they go through is either determined by events and their relationship with other characters. I ended my session with three tasks that students can do on their own.

A few hours after, I received an email from the English teacher and the school's librarian saying how inspired everyone was to begin their own stories. This feedback from the learning community is a ray of light in this difficult time.

Let's carry on!

World Read Aloud Day 2021: An Online Author Visit at Keys School Manila

 

Today is World Read Aloud Day! Yesterday, I spent it with K-3 students of Keys School Manila. I read aloud my story My Daddy! My One and Only! (illustrated by Jomike Tejido, Lampara Books 2012). Nothing beats a face-to-face session, but doing an Author Visit online for the time being since it is the age of the pandemic is fine by me. 

In this medium and learning environment, the definition of engagement and participation changes. A 30-minute session is already a long haul for learners in K-3. In my experience since the pandemic started in March 2020, my storytelling plans must include visuals that are colorful, appealing to the eyes, music that is short and lively, a well selected story and activities that students can do asynchronously.

I am still learning as I go. If anything, that is one of the good things that this pandemic has brought me.  

Author Visit at Keys School Manila

Thank you to the teacher librarians of Keys School Manila, Teachers Alfred and Van, for hosting my author visit with their students in kinder, grade 1 and 2 levels. I had a wonderful time sharing about my life as a writer, the stories behind my published books and the structure of writing I use for my stories. The Keys students were curious, confident and authentic inquirers. 

Thank you so much to my publisher, Lampara House for setting up a booth to display and sell my books. Signing copies of books that students bought took me an hour! I am excited to see my new book launched at the Manila International Book Fair this September.

The visit was like a reunion for I have met former co-teachers and children of friends I knew from my librarian days in Xavier School. Now I look forward to continuing partnership with the teacher librarians in Keys School as they have recently been authorized as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School. It is in the IB where collaboration, resource sharing and networking truly happens. Let’s see what’s in store for us Filipino Librarians in the IB network!

Author Visit at Assumption College Antipolo

I was at Assumption College (AC) Antipolo last week for an author visit. Many thanks to Ms. Tersie Montesines for the invitation, I felt like a rockstar. 

Here is why:

Student: You are the second most popular person I have met, Ms. Zarah.
Me: Awww... Who is the first?
Student: Vice Ganda!

This happened during my book signing at lunch break. There was a long line! To my amazement, my books have been identified as summer readings by the grade school teachers and librarians of Assumption College. So, writer friends, befriend the school librarians and the teachers you meet in school visits, book signings and launches. They provide access and gateways for our books to parents and the bigger community. My books were all sold out!

After my author talk in the early morning, I was a privileged guest in AC Antipolo's Speech Fest where I saw and heard students perform our book, A Tale of Two Dreams (Gagatiga, Solina-Wolf, Lampara 2013). It was a first for me. 

I felt I have gone full circle too as I have seen and witnessed how teachers make use of the stories I write for children. 

I met friends, old and new, like former Xavier School teacher Mrs. Winnie Posadas Santiago who teaches fourth grade Language Arts and Mrs. Luisa Buenaventura whose son happened to be my son's friend in college. I learned from Teacher Winnie that she used My Daddy My One Only and The Day Max Flew Away for their Morning Circle. This is the advisory period and quieting time of the community. A time for devotionals. Bible stories are amazing and passages are filled with life lessons. For young students to have a better appreciation of it, Teacher Winnie uses stories for kids to make the life lessons more accessible.

Teacher Luisa was my companion the whole day. We had wonderful conversations about life in general, writing, sharing of one's work, health and well-being and the graces that can be had in service to community.

Antipolo is a long way from where I live in Laguna, but the trip, tiring as it was because of the terrible traffic in the metro, was all worth it. Thank you, AC Antipolo!

2018 In Review: Author Visits and Book Launched at the MIBF 2018

2018 was also a productive year for me as an author. I was invited to do author talks and visited two schools of different backgrounds and grade levels.

In November, I had an Author Visit in Domuschola International School for their Middle Years and Diploma Program students. I was surprised that my book, A Tale of Two Dreams (Lampara) was chosen as a reading material in the Filipino A class. Meeting a former student from Xavier School was another pleasant surprise. The following month, I gave an Author Visit at Gan Etz Ha Haim where I told stories and read aloud my K-3 books to their preschoolers. One of the highlights of the visit for me was seeing the synagogue of the Jewish community, the only one in Metro in Manila.

In the middle of 2018, the article I wrote for Book Watch, the official magazine of the National Book Development Board saw publication. My writing featured the growing reading organisations in the regions as well as storytelling groups outside Metro Manila. To date, one of the featured groups, the Pilar Reading Center in Masbate has been recognised by Malacanang as a literacy advocacy group run by a public school teacher with support from the DepEd and Local Government Unit.

Lastly, as it is my goal every year, I have a book launched at the Manila International Book Fair. Read the back story of  Ino the Invincible and highlights of the launching at the MIBF.

So, as I bid thee goodbye to 2018, I look forward to a fruitful and productive 2019!

Author Visit at Gan Etz Ha Haim

Who would have thought that there is a synagogue in the busy, commercial community of Makati? Well, there really is and it is maintained and managed by the Jewish Association of the Philippines (JAP).  Nestled in the Salcedo enclave, the JAP complex houses a social hall and a preschool, the Gan Etz Ha Haim preschool. 

I paid them visit yesterday where I talked about my writing life and read aloud stories. The kids particularly loved My Daddy, My One and Only and the The Day Max Flew Away. There I met Teacher Daryl and Teacher

Paz, and their small community of preschool staff. After my talk and read aloud sessions, I had book signing with the kids, chatted with the Jewsish staff and some parents.

Before I left, Teacher Daryl and Teacher Paz gave me a tour of Bachrach Hall, the library and the synagogue. It was my first time to enter a synagogue. It was my first time too to see books read and used for worship by the Jewish people. Nothing but respect to the Jewish community as they have a language, culture and faith as old as time itself. As in every visit and every talk I do, I was the one who learned so much from my host. I left the JAP complex informed and appreciative of the Jewish people in our midst.

Author Talk: Creativity Expresses Identity

On October 23, 2018, I was at Domuschola International School, an IB World School in Pasig City, Metro Manila, for an Author Visit. I shared my creative process, my published books and my writing life to students in the Middle Years and Diploma Program. I will post insights and takeaways from the experience but for the meantime, I am sharing these slides from my presentation.

Hosting an Author Visit and Storytelling Session

I am happy reading aloud my published picture books to kids at Perps.

As a published and an international award winning author, I have my share of wonderful experiences visiting schools for the conduct of talks and workshops about reading, writing and book making. Part of my program is a read aloud and storytelling session of one or two of my published picture books.

It is always a joy to see the faces of young children light up with wonder. They giggle, gasp and grasp a classmates hand during events in the story that are funny, exciting and surprising. Connection between storyteller and listener happens. It is magical!

In a recent author visit I had at the Grade School Department of the University of Perpetual Help System (Perps), I had magical moments with the K-3 students there. Their response to stories is amazing. They warmed up to Daddy Elephant, laughed at little brother every time Big Sister annoys him, and followed on the heroic journey of Mother Cat. It is my honor to share these stories with them, the ones I created and the ones that matter to me.

With the support of my publisher, Lampara Books, I get to experience, first hand, the wonder, fun and curiosity that rest in the heart and mind of a listening child. It inspires me to keep on writing. I thank the librarians of Perps for having me last November 30 for this visit. I am grateful to my learning commnity, The Beacon Academy, for allowing me to network and touch base with our neighbors in Binan.

Here now is a set of tips for school librarians who wish to have a smashing Author Visit.

1. First of all, an Author Visit must be planned early on. It is scheduled way ahead of time for logistics and budgetary concerns. It is therefore important that the librarian knows who to invite so that, the author's professional fees, transportation, meal allowance and needed equipment and materials are all in place. The program, venue of the visit and the audience, the objectives and the purpose of the visit need to be spelled out.

2. Most school systems require a proposal for this activity. Librarian managers need to allot a budget for this event. Including this event in the regular staff meeting is essential. It gets everyone involved. The Author Visit becomes a community event. The librarian in charge of the event works works with teachers and even parents in organizing the visit. Usually, the Author Visit is part of a bigger event for example, Teen Read Week, National Book Week, Poetry Month, International Literacy Day, National Children's Book Week, etc.

3. When the plan and proposal has been approved by the school administration, the librarian can begin the logistical preparations.

4. Send the author an invitation, either through his/her contact address or through the publisher.

5. Invite the publisher to display and sell the author's books and schedule in a book signing session. Authors get a lot from engaging with their readers. Your role, as a librarian, is to bridge the reader to the book and its author.

6. Promote the visit a week or two before the actual event. Prepare flyers, announce the event at assemblies, school websites and newsletters.

7. Work with teachers for curriculum tie-ins. Even guidance counselors may find the visit beneficial in helping young people find out what their interests in life are. This can pave the way to knowing one's vocation.

8. Have a post Author Visit activity. Writing the author letters is one of the many post activities you can do. Authors often reply, thus, the connection deepens and you, librarian, you now find yourself a part of the creative process.

9. Send the author a thank you via email or the traditional snail mail. You can invite him/her again, thus, the author becomes a resource person who will help you teach, educate and guide young people in their learning.

10. Evaluate the Author Visit. Start by looking at the objectives. Were they met? How? What areas need improvement? Write this all in a report and submit it to the Librarian manager. Documentation of activities helps you chart your growth, as well as the library's.

Author Visits can be fun! Tiring, yes. But kids and young people learn a lot from the experience. And yes, even the authors whom you invite over.

Zarah Gagatiga accepts library consultancy and professional development training sessions for teachers, aspiring writers and novice school librarians. 

Her author visit programs are fun, exciting and filled with learning activities. With Zarah Gagatiga, you have a BLAST: Blogger, Librarian, Author, Storyteller and Teacher. 

Get in touch with her! Her email address is: zarah.gagatiga@gmail.com