21st Century Literature (Philippines): CHICK LIT

Notes for IASPR 2020 Roundtable: "Global Romance and Diversity"

When asked to join a panel, and I'm given guide questions, I usually answer them in full as preparation for the panel—even if I don't get to say all of it. This helps me review, in a way, and gives me a record of how to answer similar questions in the future.

I participated in the IASPR 2020 roundtable on Global Romance and Diversity and was sent these questions to prep for the session, but actually didn't get to say all of this haha. I adjust depending on the session too. But here are my prepared notes. The linked video above is the actual roundtable session, that includes me and fellow Filipino author Brigitte Bautista.

Introduce yourself, and your projects/research that pushes for diversity in a global genre like romance.

My name is Mina V. Esguerra and I'm a Filipino author, publisher, and founder of the #romanceclass community of Filipino authors and readers of romance in English. Most recently I've also become an agent representing media adaptation rights for most of the romanceclass books. The #RomanceClass community started as a free class that I gave online in 2013, to a hundred aspiring Filipino authors, and has continued as an author and reader community organizing all the different ways we can write more, make better books, reach more readers.

What made you take up the challenge to push for diversity in your work (motivations, context, personal reasons)?

I started out writing m/f pairing romance and chick lit with Filipino characters. My first book was published and distributed mainly in the Philippines, so I didn't think about my place or that book's place in the global romance genre. It wasn't until I self-published my second title, on Amazon, that I started noticing markets, and which characters and stories were considered "easier sells." In the Philippines, romance in Tagalog sells more, especially if you are distributed well and priced well. In a world market, English and heterosexual and American is easier to sell. I did try for about two years to write romance with US characters and participated in anthologies and group publishing projects. 

Those books at first earned more than my books with Filipino characters, but long term is a different story, and my books with Filipino characters, set in the Philippines, have proven to have more value over time in other aspects, like in longevity, in relevance, in being a snapshot of a culture, in exploring sexuality and consent and gender roles in the society I'm part of. I acknowledge that my books provide diversity on that front, but I'm also coming from a place of privilege writing in English, writing cis/het/abled characters of the middle and upper class, and being an author in Manila the capital. I do what I can with my books but for all the things my books are not, I try to develop it in the #romanceclass community and encourage authors to tell their stories and remind them of its value even if it isn't an easy sell.

As a global genre, do you think that romance is diverse enough? You might wish to cite others' work, or collaborations you've engaged with that work towards diversity, or hindrances/challenges experienced.

There's work to be done. I think the fact that it's still acceptable to tell us that to be successful we have to write for America and be published by a US publisher means many other stories and markets and methods of publishing are being dismissed, even if they're valid paths to success. As it is, I already feel like we need to operate outside of a traditional publishing system so our stories go out there as intended, and we need to rely on readers who are intentionally reading diversely and inclusively to get any kind of attention. 

That has been easier the past five years than before that, and it really is due to I feel younger readers who are only now starting their reading journeys and aren't clinging to US-centric publishing as a standard. And I have to admit I was raised looking at US-centric publishing as a standard, and I am writing in English, in a genre and form that is considered Western in my country. My entire career has been about choosing what is relevant to me, deciding which parts of this get to be about my experience and our experience, and at the same time making room for the experiences that I haven't made room for in the past.

Do you think romance is universal?

I think we can call it that when we're able to really provide within the genre all the stories that people need. I feel it can be and has the potential to, but some experiences are just not as prioritized as others.

Where do you see diversity in romance in the upcoming years? How can we make romance more diverse?

The future is in communities of authors and readers, and those who empower and enable them, not necessarily traditional publishing unless they decide to be on the side of empowering and enabling, and for the long term.

#RomanceClass is an example of a community that has encouraged new writing and supported authors through a cycle of publishers liking what we stand for and giving us book deals, and then not marketing well, and then not renewing, rinse and repeat. That's the problem when the diversity champion is essentially one person--when they move up or move on, a lot of the work is dismantled and the publisher is fine but the authors have to start over or regroup. We're not the only community that is doing this to help marginalized authors continue to write. What we end up doing is form support systems that are meant to give some sort of stability, and #RomanceClass has so far kept it going for 7 years despite corporate entities and individuals coming in with very short-term interest or not being able to follow through.

We can make romance more diverse by supporting the authors that are doing the work right now. Offer to distribute books that they've already written, put those books in libraries, include them in your lists, actually read them, normalize the idea that romance is more diverse already and not through traditional publishing. Diversity in romance looks dismal only when we hold up US-centric publishing as the standard, and it looks more promising and hopeful when we look to the communities they've ignored and give them the attention and support.