AILAP hosts The Frankfurter Flotilla, a book fair and roundtable in support of emancipation for Palestine

The Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practices (AILAP) recently hosted "The Frankfurter Flotilla: Latag Aklat at Talakayan para sa Palestina," an event supporting emancipation for Palestine as well as the boycott of the Philippines' participation in the Frankfurt Book Fair. The event was hosted in partnership with Kritika Kultura, the UP Center for International Studies, the UP Institute of Creative Writing, the Network in Defense of Historical Truth and Academic Freedom, and Baybayin Ateneo.

The Frankfurter Flotilla took place from 16 and 17 October 2025, and consisted of a book fair and a roundtable discussion. The event is a response to the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest trade fair for books, which held annually in mid-October in Frankfurt, Germany. This year sees the Philippines as guest of honour at the event, and Filipino books and publishers will take center stage at the event, hopefully allowing them greater exposure to the global market.

However, the controversy surrounding the event comes from its 2023 decision to call off the awarding of its LiBeraturpreis award – an award given annually to female authors from Africa, Asia, Latin America, or the Arab world – to Palestine-born novelist and essayist Adania Shibli for her novel "Minor Detail." While the Book Fair's organizers stated that decision was made with the consent of Shibli, the author's literary agency stated that the decision was made without the author's consent. This has led many to call for a boycott of the event, even if the country is the guest of honour.

For its own book fair, was held at SEC-A and SEC-B Foyer, the Frankfurter Flotilla hosted authors who are boycotting the Philippines' participation in the Frankfurt Book Fair as well as those supporting the emancipation of Palestine. The book fair allowed these authors to connect with students, faculty, and staff.

Part of the proceeds from the sale of the book were to be donated to Palestinian families in the Philippines.

The roundtable discussion, meanwhile, took place on the afternoon of 16 October, at the Natividad Galang Fajardo conference room at De la Costa Hall. Here writers, artists, and scholars came together to discuss the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement against Israel and its allied institutions and companies.

The event was opened by Edgar C Samar PhD, Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Filipino. The panelists included Sol Iglesias PhD, Faculty of the UP Department of Political Science; Vladimeir B Gonzales PhD, Director, Likhaan: UP Institute of Creative Writing; Mark Benedict F Lim PhD, Director, Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practices; and Rolando B Tolentino PhD, Faculty, UP Film Institute.

Regina Carmeli Regala, MA, Associate Professor, Department of Broadcast Communication, UP Diliman, served as moderator during the discussion between the panelists.

Following the panel discussion and ensuing open forum, Luisa L Gomez MA, Faculty of Ateneo's Literary and Cultural Studies Program, read an essay by Adania Shibli.

The event was closed by Ramon G Guillermo, PhD, Director of the Center for International Studies (CIS) at UP Diliman.

This panel discussion was the second such event hosted by AILAP in recent months. Prior to this, the institute hosted "Pagtapos ng Frankfurt: Isang Pag-uusap," which featured both authors and publishers boycotting the event, and those were where actually attending.