Sawaga River Press’ End-of-the-Year Review
Hello, Fam and Friends!
Two weeks to go and it’s 2025. But before we embrace the new year, here’s a glimpse of our last six months. We attended many events—we will try not to overwhelm you all with pictures!
CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN
Our crowdfunding campaign for the printing of our next three books is still on! We have raised approximately $12,000 of our $20,000 goal and we have five more days left until it closes this Sunday, December 22nd. This is our 4th crowdfunding campaign and, so far, the most chill…and the most instructive. We’re learning a very important lesson: Although we have many supporters who will buy our books because they want those for themselves or the children in their lives, we also have a growing number of supporters who will contribute way beyond the retail value of the books because they align with our vision of creating books that advocate for cultural literacy, language equity, and diversity in representation. We appreciate them/you both! (This teaches us that we need to review the way we have been reaching out and seeking the support from the community. This is a deeper conversation for another time so, for now, we just want to say) Thank you for supporting us! The campaign link is here until this Sunday, 22nd. Maraming salamat po!
PAST EVENTS
In August, after months of waiting, we finally welcomed Mungan and Lola, Mama, Mama (Revised), and Jack & Agyu (2nd Reprint)!
To celebrate Mungan and Lola, we hosted a virtual Meet and Greet for the various collaborators. Our core creative artists—author Justine Villanueva, illustrator Ray Sunga, and graphic designer Adrienne Hyder—spoke about our inspirations and processes. Notably, our collaborators from the Bukidnon State University who provided translations (Binukid and Bisaya-Cebuano) and Binukid cultural vetting also joined us. We were so moved to meet the team of about 15 people who supported this book! We did not know there were so many of them because we mostly communicated with Professors Loreta Dinlayan and Rizza Ramos-Consad. Thank you to Dr. Jeannie Celestial for facilitating and the community members who showed up!
We spent the rest of August and through September getting Mungan and Lola ready for our 200+ crowdfunders. Thank you to Karla Mahoney, Lizelle Festejo-Hsu, and Carrie Agasid who got together and, while enjoying some home-made salabat and sharing stories about our lives, wrapped 200+ books! And thank you to Bobby at the Davis post office who goodnaturedly mailed these books, also while telling us stories about his ex-girlfriend.
In October, the Filipino American community celebrated Filipino American History Month. In the past, we participated in only a few events. This time, given the very recent publication of Mungan and Lola, we decided to join as many FAHM activities as possible to launch the book.
We will be the first to admit that we did not know what we signed up for. The whole month was intense. It’s December and we’re still reeling from the busy-ness of that month!
Here are a few (!) photos from some of the events. So much gratitude to all the organizers and participants who made all these events possible.
(Lamon Fest curated by Chef Yana Gilbuena)
7th Filipino American International Festival hosted by Philippine American Writers and Artists (PAWA)
(Professional Development Workshop in collaboration with the YOLO Ethnic Studies Academy, the University of California, Davis California Social Sciences and History Project, and Davis Joint Unified School District)
Yes, by the end of the month, we were exhausted and swore to never again overdo it. However, we cannot deny that meeting so many people who were excited to see the books we are publishing really does inspire and motivate us. And it’s also great when people who already have our books visit our table. This, too, keeps us going. Next year, we will find a happy medium.
In November, we spruced up our altars for the ancestors. We collaborated with Robyn Rodriguez who runs the revolutionary Remagination Farm in Lake County. We were blessed with a beautiful fall day to hang out with the goats, chickens, vegetables, and other more-than-human elders and ancestors. Poets, musicians, other artists, and community members joined to express our gratitude for what we’ve been given and to ask for strength and solidarity as we face the challenges of the new administration. Thank you for having us, Remagination Farm, and for feeding us with heartwarming arroz caldo and other farm-sourced food!
Also in November, community members showered Mungan and Lola love with their reviews and words. Thank you, Ate Leny Strobel for the love note, Maileen Hamto for the review, and Eileen Tabios for curating this halo-halo container.
In December, our most recent book, Parti Taym, arrived. It’s our first board book and it’s making quite a splash! We love it! And it’s just in time to make its debut appearance at the Social Justice Children’s Book Festival. We have been attending this event since its beginning in 2017 so we feel a sense of solidarity with its mission and cause.
Finally, we were interviewed by Maileen Hamto who runs Colors of Influence, Book Talks. We got to talk about the origins of the Sawaga River Press, its offerings, and why telling indigenous stories are important in the diaspora. Here’s the link- please check it out.
FUTURE BOOKS
We are still finalizing our next four books (yes, four!)—The Salamat Book; Our Bahandi, Our Wealth; All About My Lola (A Mungan and Lola companion journal), and the Rooted in Practice: Pinays in Law, Volume 2 anthology. We anticipate Rooted, Bahandi, and All About Lola to be published by mid-March 2025 and The Salamat Book sometime in the summer. We will keep you posted.
FUTURE EVENTS
As the new year flows in, we are making an effort to proceed with intentionality and in alignment with what we value: (books that sow lessons about) relationships with our kapwa and the land, healing, and self and collective care. This year, although busy and productive and “successful” in many ways, we have felt the need to go back to the beginning and set our house in order. So, for now, we will refrain from scheduling events and, instead, take the time to ask ourselves and the world what it is we are really called to do and how we can sustainably do it. Each of us involved in this press is operating from our hearts. We are in this for the long haul, probably for the rest of our lives. The best thing to do is to ensure we do this intentionally, to slow down, and set some solid foundations.
Which is why we are grateful to be part of Sacramento Region Community Foundation’s Cultivate cohort for 2025. This program is designed to help nonprofit executives of color run their nonprofits sustainably. Even after only a couple of meetings with our mentor Marisa Delasalle and the other nonprofit leaders, we already are feeling grounded and getting a better understanding of the nonprofit work that we are undertaking. Thank you, SRCF and Marisa!
Our journey towards our calling to be a publisher continues and we are excited to receive what the world brings.
Thank you for the love and support. We hope you will continue to publish with us.
May the rest of the year be a safe and joyful one for you and yours. Until the next update!
WAYS TO SUPPORT US
Publishing for, about, and with our community is challenging for many reasons but we love it! Please continue to show us your support in however way you can.
· Crowdfund us with your tax-deductibe donations until December 22, 2024.
Read more (lots more!) about our specific publishing journey for the Mungan and Lola book by going to our Mungan blog.
· Find out about our press’ general goings on at our website.
· Pre)order any of our books through our website. As of today, we do not sell through Amazon.
· Sign up for our newsletter here.
· Follow us on Instagram @SawagaRiverPress.
· Send us an email to info@sawagariverpress.com if you have ideas about collaborating with us for a book project.
