An upcoming anthology of Filipino-Canadian writing is seeking submissions of fiction and nonfiction.

Magdaragat, which means one who travels by sea in Tagalog, is accepting submissions of previously unpublished prose from Filipino-Canadian writers that responds to the theme of “being Filipina/Filipino/Filipinx in Canada now.” Writers must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents, reside in Canada, and of Filipino ancestry.

“This anthology is groundbreaking, and in some ways it’s overdue,” says Ted Alcuitas, publisher and editor of Philippine Canadian News and one of the three editors of Magdaragat. “There’s an emerging crop of young writers, and none of this work has been assembled in an anthology yet. This is a very exciting project.”

Alcuitas says the late poet Jim Wong-Chu, founder of the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop, shared the idea of an anthology of Filipino-Canadian writing with him years ago. Alcuitas had joined the workshop in part to encourage participation among Filipino-Canadians. Wong-Chu, identifying a gap in CanLit representation of Filipino-Canadian writers, encouraged Alcuitas to develop an anthology.

“I kept pushing [the idea] away and then every time we met, he said, Ted when are you going to do the anthology,” Alcuitas says. “A year before he died, he said, if you are not going to do it, I will ask somebody else to do it. That’s the kind of man he was; he was very persistent.”

Alcuitas has teamed up with author C.E. Gatchalian and poet Patria Rivera to edit the anthology, which is to be published by Cormorant Books in spring 2023. 

Submissions are due by Jan. 31, 2022. Complete submission guidelines and potential topics writers can explore are available online.