What is Balikbayan Book Club?

“Balikbayan” translates to “one who returns to their country” in Tagalog, which is one of the languages of the Philippines.

The goal of the club is to encourage cultural connection, critical thinking, and engaging with history through texts written by Filipino or Filipino diasporic writers.

Our group believes that there is no one perfect way to be FilAm. As members of that third culture in between the Philippines and the United States, we celebrate the continual journeys we make to return to our land together.

What does a Balikbayan Book Club meeting look like?

We meet on the first Wednesday of every month from 6-8 pm in the Rizal Center ballroom! We also livestream our meetings on Discord, so members can participate in discussions online.

We read a variety of books by Filipino/Filipino diasporic authors, including fiction & nonfiction, poetry & graphic novels, academic texts & stories. Our books are nominated and voted on by our members! Join us to participate.

We read books in English. However, there are many opportunities to practice Tagalog, including our language exchanges and the Rizal Center Tagalog classes.