Meritage Press Statement:
Meritage Press is a multidisciplinary press with a strong interest in Filipino arts and literature. On June 9, 2022 in the Philippines, over 90 people—including writers, poets, artists, journalists, cultural workers, and farmers—were arrested while they engaged in peaceful assembly in support of land reform and farmers in Tarlac. Most were formally charged with obstruction of justice and malicious mischief, with each charge facing a potential sentence of six months imprisonment. Bail amounts were also set at a punishing amount for most of the detainees. The arrested included poet Angelo V. Suarez and his partner, choreographer Donna Miranda. Recently, the charges they faced were expanded to include human trafficking and child exploitation, which reflect how Philippine authorities are using judicial harassment to silence the freedom of expression. (More information is available through PEN-International.)
Poet/conceptual artist Angelo Suarez is known to Meritage Press for his innovative poetry and prose, as well as his strong interest in supporting the unjustly disenfranchised. Author of Philippine English: A Novel (2015); Interview, Ariane: A Stock Epic (2013), and Poem of Diminishing Poeticity (2014), he is among those younger Filipinos working to help fashion a more just society in the Philippines. Meritage Press stands by him and others in the Philippines who have chosen to dedicate themselves to social and land justice and now risk their lives to create a better country for their people. We also urge the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to intervene on behalf of the artists accosted by the police and defend the freedoms of expression, assembly, and association upheld by these artists.
Eileen R. Tabios, Founder of Meritage Press
and
Authors with Meritage Press books:
William Allegrezza, author of Port Light: A Hay(na)ku Collection, STEP BELOW: Selected Poems 2000-2015, and Through Having Been (Vols. 1 and 2)
Ivy Alvarez, co-editor of The Chained Hay(na)ku Project and featured poet in VERSES TYPHOON YOLANDA
Michelle Bautista, author of Kali's Blade
Tom Beckett, author of Unprotected Texts: Selected Poems 1978-2006 and Hay(na)ku for Haiti
C. Mehrl Bennett, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
John M. Bennett, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Charles Bernstein, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
John Bloomberg-Rissman, author of Flux, Cloth & Froth (Vols. 1 and 2) and co-editor of The Chained Hay(na)ku Project
Nick Carbo, editor of PINOY POETICS: A Collection of Autobiographical and Critical Essays on Filipino and Filipino-American Poetics
Paul Cassinetto, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Brian Clements, author of Disappointed Psalms
Jon Curley, author of Times in Rhymes, Ruins
Melinda Luisa de Jesus, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Carol Dorf, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Peg Duthie, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Thomas Fink, author of Hedge Fund Certainty and co-author of Autopsy Turvy
Luis H. Francia, author of Museum of Absences
Theodore S. Gonzalves, editor of Stage Presence: Conversations with Filipino-American Performing Artists and Carlos Villa and the Integrity of Spaces
Vince Gotera, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology and The First Hay(na)ku Anthology
Crag Hill, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Aileen Ibardaloza Cassinetto, author of Traje de Boda and Last Word is the Poet's Calling
Jukka-Pekka Kervinen, co-author of The Oracular Sonnets and author of Randion Screpts
Karen Llagas, author of Archipelago Dust
Jim McCrary, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Sandy McIntosh, featured poet in The Hay(na)ku Anthology, Vol. II
Lani Montreal, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Sheila E. Murphy, author of Reporting Live From You Know Where
Eunice Barbara C Novio, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Jose Padua, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Elizabeth Robinson, featured poet in The Hay(na)ku Anthology, Vol. II and HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Barry Schwabsky, author of OPERA: Poems 1981-2002 and [WAYS]
Zvi A. Sesling, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Emeniano Somoza, Jr., featured poet in VERSES TYPHOON YOLANDA
Leny M. Strobel, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Joel Tan, featured poet in PINOY POETICS: A Collection of Autobiographical and Critical Essays on Filipino and Filipino-American Poetics
Glynda T. Velasco, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Jean Vengua, author of PRAU and co-editor of The First Hay(na)ku Anthology and The Hay(na)ku Anthology, Vol. II
Audrey Ward, featured poet in HAY(NA)KU 15: A Commemorative 15th Year Anniversary Anthology
Mark Young, author of Songs to Come for the Salamander: Poems 2013-2021, some more strange meteorites, Hotus Potus, PELICAN DREAMING: Poems 1959-2008, co-author of The Oracular Sonnets, and co-editor of The First Hay(na)ku Anthology and The Hay(na)ku Anthology Vol. II
Others to Come
The signatories to this Statement represent leading poets, writers, scholars, critics, and cultural activists. Please feel free to research their achievements since they are listed on this Statement only with their Meritage Press books.
Angelo V. Suarez in striped hat; photo by photojournalist Mark Saludes
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Meritage Press thanks the following authors who consented to be co-signers for this Statement at its June 24, 2022 release:
