The author and artist Nathalie De Los Santos discusses the new collection she’s co-edited (with Dani Alcalde-Sidloski, Asia Alcalde-Sidloski, Marian Bolaños) Gathering Our Breath: Remembering Lapu Lapu Day 2025 (Sampaguita Press, 2026), with Joseph Planta.

Gathering Our Breath: Remembering Lapu Lapu Day 2025 edited by Dani Alcalde-Sidloski, Asia Alcalde-Sidloski, Nathalie De Los Santos, and Marian Bolaños (Sampaguita Press, 2026). Click for information on how to get the book: FilCanBookFest

Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.  

Nathalie De Los Santos joins me again. She and Dani Alcalde-Sidloski, Asia Alcalde-Sidloski, and Maria Bolaños are the editors of a new poetry collection, Gathering Our Breath: Remembering Lapu Lapu Day 2025. They sought submissions from various writers, artists, photographers, musicians, artisans, and educators not just from Vancouver, but across Turtle Island. The collection, which the four editors self-funded, features different forms of creative expression, reflecting on the loss and mourning that touched the Filipino community in Vancouver and beyond following the Lapu Lapu Day tragedy on 26 April 2025. The list of contributors to the book include writers and artists that might be familiar to many, but also include first-time writers, providing a showcase for their work. There is an event this Sunday, 17 May 2026 at the Museum of Vancouver, 1.00pm to 3.30pm, where copies will be available to the Vancouver community for free. You can get a digital PDF of the collection at www.filcanbookfest.com. And on that site, you can also reserve a physical copy and donate towards their next print run. Nathalie’s own site is at www.natdls.com. We spoke two weeks ago. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Nathalie De Los Santos; Ms. De Los Santos, good morning.  

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