We are looking for someone to design the book cover to depict the triumphs, travails and travels of the Igorot Cordillerans in the European diaspora. The winning entry will be published as a front cover of the book, to be published in November 2022 in A5 size (15x21cm).

BOOK TITLE: 3Ts of Igorot Cordillerans in Europe: Travels, Travails & Triumphs

Please refer to the following mechanics:

  1. Be creative and express your own style. The only criteria is the artwork should depict the travels, travails and triumphs of Igorot Cordillerans in Europe.
  2. Entries can be done on any wet or dry media or Computer graphics. Entries can be done in colour or monochrome.
  3. Entries can be submitted as JPEG or PDF format and should at least be 3MB in size.
  4. This competition is open to Igorot Cordillerans living and working in Europe.
  5. Everyone is encouraged to join.  Anyone can send an entry, children below 18 years old should have parental consent to participate.
  6. Entries must be submitted by midnight of the 2nd of October 2022, sent to greed22nova@gmail.com.
  7. Entries will be judged by the book’s editors based on its suitability to the book’s theme.
  8. By joining the contest, the publishers will own the winning artwork and the copyright thereon.
  9. The winning entry will be announced on the 15th of October  and the winning artist will be informed via email and will receive a cash prize of £100 and their artwork published as the book cover. The artwork will also be used for promotional materials for the book.
  10. Non winning entries will be published on the ICBE website. 

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK CONTENT (excerpt from the book introduction)

This book is in itself a triumph. Many of us authors are not experienced writers, but we wrote anyway – courageous enough to let our  stories out in the open. After all, even experienced writers still face fear when it is time again to face that blank paper or screen. For us Igorot Cordillera migrants, who have already been confronted with  many challenges, writing is not one that will scare us. This book has become a witness to how we have managed our way out of the holes we found ourselves in and how we have emerged as empowered Igorot Cordillerans in the process. In hindsight, our travails actually helped in shaping who we are and what we do at present. We have pursued further education to improve our competitiveness in the job market. By straddling between cultures, our perspectives have been enriched and so with our families’ back home in the Philippines and the community we are now in. We learned to be more assertive of our rights and confront differences rather than submit. For after all, submission was not one that has been passed on to us by our Igorot Cordillera ancestors after having defended their independence from more than 300 years of Spanish occupation in the Philippines.

Objectives for writing the book

Self-representation in literature is scanty among Filipinos. More so for Igorot Cordillerans. Very often, we read books that tell about us, about who we are, but we seldom read stories about us written by us. It is our goal to break this norm. Our stories are worth telling. It is about time we write our own stories so that readers from our origin will find someone who looks like themselves in a book they read – the way they think, speak, the values they hold – affirming their own reality. And for those who do not know us, Igorot Cordillerans, they will get curious about who we are. The enthusiasm and wealth of perspectives and experiences from the writers will give broad and authentic accounts of Igorot Cordillera migrants’ lives in Europe, from encouraging narratives to those we can draw lessons from. This is to give a truthful account of the lives of Igorot Cordillerans as they build their new lives outside the Philippines. 

~ The Book Editors ( Yvonne Kay-an Belen, Lorena Clerc, Myra Zymelka-Colis , Kristine Itait Kawi Gorans, Evangeline Martinez , Christina T. Moncado, Grace Nabus, Averil Pooten-Watan )