Gathering Our Breath Anthology Book Launch

Join us for a gentle afternoon of remembrance, reflection, and community as we launch Gathering Our Breath, a collaborative grief anthology created by writers, artists, photographers, musicians, artisans and educators across Turtle Island.

Created in the wake of the Lapu Lapu Day tragedy on April 26, 2025, this anthology holds space for collective mourning, memory and care. Through diverse forms of creative expression, Gathering Our Breath serves as a living memory, an altar and an offering to those we have lost. It preserves grief beyond the fleeting nature of social media, offering instead a tangible place of witness, reflection and return.

Guests are invited to sit together, share ube cupcakes from Cake It Easy, and spend time in community. We will have community support present, and we will have moments of pause and breath throughout the afternoon.

Copies of Gathering Our Breath will be free for those in attendance, while supplies last.

The anthology was created by Dani Alcalde-Sidloski, Asia Alcalde-Sidloski, Nathalie De Los Santos and Maria Bolaños, with support from Place to Be Books, Sampaguita Press and the Filipino-Canadian Book Festival. It features contributions from Nelli V. Agbulos, Mak Aruta Konefał, Dionne Co, Sol Diana, Francis Arevalo, Carlo Sayo, Shruthi Budnar, Elysse Cloma, Clara Sanchez, Neema Ejercito, Carmela Cruz, Asia Alcalde-Sidloski, JP Catungal, Michelle Uy, Chiara Susanto, Living Hyphen, Sid Thota, Alyssa Victorino, Nathalie De Los Santos, Adam Arca, Dani Alcalde-Sidloski, Maria Bolaños, Isa Carlin, Mariel Abella, Mary Poirier, Rina Malagayo Alluri, Kyle Doria, Glady Kama Guinto Lee, Bek, Christine Añonuevo, Jules PF, Marilynn Quigley, Anneliese Herbosa, Keana Aguila Labra, Arlene Biala, Lorenz Mazon Dumuk, Renato Gandia, and Lani Domaloy.

This anthology and gathering centre voices often marginalized or underrepresented, and are grounded in inclusivity, social justice, and intersectional care. We honour Indigenous sovereignty and the ancestral lands on which this book was created, and extend solidarity to communities worldwide who have experienced displacement, violence, and loss.

Date: Sunday, May 17 2026

Time: 1:00pm-3:30pm

Location: Museum of Vancouver, 1100 Chestnut St, Vancouver, BC

Tickets: Free RSVP