Karina Africa Bolasco 

Karina Africa Bolasco has been in book publishing for twenty four years. She helped found and 
set up Anvil Publishing, Inc. where she is now the Publishing Manager. Over the years, Anvil 
has published more than 5,000 titles, eighty two of which have won National Book Awards in 
different categories. Karina herself has been cited six times (1990, 1991, 1995, 1998, 1999,  
and 2000) as Publisher of the Year by the Manila Critics Circle.

Not everyone knows, however, that Karina is the author of many children's verses, stories, 
and books. Before Anvil, Karina was Publishing Manager for the Elementary-High School 
Book Division of National Bookstore, Inc. It was while in National that she wrote and published
two children's books -- Illustrated Children’s Dictionary, in collaboration with well known 
illustrator, sculptor and painter Ben-Hur Villanueva, and Animal Alphabet Stories in Pictures
which consisted of twenty six books with illustrator Joel Yau. 

Since then, Karina's many years with a publishing company have involved her in the publication 
of numerous books that range from textbooks for all levels to trade books and general interest 
books. Her involvement included manuscript evaluation, editing, and production. But doing 
children's books, she says, is what she finds most challenging and creative. 

It is not surprising then that Karina's other affiliations are all related to books, culture, and the 
arts. Aside from being a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, she 
is also Sectoral representative for booksellers and former Chairman of the Philippine Board on  
Books for Young People (PBBY), Vice-President of the Book Exporters Association of the 
Philippines and of the Book Development Association of the Philippines, Board Director of the 
Nationwide Book Network, and member of the Managing Committee of the Manila Book Fair. 
In addition, Karina is also Head of the Task Force designated by the National Commission for 
Culture and the Arts of the Philippines to craft the Philippine Culture Index. She also served for 
six years as two-term Chairman of the Commission’s National Committee on Cultural Education, 
and it was under her leadersip that this Committee conceptualized and developed cultural maps. 
It might be hard to imagine how Karina can have all these affiliations but the truth is, they are all 
critical aspects of her work and her position in the Philippine publishing scene.

Throughout the years, Karina also delivered numerous papers on book publishing and literacy 
in seminars and conferences. She has facilitated book writing workshops for schools and other 
institutions, and her essays and poetry have been anthologized in both trade and textbooks. 
In 1995 she received an award as one of The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service for 
book publishing and literacy, and in 2000 she served as Governor of the National Book 
Development Board.

Indeed, Karina has come quite a long way from the days when she taught Literature and 
English courses at the Ateneo de Manila University and at St. Scholastica's College, where 
she finished AB English. She now lives with her three daughters and her mother in Loyola 
Heights, Quezon City, Philippines and may be contacted at [email protected] (2003 Dec 1)

Below: Karina with fellow SCBWI member Neni Sta. Romana Cruz at Powerbooks, Greenbelt 4.

 

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