Chapter I · Islas de los Pintados · April 2027

Before the page, there was skin.

We’re looking for writers and stories for Chapter I, our first printed chapter. If you have a story about who we were before 1521, and how Filipino Americans are reclaiming it now, we want to hear it. Pitches are open through November 29.

About Chapter I

When the Spanish arrived in the Visayas, they called the people they met Pintados, the painted ones, for the tattoos that covered their bodies. Those marks recorded lineage, courage and belonging long before anyone wrote them down.

Chapter I starts there. Islas de los Pintados looks at the islands before 1521: the tattoo traditions, gold, trade, belief and ways of living that shaped us before colonization. Then it asks what those histories mean to Filipino Americans today. Who gets to wear a tribal pattern? What did we lose, and what are we choosing to recover?

Chapter I comes out in April 2027 as a printed, collectible edition, the first in DIWA’s twice-yearly series tracing Filipino history through who we are today.

What we’re looking for

Stories that connect the precolonial Philippines to Filipino American life right now. A few starting points:

• Marks and reclamation: Filipino tattoo culture, from batok to other Indigenous traditions, the artists keeping them alive, and the questions of permission and belonging that come with them
• Adornment: gold, textiles, weaving and dress as early markers of identity and status
• Before the archive: early scripts, oral traditions, epics and ancestral beliefs
• Trade and travel: the boats, routes and exchanges that tied the islands to the wider world
• Recovery today: Filipino Americans learning a craft, a language, a practice or a family history that colonization interrupted

We’re open to reported features (1,500 to 3,000 words), essays and personal narratives, interviews, and short pieces (600 to 1,200 words). Fashion, art, design, food and music angles are all welcome. To get a feel for our voice, read our stories on The Loom, like our piece on Filipiniana.

Two ways to take part

Writers

Filipino and Filipino American writers at any stage are invited to pitch. You don’t need a long list of bylines. We care about perspective, curiosity and care for the subject. Send a short pitch (150 to 300 words), a few lines about you, and one or two writing samples.

Every writer is paid $300 per piece, payable once it’s published, along with a byline in the printed edition, copies of Chapter I, and an invitation to the launch.

Story subjects

Maybe you’re a tattoo artist, a weaver, a collector, a historian, or someone tracing your family back to a specific island. Maybe you know someone whose story belongs in these pages. Tell us about it, and if it fits the chapter, we’ll pair it with a writer.

How it works

1. Submit your pitch or story through the form below by November 29, 2026.
2. We read every submission and reply to selected contributors by December 7.
3. We build it together. Selected writers work with our editors through drafts and edits. Final drafts are due January 18, 2027.
4. Chapter I launches in April 2027, in print and in person in Portland.

Pitch or share a story