AT the School Gate, a children’s book about the experience of a 15-year-old high school student during the government’s witch hunt against people branded as Leftist dissidents in 1991, is one of three titles Bookmark Inc. is launching on October 17, 5:30 p.m., at the Vargas Museum in the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman campus in Quezon City.
Written by Sandra Nicole Roldan, with illustrations by Nina Martinez, the book depicts memories of martial law, as well as the bravery displayed by children and families of so-called dissidents in the aftermath of the government’s anti-Leftist campaign 27 years ago. Roldan is an offshore PhD candidate at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, and teaches creative writing at the College of Arts and Letters in UP Diliman.