Growing up in the 90s, we didn’t have internet, emails or smart phones, let alone tech apps or social media. We played out on the streets, read books, went to the cinemas, queued for concert tickets to see bands we heard on the radio, visited places we discovered through word of mouth and sent handwritten letters to each other. Meeting face to face was a big deal and without a mobile phone to bail out at the last minute, we all learned the art of waiting, noticing, and showing up. Analogue days were slow. There was no rush, no instant gratification, no followers watching your every move 24/7. If you had told me back then that one day it would take me 3 months to work up the courage to delete a bunch of pixel logos on a hand-held device that has consumed the lives of billions, including mine, I would’ve thought you’d gone mad.

Perhaps it was my millennial yearning for community and organic human connection that inspired me to create Wolfbound Books. But to really understand how our artist-led collective works, you need to understand where we came from. We have Filipino blood running through our veins and inherited trauma from our motherland’s colonial past. To this day, the Philippines is still nursing unhealed wounds from Spanish Colonialism and American Imperialism – this is why everything we do is an effort to decolonise our hearts and minds. Activism is in the DNA of the Wolfbound Books collective, which includes Illographo Press (publishing) and School of Zines (workshops). The idea for Wolfbound Books was formed in December 2023, as a reaction to Israel’s live-streamed genocide of the Palestinian people and the deafening silence of so-called “diverse” not-for-profit organisations in the arts, literary and publishing community I was a part of. I experienced first-hand how Pro-Palestinian and ethnic voices were being silenced, censored, and swept under the rug to appease funders, corporate partners, and the government. Palestine was my red line and I wanted to stand on the right side of history. Showing solidarity with the Palestinian resistance resulted in loss of job opportunities, projects, and income, but these sacrifices were minuscule compared to the ongoing suffering and ethnic cleansing that the Palestinian people have been enduring for over 75 years.

I spent the early months of 2024 re-building the world in my head and piecing together my broken sense of humanity and purpose. With the help of my partner and creative friends, all from migrant and refugee backgrounds, we healed together by co-creating a safe, inclusive and accessible space where art and activism serve the community. A space where human rights are not debatable, and where diversity is not a KPI but a gift to be nurtured. Wolfbound Books, Illographo Press, and School of Zines work hand in hand to empower creativity, celebrate diversity and foster community connection – this is how we plan to decolonise mindsets, stand up against capitalism and advocate for a free Palestine.

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of tech and social media but I knew that I couldn’t possibly start up Wolfbound Books without them. Having previously worked as a Marketing & Comms Manager for a bookshop during the pandemic, I learned that social media and online engagement can make or break a business. I applied the same marketing principles to Wolfbound Books and it worked. We signed up for the works: Squarespace e-commerce, Square reader, PayPal, Google for Business, and a professional Instagram account. It was all too easy to set up and the integrations between each platform were seamless. Our online shop was our main income generator and Instagram was our primary communication channel, gaining over 6000 followers in just one year. The Wolfbound Books studio was only open 3 days a week but online, we were hustling 24/7. I didn’t even question any of it until Donald Trump was re-elected as President of the United States in November 2024 and I was reminded of what modern capitalism looked like. Seeing Big Tech CEOs Musk (X), Zuckerberg (Meta), Bezos (Amazon), and Pichai (Google) among other tech billionaires at the front row of Trump’s inauguration was a massive red flag. When Trump stood side by side with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu back in February 2025 and proposed that the “US take over Gaza, level it and build resorts”, it was the last straw. It was terrifying to witness an oligarchical, Orwellian totalitarian state taking shape in real time and no one, not even the media, was questioning it.