One chapter ends for another to begin.
After 14 years of hosting a monthly poetry reading, Mt. Cloud Bookshop closed the chapter on its signature event, “Third Monday from the Sun,” on June 15. The open mic held its farewell gathering as the bookshop prepares to shift its focus toward youth literacy.
Padmapani “Padma” Perez said the most rewarding part of the journey was witnessing the artistic growth of the participants. “We wanted it to be a space where anybody could come. Whether or not they considered themselves a writer, or whether or not they were published already, they could come and read poetry or listen to poetry being performed.”
Sisters Padmapani “Padma” and Feliz Perez founded the event to challenge the formal poetry readings of the era and establish an open, inclusive environment.
“We really cherish what happens outside of Third Monday when, unexpectedly, we meet people who say to us, ‘Oh, I used to go to Third Mondays, and now I’m an artist, and I gained my confidence to be an artist from Third Monday,’” Padma said. “That really means a lot to us—that people feel that Third Monday has been part of their growth as a person.”
Padma recalled that only a few people attended at the onset, but she and Feliz insisted on regularity. “Even if it’s just one person and the host reading poetry to each other. And I think, I like to think, that’s one of the things that has kept it going, is that people know that it’s there. And we were happy when we noticed that students were coming from the universities and the colleges around Baguio. There was always somebody showing up for Third Monday, so we just kept doing it.”
The end of the poetry night marks a transition toward children’s literature. Mt. Cloud Bookshop will now focus its energy on a new monthly event called “Once Upon a Saturday,” to be held on the first Saturday of every month.
This initiative features storytelling sessions aimed at introducing young children to homegrown literature. Perez explained, “The reason we want to do that is we have been feeling and noticing over time that we need to make an effort, more of an effort, to get children acquainted with our literature and to get children to choose Filipino books over, say, Harry Potter, or whatever. And to be able to do that, our sense—and also my sister’s, who’s a teacher, is that we need to start when they’re young.”
Despite the change, the core mission of Mt. Cloud Bookshop remains the same. Rather than maintaining a strictly commercial storefront, the founders view the shop as a “space not just for books, but also for people, ideas, and relationships.” They invite residents across Baguio and Benguet to continue using the venue to connect and share ideas.
