As part of the upcoming Manila Book Fair, the folks behind Read or Die have all sorts of activities lined up to get us excited about reading. One of these activities is a literary cosplay competition. If you haven’t heard of cosplay, the word is a combination of “costume” and “roleplay;” it is something that started in Japan where fans of manga, anime, videogames, TV shows and other popular Japanese media, dress up as their favorite characters. If you have been to comic or toy or science fiction conventions and have seen costumed characters walking around, then you know what cosplay is.

Now, instead of dressing up as Pikachu, Kenshin, or Voltes V, a Read or Die cosplay asks you to dress up as a literary character. It will be the first of its kind in the world. The Read or Die website has the complete guidelines for the competition. Characters must originally be from a book so that any character from anime, movies, or cartoons with book adaptations that came after are disqualified. Please choose a costume that is tasteful and appropriate for all ages.

Of course you can dress up as a Harry Potter character but chances are you will see many people in the same costume so go back to your library and pick out a character from another book that you like. Read or Die suggests characters from Noli or Fili or The Three Musketeers. There are millions of books to choose from.

If you have questions, please contact Read or Die. I imagine that characters originally from manga and comicbooks (e.g., Superman) will be allowed but this is something that probably has to be confirmed with the organizers. Also, we will try to find out if the contest is open to all ages.