Join our 5-week Hapag Ugnayan writing circle this August
We’re creating this shared writing space to reconnect with ourselves, food, the kitchen, the land and each other — in partnership with Good Food Community, Ugnayan Cards and Paper Trail Projects.
Some of the most nourishing moments and spaces for me, especially so in the past few years, have been in the company of creatives across contexts. Fellow writing enthusiasts, whether we were writers by profession or not;1 a band of kitchen rebels making semi-random but fully good shit in the kitchen;2 women farmers who are artists and poets making the most out of what the land has to offer;3 urban poor communities asserting their rights to grow their own food and nourish each other4; political prisoners who are unjustly deprived of liberty with whom we connected and co-created art and poetry;5 women creatives connected by a desire for connection, co-creation and collective flourishing.6
It is with gratitude for those spaces that we offer this invitation to be part of our Hapag Ugnayan writing circle this August, which you can participate in through live sessions or in a self-paced way, whether you’re based in Metro Manila or beyond.
Over the course of 5 weeks, Hapag Ugnayan writing circle subscribers will engage in writing that aims to help us reconnect with ourselves, our food, our kitchens and the land that nourishes us.
This circle brings together the solidarity and food justice work of Good Food Community through Pamayanihan and of Paper Trail Projects through book projects like Pansamantalang Mundo, and the connection, creativity and insight in expressive arts gatherings hosted by Hapag Ugnayan and in our collective visits to political prisoners at the Correctional Institute of Women (CIW).
Mga Sadya / Intentions of the circle
We’ve initiated this to:
Reflect on our connection with our food, farmers, the kitchen and the land
Cultivate a practice space for creative expression and collective care
Clarify and articulate our own thoughts on food as a means of practicing mindfulness, collective care, and co-liberation
Participate in material solidarity with organic smallholder farmers through Good Food Community’s Pamayanihan or Community-Shared Agriculture subscription
Mga tagatipon at tagapagpadaloy / Co-gatherers and co-facilitators
This circle is brought together by a group of women connected by a shared love for good food -- food that is delicious, healthy and just; a shared practice of writing as a means of authentic and creative expression and as a way to interrogate and engage with the world; and a shared desire for food justice and greater solidarity with farmers and peasant advocates. You’ll be joined in this circle by:
Chingbee Cruz - Writer; professor; co-founder of Paper Trail Projects, co-publisher of Pansamantalang Mundo
Mabi David - Food sovereignty campaigner; fermentation enthusiast; founder of Starter Sisters
Irish Joy Deocampo - Feminist teacher-researcher-creative of the Department of Women and Development Studies at UP Diliman
Jen Horn - Facilitator; researcher; co-creator of Ugnayan Cards; tagatipon / lead gatherer of Hapag Ugnayan
4 Paraan ng Pakikilahok / 4 Ways to Participate
Sustansya (gulay para sa sarili) - Self-paced participation, with gulay delivery to your chosen location within Metro Manila**
Sustansya (gulay para sa kapwa) - Self-paced participation, with gulay solidarity contribution to a Good Food Community partner***
Sagana* (gulay para sa sarili) - Live participation to three (3) online sessions scheduled on August 29, September 5 and 19, 9-11am, with gulay delivery to your chosen location within Metro Manila**
Sagana* (gulay para sa kapwa) - Live participation to three (3) online sessions scheduled on August 29, September 5 and 19, 9-11am, with gulay solidarity contribution to a Good Food Community partner***
* Only 12 slots available for Sagana live participation.
We hope this initiative creates a liberating space for you to be open enough to expand your perspectives and your circles of care, to be audacious enough to show up as your authentic self, to be humble enough to question things (including yourself), to be human enough to feel, make a mess and celebrate imperfect works-in-progress. Ultimately, we hope this circle helps strengthen our community of collective care towards flourishing and food sovereignty for all. We look forward to having you with us!
Continue reading the FAQs section below for the full details on package inclusions, writing themes, schedules, co-gatherers and facilitators profiles, and more.
The registration links will go live Saturday, August 8, 2026. Proceed to this link on the Good Food website for Sustansya (self-paced) registration, and this link via Hapag Ugnayan for Sagana (live access) registration.
Registration is open until August 24 only, or while slots last. We only have 12 slots available to maintain the intimacy of the space.
Hapag Ugnayan Writing Circle FAQs
Want to learn more before signing up? We’ve compiled some questions we think you might have, because we’d have them in mind too. Here, you can find responses to these questions.
I’m not sure if this writing circle is for me. Who is it intended for?
Can you tell me more about the co-gatherers and co-facilitators of this space?
1. I’m not sure if this writing circle is for me. Who is it intended for?
This writing circle is for:
People who love food and wish to deepen their relationship with it – We welcome you whether you’re a chef or a home cook or the happy taste tester; a vegan or an omnivore; a budgetarian or a gourmand. If you see the role of food in the quality of your life, this circle can help you find even more meaning in it.
People who wish to use journaling or writing as a means of reflection or expression – We welcome you whether you are a writer by profession or even just by compulsion. You don’t even have to be comfortable with labeling yourself as a “writer,” as long as writing is an outlet for you. 🥰
People who wish to deepen their awareness and advocacy on food sovereignty – We welcome you wherever you are in your current awareness and advocacy in the food space. If you’re just starting out here, this is a good place to connect with fellow advocates and the issues more. If you’re already in the space, this can help you grow the courage to bring others into the movement through your words. ❤️🔥
This is intended as a space for shared learning and discovery — with co-facilitators as co-learners, and participants as holders of wisdom and insight from their own lived experiences. We do not intend to “workshop” or critique anyone’s writing. Instead, we hope this space will be one for “shitty first drafts,” as writer Anne Lamott would say.
More than the output, we value the messy yet intuitive process of writing to question our personal and social norms, surface emerging insights and imagine different possibilities for our collective future.
If you’re reading these FAQs right now, it’s highly likely that this writing circle is for you!
2. What does participation in this circle look like?
In an effort to cater to different capacities to engage, we are designing flexible participation packages for people to participate in this 5-week writing circle.
You can join live sessions through our Sagana participation package, or you can move at your own pace with the Sustansya participation package.
The Sagana live access pass includes admission to intimate online sessions with different thematic areas on the following dates:
August 29, 9-11AM
Themes: Presence, mindfulness, interconnectedness (connecting with ourselves and our food) ~ Co-facilitated by Jen and Irish
September 5, 9-11AM
Themes: Collective care, nourishment, participation (connecting with the kitchen) ~ Co-facilitated by Mabi and Jen
September 19, 9-11AM
Themes: Justice, solidarity, liberation (connecting with the land) ~ Co-facilitated by Chingbee and Jen
Expect live sessions to include grounding activities or readings of poetry or book excerpts, thematic prompts, co-writing time, and some space to share some reflections and writing.
3. Can I participate if I’m not based in Metro Manila?
Yes! We’ve made it possible for folks outside of Metro Manila to participate. Simply choose the Gulay Para sa Kapwa variant — whether you select the Sustansya or Sagana package on the Good Food Community website. The registration link will go live on Saturday, August 8, 2026.
For gulay para sa kapwa / solidarity contribution to a Good Food Community partner, please select “Solidarity contribution to a GFC partner” option in the delivery details section. We will then take care of delivering these vegetables to either our urban poor partners in Sitio Bakal and Payatas in Quezon City, or to peasant organizer-political prisoners we visit at the Correctional Institute of Women in Mandaluyong.
4. Can you tell me more about the co-gatherers and co-facilitators of this space?
Below are the profiles of our co-gatherers and brief intros of our solidarity network partners.
Co-gatherers and co-facilitators
Chingbee Cruz teaches creative writing and literature at UP Diliman. She co-runs the small press Paper Trail Projects and co-organizes the small press/DIY expo Better Living Through Xeroxography (BLTX). She is also the author of several books of poetry. Paper Trail Projects is the publisher, together with KARAPATAN, of Pansamantalang Mundo: mga akda ng mga Kababaihang Bilanggong Politikal, 2024–2026.
Mabi David is a campaigner for organic agriculture and food sovereignty, and the advocacy and partnerships lead of Good Food Community. Her training and experience in plant-based cuisine strengthened her interest in sustainable food systems and health-supportive cooking. She co-founded Starter Sisters, which teaches fermentation to consumers as well as restaurants and other organizations. She is a published writer, with three books of poetry and a children’s book, and has also translated and edited many books.
Irish Joy Deocampo is teaching with the Department of Women and Development Studies in UP Diliman. She has published research about gender-based violence, feminist crisis management, and collective care. As a member of the Feminist Media Lab, she has co-designed and co-facilitated learning spaces around care-centered approaches in anti-gender-based violence advocacy. She is currently engaged in practices around critical and creative interventions in feminist worldmaking.
Jen Horn (@pagbubuo) is a facilitator (tagapagpadaloy), lead tagatipon and tagahain of Hapag Ugnayan (@hapagugnayan) and co-creator of Ugnayan Cards (@ugnayancards). Through her work, she organizes potlucks of food and creativity to reconnect people with the land, the kitchen and each other, and creates tools for facilitating reflection and conversation towards connection and wellbeing. Her belief that “rough drafts” are worthy of existence outside her own mind helps her show up for her personal writing as part of an ongoing process of Pagbubuo.
Solidarity network partners
Good Food Community (@goodfoodcommunity) ~ a farmer-eater solidarity organization, which practices community-supported agriculture or Pamayanihan
Hapag Ugnayan (@hapagugnayan) ~ thought snacks and potlucks of food and creativity to reconnect us with the land, the kitchen and each other
Paper Trail Projects (@papertrailprojects) ~ a small press dedicated to investigations in language driven by the poetic impulse, and to the literary production of grassroots communities and communities of writing outside the professionalized literary scene
Ugnayan Cards (@ugnayancards) ~ tools for facilitating more meaningful reflections and conversations towards connection with self, kapwa and the natural world
5. I’m in! How do I sign up?
The registration links will go live Saturday, August 8, 2026. Proceed to this link on the Good Food website for Sustansya (self-paced) registration, and this link via Hapag Ugnayan for Sagana (live access) registration. Registration is open until August 24 only, or while slots last. We only have 12 slots available to maintain the intimacy of the space. Hope you can join us!
With my experimental Likha Ginhawa women’s circle in 2024 — we decided to have a kitchen playdate for our second gathering!
Read some reflections from Food Today, Food Tomorrow visits I joined to Payatas and Sitio Bakal, Bagong Silangan in Quezon City in “Returning To The Garden & Nurturing My Activism”.
See more from our visits to political prisoners at the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong in this @goodfoodcommunity IG post and in this Ugnayan Cards substack post. Some of these visits over the course of two years helped create the space and nurture the relationships that eventually led to the creation of Pansamantalang Mundo co-published by Paper Trail Projects and Karapatan.
Our Luto Likha Linang gathering with women farmers and women creatives in Metro Manila last October 2025 felt like a Hapag Ugnayan coming out party — one for the books!
Marking my calendar <3
Excited for this!!! 🌱