In June, we hosted the third cohort of Helen Toribio Kapwa Fellows including Christine Cordero, Abe Ignacio, and Aileen Suzara. Through the generosity of an anonymous donor, Christine was inspired to form this fellowship after a special experience during her first residency at Mesa Refuge in 2024.
After carrying around Seven Card Stud with Seven Manangs Wild, an anthology edited by her late mentor Helen Toribio, for decades, Christine decided she would finally crack it open at our coastal retreat overlooking Tomales Bay. She began reading and was surprised to find that Helen’s contributed story took place in Tomales Bay, beautifully weaving time, intergenerational and social justice issues in a writing style Christine was actively exploring in her own work. “It felt like Helen was talking to me across time and space. She and her words were waiting for me to be at Mesa and ready to explore the stories of our people – to say what needs to be said, and write the stories yet to be read.”
Fast forward to the summer of 2026, Christine returned to Mesa Refuge as a Helen Toribio Kapwa Fellow along with Abe Ignacio (the partner of the late Helen Toribio) and Aileen Suzara (another mentee of Helen’s). Christine worked on her book about public speaking, Abe made headway on a research paper about the noted Filipino writer Carlos Bulosan, and Aileen wrote parts of her YA novel drawing on Filipino folklore. Everyone’s work exhibited the spirit of Kapwa: the universal truth of interconnectedness and solidarity with all living beings.
2025 Helen Toribio Kapwa Fellow, Aimee Suzara, released her second full-length book Birth Language. Visit Aimee’s Instagram page to learn more about her Bay Area Book Tour, which includes a collective reading with seven of the Helen Toribio Kapwa Fellows at LitCrawl in San Francisco on October 24th.
