Paul Summers Jr. will be reading from his memoir Hide and Seek: A Dad’s Journey from Soulless Addiction to Sole Custody. In the chapter titled “Come Undone” (chapters are named after songs) Paul has come to a ‘do-or-die’ moment in both his sobriety and in his role as a parent. He has to make a decision: Either advocate for his daughter by asking a judge to issue an Emergency Parenting Order, or risk something terrible happening to her because of her mother’s continued dangerous choices around active addiction.

Tom Larsen will be reading from Getting Legal, the second book in his Wilson Salinas Mystery of Ecuador series. Having had some success as a private investigator, Wilson decides it’s time to “get legal”—get his P.I. license—even though his attorney tells him “In Ecuador, there is really no such thing as an Investigador Privado. The concept doesn’t exist.” Yet, that fact doesn’t keep the attorney from hiring Wilson to investigate the disappearance of his spoiled grandson, heir apparent to his lucrative legal practice. Wilson enters an unfamiliar world of wealth, lies, adultery, extortion and murder, putting his newly-won sobriety in danger, and, eventually, also his life.

In her third memoir, Portland-based author Caroline Kurtz walks the coast of Oregon, carrying her shelter and food, seeking solace and renewal after the death of her husband. Grieving, she reflects on her long, and at times rocky, marriage to Mark, whom she had known and loved since they met as teenagers in boarding school in Ethiopia. As she navigates the adventures of the trail–leaky tents, hitching rides, chance encounters, and beautiful landscapes–she intertwines historical events of coastal Oregon with her spiritual experience, providing space for the ending of an old identity and the emergence of a new self.

Beloved LCC teacher and poet Joseph Green returns to WordFest to read from his life works. Joe taught creative writing and poetry at Lower Columbia College for twenty-five years. His poetry collections include That Thread Still Connecting Us and What Water Does at a Time Like This. Joe is also an organizer of the annual Raymond Carver Festival in Clatskanie.

Carey Taylor is the author of Some Aid to Navigation and The Lure of Impermanence. She has a master’s degree in School Counseling from Pacific Lutheran University. A Portland resident, Carey has lived her entire life in the Pacific Northwest, including the rare experience of living at three lighthouse stations. She is the winner of the 2022 Neahkahnie Mountain Poetry Prize, a Pushcart Prize, and has been published both nationally and internationally. More information is available at https://careyleetaylor.com

Emily Ransdell is the author of One Finch Singing, winner of the 2022 Lewis Award from Concrete Wolf Press. She has been published in numerous journals including Poetry Northwest, Terrain, Rattle, and New Letters.  Emily divides her time between Camas, Washington, and Manzanita, Oregon, where she teaches poetry and creativity workshops at the Hoffman Center for the Arts. You can read more about Emily at  www.emilyransdell.com