Abby E. Murray and Lauren Kay Johnson will both read some of their work and their books will be available.

Abby E. Murray (they/them) is the editor of Collateral, a literary journal concerned with the impact of violent conflict and military service beyond the combat zone. As a nonbinary pacifist married to a cis-gender active duty army officer, they’ve spent their adult life writing and researching conflict, contradiction, and the necessity of voice. Their first book, Hail and Farewell, won the Perugia Press Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award, and their second book, Recovery Commands, won the Richard-Gabriel Rummonds Prize from Ex Ophidia Press and has been nominated for the National Book Award. Abby served as the 2019-2021 poet laureate for the city of Tacoma, Washington, and currently teaches writing to Army War College fellows at the University of Washington.

Lauren Kay Johnson is an Olympia-based writer and the author of The Fine Art of Camouflage, a finalist for the 2024 Washington State Book Awards. The memoir chronicles Lauren’s coming-of-age against the backdrop of war—beginning with her mother’s Army career and deployment in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm when Lauren was seven years old, and later with her own service in Afghanistan. Lauren’s writing has been featured in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, Boston Globe Magazine, Glamour, Yale Medicine Magazine, and elsewhere. Her work has been used in the creation of dance and theater productions, and she has lectured at schools, conferences, and veteran centers across the country.