Beth Wood is no stranger to Sisters, OR. The Texas-born, Portland-based singer-songwriter and poet has been hosting the Sunday Community Celebration at the Sisters Folk Festival for the last eight years. On Friday, August 9, Beth will read poems from her two poetry books, Ladder to the Light, and Kazoo Symphonies at Paulina Springs Books. She may even weave in a song or two.

            The response to Wood’s second book of poetry, Ladder to the Light, has been overwhelming. Inspired by an image from a Jane Hirshfield poem ‘Mule Heart’ in which grief and joy are carried in “two waiting baskets,” Wood seeks to find balance again and regain footing after heartbreaking loss. Ladder to the Light chronicles her journey from grief to gratitude to believing in love again—poetry as a ladder toward the light. Ladder to the Light is the winner of the 2019 Oregon Book Awards Readers’ Choice Award and was chosen as a finalist for the 2019 Oregon Book Awards – Stafford/Hall prize for poetry.