WordFest OC 2025

Poetry, storytelling, writing workshops, panel discussions, music, and dance as well as readings by distinguished authors will be featured at a day-long literary festival at Saddleback College on Thursday, October 23. Open to the public for free, WordFest OC will encompass multicultural literary works and promote creative writing. Linked through the theme of Blending Worlds, Crossing Borders, sessions will explore the blurred lines between the real and the surreal through a literary excursion led by five prominent writers whose works span the realms of magical realism, mystery, culturally conscious poetry, mysticism, and multimodal anthropology: Aimee Bender, James Blaylock, Wang Ping, Marytza K. Rubio, and Roxanne Varzi. Panel discussions and workshops will be presented by other featured writers, including Lisa Alvarez, Suki Fisher, Catherine Hayter, and Jennifer Hedgecock. A panel discussion about dystopian fiction will be led by Spencer Robins, Bret Kaufman, and Ryan Hoskins. The festival will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of WALL Literary Journal, an award-winning student-produced campus publication, and the second edition of Latinx Voices, another student-produced journal that chronicles the history and culture of the Latinx community.