Austin Baker
Austin A. Baker is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Moravian University. They specialize in philosophical issues related to cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and law. One strand of their research examines the way social biases psychologically influence patterns of attention and nonverbal communication in face-to-face and online exchanges, and the other strand considers prejudice from the perspectives of law and public policy. They received their PhD in Philosophy and Graduate Certificate in Cognitive Science from Rutgers University and previously held postdoctoral positions at the University of Oslo and the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS) before joining the faculty at Moravian in 2025. They have published in venues such as Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Philosophy and Neuroscience Vol 2 (Oxford University Press), and The Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Jurisprudence (Cambridge University Press). Their work has also been featured by the New York Bar Association and discussed in Forbes Magazine. They are currently working on interdisciplinary projects funded by the European Research Council and the John Templeton Foundation.
Chad Frame
Chad Frame is the author of Little Black Book, nominated for the Lambda Literary Award, and Smoking Shelter, winner of the Moonstone Chapbook Contest. He is the Director of the Montgomery County Poet Laureate Program as well as a Poet Laureate Emeritus of Montgomery County, PA, a founding member of the No River Twice poetry/improv performance troupe, and the founder of the Caesura Poetry Festival. Chad's work appears in Rattle, Strange Horizons, Pedestal, Barrelhouse, and Rust+Moth on iTunes from the Library of Congress, and is archived on the moon with The Lunar Codex. Chad has taught workshops at the Rosemont College Writers' Retreat, Arcadia University's MFA residencies, In the Company of Laureates, the Caesura Poetry Festival, the Philadelphia Writers' Conference, Main Line School Nights, the Arts & Cultural Council of Bucks County, and many more venues.
Joyce Hinnefeld
Joyce Hinnefeld is the author of the short story collections Tell Me Everything (1998; winner of the 1997 Bread Loaf Bakeless Prize in Fiction) and The Beauty of Their Youth (2020), the novels In Hovering Flight (2008) and Stranger Here Below (2010), the novel-in-stories The Dime Museum (2025), and other short stories and essays. She is a Program Facilitator for Shining Light, an organization that provides programming in U.S. prisons; an Emeritus Professor of English at Moravian University in Bethlehem, PA; and the founder of the Moravian Writers’ Conference, now the Moravian Story Summit. Find her online at www.joycehinnefeld.com.
Lee Upton
Lee Upton’s first novel, Tabitha, Get Up, is a current semi-finalist for the 2026 Thurber Prize in American Humor. Her second novel, Wrongful (May 2025), is a literary mystery in which writers behave very badly. In June 2026, her novel The Withers is forthcoming from Regal House Publishing. Tabitha, Stay Up, a sequel to her first novel, is forthcoming from Sagging Meniscus Press in September 2026. Lee Upton’s poetry has appeared in the New Yorker, Poetry, Agni, and in many other magazines. Her awards include the Pushcart Prize, the Saturnalia Books Prize, and the BOA Short Fiction Award.
Mary Wright
Mary Wright has been a professional theatre actress, director, playwright and storyteller for more than 25 years. Her affiliation with Touchstone began when she moved to Bethlehem in 1997. Since then she has been a Community Guest, a volunteer, an Ensemble Affiliate, an Ensemble Member, and Young Playwrights’ Lab Coordinator. She is an actress (Laura, The Glass Menagerie; Little Red, Christmas City Follies; Maj, Bhudoo; six dictators, Dictators 4 Dummies), director and playwright, (Southside Experience, JOURNEY: Dream of the Red Pavilion) and costumer (Ulysses Dreams). Mary graduated from Allegheny College with a B.A. in Theater Arts, and trained in the Kennedy Center’s “Partners In the Arts” program. In addition to her work with Touchstone, Mary is a founding member of the Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild, co-founder of Friends of Liberty Theatre, is a rostered teaching artist with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and is on the faculty and a director at Pennsylvania Theater for Youth. She received the 2014 Individual “Tribute to the Arts” for her contribution to the arts from the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission.
MaryJo Rosania-Harvery
Dr. MaryJo Rosania-Harvie (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Art and Director of Art Education at Moravian. MaryJo is an interdisciplinary artist, her academic scholarship focuses on educator identity, and the impact of past experiences on relationships and practice. Through her research and teaching, MaryJo explores the power of art education to build and sustain cultures of community, collaboration, and belonging.
No River Twice
No River Twice is a group of published poets who offer poetry readings in which the audience and poets actively interact to decide the direction of the performance, co-creating a reading that is never the same twice. NRT's mission is to connect audiences to poetry readings in meaningful and playful ways that surprise, move, and delight and to promote an important communal experience.
The poets reading at this event will include:
Liz Gray, appearing as Liz Chang, has published four books of poetry. Her most recent collection is entitled Museum of Things from Finishing Line Press (2023). [26 words]
Hayden Saunier is the author of six collections of poetry. Her most recent book is Wheel (Terrapin, 2024). She is founder/director of No River Twice.
Grant Clauser’s sixth poetry collection, Temporary Shelters, is forthcoming from Cornerstone Press of the University of Wisconsin | Steven’s Point.
Joanne Leva is the author of two poetry collections, Eve Heads Back (2020) and Eve Would Know (2017), published by Kelsay Books.
Cleveland Wall is a poet, librarian, and mail artist in Bethlehem, PA. She is the author of Let X=X and sundry handmade chapbooks.
Bernadette McBride, author of four poetry collections, is widely published at home and abroad and is a past Pennsylvania Poet Laureate for Bucks County.
Chad Frame is the author of Little Black Book, Cryptid, and Smoking Shelter. He directs the Montgomery County Poet Laureate Program and Caesura Poetry Festival.
Randy Ziegenfuss
Dr. Randy Ziegenfuss is Professor of Practice and Director of the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) Program in Transformational Leadership at Moravian University. He is deeply committed to reshaping K-12 and higher education systems from traditional, school-centered models to learner-centered environments that are responsive to the demands of a dynamic, technology-driven world. His research emphasizes the transformational leadership practices necessary for driving systemic change, with a particular focus on strategic foresight and understanding the educational needs of Generation Z and Generation Alpha. Prior to his current role at Moravian, Randy retired as superintendent of the Salisbury Township School District (PA) in 2021, after a career in public education. He holds degrees from Moravian University, Teachers College at Columbia University, and The University of Pennsylvania. Beyond his professional pursuits, Randy is engaged in a side project called The Human School and enjoys frequent visits to New York City to immerse himself in its vibrant arts culture.
Ruth Setton
Born in Morocco, Ruth Knafo Setton is the author of The Road to Fez and Zigzag Girl, which won the Grand Prize in the ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition and First Place in the Daphne du Maurier Awards. Her TV pilot based on Zigzag Girl won First Prize in the LA Crime and Horror Film Festival, and her screenplays have been recognized by the Austin Film Festival, Sundance Screenwriters Lab, and CineStory Foundation. An NEA Fellow, she has taught Creative Writing at Lehigh University and with Semester at Sea. Her fiction and creative nonfiction appear widely in journals and anthologies. She writes a newsletter for creatives, Tips, Tricks & Tea with Ruth, at www.ruthsetton.substack.com.
Kate Brandes
Story Summit Co-Director
Kate Brandes lives in the small river town of Riegelsville, Pennsylvania. Her writing weaves together many of her preoccupations including rural narratives, characters with a strong sense of place, the inner workings of small towns, and environmental issues that impact landscape, culture, and family dynamics. Kate has also worked as a geologist and environmental scientist for more than twenty-five years. She currently directs the Environmental Science and Studies Program at Moravian University, where she also co-directs the Moravian Writers’ Conference. Stone Creek is her second novel.
Liz Gray
Story Summit Co-Director
Photograph by Adrianne Mathiowetz
Liz Chang was 2012 Montgomery County Poet Laureate. Her poems have appeared in Verse Daily, Exit 7, Rock & Sling, Breakwater Review and Stoneboat Literary Journal, among others. Her fourth collection, a chapbook called Museum of Things, from Finishing Line Press was published in early 2023. Her creative nonfiction has recently appeared in Oyster River Pages, and her flash fiction has been published internationally. Chang’s translation of Claude de Burine’s work is anthologized in Paris in Our View from l’Association des Amis de Shakespeare & Company. She is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Moravian University (as Liz Gray).
