The Feb. 21 of Coast Weekend is devoted to the 22nd FisherPoets Gathering, with two profiles — Sierra Golden and Tom Hilton — a full feature and, in the print edition, an eight-page program insert for Gathering-goers.

FisherPoets is the quintessential Astoria happening — the salty, hardscrabble marine lifestyle given voice in story and verse. The men and women who come before us this weekend, at venues like the Liberty Theatre and Voodoo Room, report on a way of life most of us will never experience, and their Gathering offers a take on their industry as no other event can do. Their tales are by turns glorious and gripping, hilarious and absurd, touching and poignant.

We hope you enjoy our previews of these most mesmerizing performances, and we urge you to catch a few of these poets in the flesh — fresh from the waters, in all their briny brilliance.