2026 Festival of Faith and Writing: Full Schedule

Our books inspire transformation in readers and their communities to foster a more open, just, and compassionate world.

Rooted in the progressive Christian tradition and reflecting the diversity of human creativity, we publish books that engage readers in fresh, substantive, timel... Read More →

Eighth Day Books

Eighth Day Books has specialized in classic books across the disciplines of art, science, and the humanities since 1988, when we first opened our store in Wichita, Kansas.

From the beginning, we have not been a typical independent bookstore; we eschew the trendy, and do not carry books solely based on their saleability. Instead, we're selective, offering an eccentric community of books based on this organizing principle: if a book (be it literary, scientific... Read More →

Lake Drive Books

Lake Drive Books began with a vision to do book publishing for authors and readers who want to break the mold and ask honest questions about religion, spirituality, and personal growth, including books on faith deconstruction, self-improvement, theology, race, class, gender, and sexuality... Read More →

Slant Books

Slant is an independent, not-for-profit literary press specializing in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, philosophy, theology, and belles lettres. Slant books are marked by the kind of meticulous craft and passion for language that are harder and harder to come by in our age... Read More →

Englewood Review of Books

Launched in 2008, The Englewood Review of Books is a weekly online book review published by Englewood Christian Church on the Near Eastside of Indianapolis. We focus on covering books related to the themes of community, mission, imagination, and reconciliation, and hope to cultiv... Read More →

The Christian Century

The Christian Century is a progressive, independent religious magazine devoted to helping people think critically and live the Christian faith thoughtfully.

Known for its excellent essays and poetry, incisive reporting and commentary, and prominent writers contributing from variou... Read More →

Eerdmans Publishing Company

Located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company is an independent publisher of religious books, from academic books and scholarly works in theology, biblical studies, and religious history to popular titles in spirituality, ministry, and cultural criticism.

William B. Eerdmans Sr. believed that responsible viewpoints from across the religious spectrum should be given opportunity for expression and that high literary and intellectual standards were of utmost importance. His publishing company continues to operate according to these beliefs... Read More →

Taylor University: Making Literature 2027 Conference

The Making Literature Conference is officially the William A. Fry Undergraduate Conference on Literature and Writing. Dr. William A. Fry served as English department chair at Taylor from 1978 until his retirement in 1998. Bill was trained first as a minister at Nyack College, then... Read More →

Relief: A Journal of Art and Faith

For over a decade, Relief has helped shape the landscapes of faith and imagination for readers around the world. In our annual print journal, we feature fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, graphic narrative, and reviews by some of today’s finest literary practitioners, alongside emerging voices. We also o... Read More →

Evelyn DeKorte/Diane Ford

Evelyn DeKorte is the author of the spiritual memoir Tracing His Hand: Recognizing God’s Fingerprints on Our Everyday Lives. Depicting the author's growth in her faith walk, Tracing His Hand offers a collection of stories she’s experienced on her journey in this life, a recor... Read More →

Baker Publishing Group

Baker Publishing Group publishes high-quality writings that represent historic Christianity and serve the diverse interests and concerns of evangelical readers.

Visit our Independent Christian Bookstore, Baker Book House.

Editor Pitch Meetings

What We're Offering: Katelyn Beaty, E

... Read More →

Redbud Writers Guild

Redbud Writers Guild is a diverse community of Christian women writers passionate about using words to encourage, challenge, and transform culture. We do this through books, articles, blogs, and speaking engagements. We engage our faith in Jesus while using our creativity to spar... Read More →

Collegeville Institute

The Collegeville Institute is a place of scholarship, worship, dialogue, and community immersed in the Benedictine rhythm of work and prayer. We invite you to enter this place—explore our site, join the online conversations, subscribe to us, apply for a program, make a visit to... Read More →

PLNU M.A. in Writing Program / Last Syllable Journal

Point Loma Nazarene University Master's Degree
Earn your master’s in writing at PLNU in two years. Whether you’re seeking to strengthen your practice in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, PLNU’s M.A. in Writing program is designed to expand your knowledge of written art and cra... Read More →

Reformed Journal

Our purpose is to publish Christian writing that delights readers and engages the world in a Reformed Way.

We’re Reformed. We call ourselves generously Reformed—meaning open, curious, progressive, more interested in building bridges than walls, while still standing in the historical line of Christian orthodoxy. Our roots and our community are predominantly in the Dutch Reformed community... Read More →

The Windhover Literary Journal

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor is proud to sponsor The Windhover. The journal is dedicated to promoting poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction that considers Christian perspectives and engages spiritual themes. Each spring the journal hosts a writers’ festival, inviting their published authors and interested readers to come to campus for a weekend... Read More →

Orion Magazine

The first issue of the Orion Nature Quarterly was published in June 1982, and in its editorial George Russell, the publication’s first Editor-in-Chief, boldly stated Orion’s values:“It is Orion’s fundamental conviction that humans are morally responsible for the world... Read More →

Leslie Leyland Fields/Memoir Masterclass

Leslie Leyland Fields is an international teacher, speaker and the multi-award winning author of fourteen books, including Your Story Matters: Finding, Writing and Living the Truth of Your Life, Crossing the Waters: Following Jesus through the Storms, the Fish, the Doubt, and the... Read More →

Mark Mattison

Luminescence, L.L.C.

About Us
Titles published by Luminescence, L.L.C. seamlessly blend academic rigor with spiritual wisdom. The best literature and art amazes, surprises, and provokes, enkindling personal reflection and an openness to the deeper meanings of human existence.

Our titles are easily acce... Read More →

Moody Global Media

Moody Bible Institute’s new multimedia division – Moody Global Media – has a 10-year vision to reach 100 million people weekly with the gospel of Jesus Christ through its Moody Radio network of stations and now a multitude of growing digital channels.

Moody Global Media is n

... Read More →

Healing Medicine

Whitworth University MFA

Where Rigorous Literary Craft Meets Deep Spiritual Formation
The Whitworth Writers Workshop is one of only three faith-based low-residency MFA programs in the United States. Built on 15 years of success and over 100 published books by program alumni, we offer what few programs can: nationally recognized faculty, personalized mentorship and... Read More →

NavPress

NavPress is a business ministry of The Navigators, which since 1933 has shared the gospel of Jesus and helped people grow in their relationship with Him through Life-to-Life® discipleship. Since 1975, with its rich catalog of bestselling books, discipleship resources, and The Message... Read More →

Plough

Plough Publishing House, founded in 1920, is an independent publisher of books on faith, society, and the spiritual life. We’re based in Walden, New York with branches in the United Kingdom and Australia.

We also publish Plough Quarterly, a bold new magazine of stories, ideas, a

... Read More →

Read. Pray. Write. Podcast

Read. Pray. Write.

Lectio Divina for Modern Life
Words by others who have traveled our road—when read, heard, written—are a steady source of grace and mercy. When despair makes it difficult to find the answers within ourselves, all we need to do is listen. Lectio divina is a simple 5-step method that can be applied to any text... Read More →

Presence: A Journal of Catholic Poetry

Presence: A Journal of Catholic Poetry is a venue for publication of poetry written by authors whose work is informed by the Catholic faith. As Thomas Aquinas suggests, art is a good in and of itself, and the artist is primarily concerned with the goodness of his or her creation. Thus, the primary principle for inclusion... Read More →

Baylor University Press

Baylor University Press is the academic press of Baylor University, an R1 institution known for its research activities and initiatives across schools and departments. The Press publishes around forty new academic titles each year, focusing on technical scholarship for researchers... Read More →

Menno Media / Herald Press

Herald Press author Aimee Reid will be signing her books at our booth on Friday, April 17, from 2-2:30 pm.

Herald Press is a Christian publisher known for transformative books on reconciliation, community, discipleship, mission, spirituality, theology, and Amish and Mennonite life and faith. We reach a broad spectrum of readers—from evangelical, mainline, and Anabaptist backgrounds—and... Read More →

Solum Literary Press

We are a Christian small press embodying a faith that seeks excellence. We publish poetry, short stories, and homilies in Solum Journal, our annual literary journal, as well as poetry chapbooks, poetry collections, novellas, novels, and short story collections.

We primarily publish work concerning Christian theology or work which deals with the Christian life, i.e., the trials and triumphs of daily life with God. We hope to uplift young or undiscovered Christian authors, academics, and artists, and provide a space for them to interact and... Read More →

The Perkipery Press

Bob and his wife Shelley Townsend-Hudson run Perkipery Press, which has published chapbooks for three decades, and play together as members of the band Gooder'n Grits, that performs the pre-bluegrass music of the Carolinas.

InterVarsity Press

Who We Are
Since 1947, InterVarsity Press (IVP) has been publishing thoughtful Christian books that shape both the lives of readers and the cultures they inhabit. Throughout these seventy-five years, our books and authors have established a legacy of speaking boldly into important cultural moments... Read More →

Kregel Publications

Sensing a growing need for solidly evangelical works, Kregel Publications began in 1949 to supply resources to meet the spiritual needs of evangelical readers as well as the professional needs of pastors, missionaries, teachers, and Christian leaders. Today Kregel's backlist has over... Read More →

Wipf and Stock Publishers

Based in the land of great microbrews and towering Douglas firs, Wipf and Stock Publishers is a creative team, an adventurous bunch who arrive to work with mud still on our shoes from the weekend ride or hike. Our staff handles every step of publication in-house, from customer service... Read More →

Wildhouse Publishing

Wildhouse Publishing is a nonprofit independent publisher that exists to enliven the spiritual quests of people outside or on the margins of established religious and spiritual traditions through books that are thoughtful, accessible, impactful, and practical.

Books from Wildhouse Publishing offer practical ways to deepen spirituality and enhance the meaning of our readers’ lives. We publish substantive spiritual explorations that our readers can trust. We aim to build an imprint that is widely respected while helping to advance the spiritual... Read More →

The Rabbit Room

The Rabbit Room cultivates and curates story, music, and art to nourish Christ-centered communities for the life of the world.

In so many ways, the Rabbit Room is about you. Yes, you. At some time, for some reason, your story overlapped with the Rabbit Room. Whether you are a whol... Read More →

Wesley Theological Seminary

The mission of Wesley Theological Seminary is to equip persons for Christian ministry and leadership in the church and the world, to advance theological scholarship, and to model a prophetic voice in the public square.

Western Theological Seminary

Western Theological Seminary is an evangelical and ecumenical community of faith and learning in the Reformed tradition that serves the church of Jesus Christ. WTS equips women and men for Christ-centered, biblically-based, theologically integrated, culturally competent, and miss... Read More →

Religion News Service

Religion News Service (RNS) is an independent, nonprofit and award-winning source of global news on religion, spirituality, culture and ethics, reported by a staff of professional journalists. Founded in 1934, RNS seeks to inform readers with objective reporting and insightful commentary... Read More →

Ashland University, MFA in Creative Writing

Book Signings at the Ashland MFA table:
Tania Runyan will be signing her book How to Write a Poem on Thursday, 2:00-4:00pmJoanne Lehman will be signing her books Leah's Faith and Susan's Hope (Masthof Press) on Friday, April 17, 12:00-2:00pmAgnes Howard will be signing her book... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 9:00am - 4:30pm EDT
Prince Conference Center, Great Hall

Exhibit Hall

10:00am EDT

Artist Meet & Greet: The Art of Scott Erickson

Thursday April 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Center Art Gallery

Speakers

Scott Erickson

Scott Erickson is a touring painter, performance speaker, creative curate, and author. Scott's work has appeared on CNN, National Geographic, and in various magazines and newspaper outlets. He is the author of Say Yes: Discover the Surprising Life Beyond the Death of a Dream, Hon... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Center Art Gallery

Center Art Gallery

11:00am EDT

Boxed Lunch pickup (pre-orders only)

Thursday April 16, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT

Knollcrest Dining Hall

Festival attendees who pre-ordered boxed lunches for Thursday may pick up their meals in the Knollcrest Dining Hall between 11am and noon. There is seating inside the dining hall for attendees to eat lunch together. Please note–no outside food or drink is allowed in Knollcrest Dining Hall.

Thursday April 16, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Knollcrest Dining Hall

Lunch

12:30pm EDT

Opening Plenary Session - Speaking the Hard Truths

Thursday April 16, 2026 12:30pm - 1:30pm EDT

Van Noord Arena

Laurie Halse Anderson explores how historical fiction invites honest conversation about the past and helps us approach hard truths with courage and care.

Book signing follows in the Spoelhof Fieldhouse Lobby

Speakers

Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson is a New York Times bestselling author whose writing spans young readers, teens, and adults. Combined, her books have sold more than 8 million copies.

Two of her novels, Speak and Chains, were National Book Award finalists, and Chains was short-listed for the... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 12:30pm - 1:30pm EDT
Van Noord Arena

Plenary Session

1:30pm EDT

Information Desk Open

Thursday April 16, 2026 1:30pm - 4:30pm EDT

Prince Conference Center, Fireside Room

Thursday April 16, 2026 1:30pm - 4:30pm EDT
Prince Conference Center, Fireside Room

Info Desk

2:30pm EDT

A Hospitality to Paradox

Thursday April 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Auditorium

What does it mean to take our pain and make something out of it? What is the process of turning our grief into a gift? Who is the one who emerges from the community to lead the ceremony? Mixing comedic narrative, honest storytelling, and image curation, artist and author Scott Erickson walks us through the inevitable invitation to become the wounded healer. 

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby 

Speakers

Scott Erickson

Thursday April 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Auditorium

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

2:30pm EDT

Hope in the Wake of History

Thursday April 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT

Chapel

Ayana Mathis reflects on the themes of freedom, idealism, and disappointment in her fiction, exploring how hope meets history and how storytelling makes space for both possibility and the truths that challenge it.

Book signing follows in the Chapel Narthex

Speakers

Ayana Mathis

Mathis's bestselling debut, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, was an Oprah's Book Club selection. Her newest, The Unsettled, is a searing multi-generational novel set in a historically Black town in Alabama and racially and politically turbulent Philadelphia. Mathis was the first Black woman to be a permanent faculty member at the Iowa Writers' Workshop... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT
Chapel

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

2:30pm EDT

Inside the Issue: The Art and Ethics of Curating Literary Journals

Thursday April 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT

Prince Conference Center, Willow Room

In conversation, Jacob Schepers and Alan Koppschall discuss the craft of shaping a literary journal—from selecting work and nurturing emerging voices to balancing editorial vision with community care.

Speakers

Alan Koppschall

Plough

Alan Koppschall is an editor and the event coordinator at Plough. He is a member of the Bruderhof and lives with his wife, Marilyn, at the Woodcrest Bruderhof in Rifton, New York. He previously worked as a journalist for Catholic News Agency's Vatican Bureau... Read More →

Jacob Schepers

Jacob Schepers is cofounder and coeditor of Ballast, a 501(c)(3) non-profit online literary magazine, and the author of the poetry collections A Bundle of Careful Compromises and Ugly Ground Swell Moss, and the chapbooks Connections & Choreography and Shipwreck Abstracted... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT
Prince Conference Center, Willow Room

Concurrent Session, Conversation

2:30pm EDT

Shaping the Past for Young Minds

Thursday April 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT

Gezon Auditorium

In conversation, authors Dana VanderLugt and Kate Albus explore the craft of writing historical fiction for young readers, reflecting on the interplay of research and imagination, the power of storytelling to recover the past, and the ways stories can invite young readers to see themselves within the larger human story.

Book signing follows in the Spoelhof Atrium

Speakers

Kate Albus

Kate Albus writes historical fiction for young readers. Her novels A Place to Hang the Moon and Nothing Else But Miracles have been recognized by the NY Public Library, Kids Indie Next, SCBWI, Bank Street College of Education, JLG, CCBC, the ALA's Association for Library Service to Children, and state reading lists around the country. Kate lives with her family in rural Maryland... Read More →

Dana VanderLugt

Dana VanderLugt descends from a family of apple growers and storytellers. Her debut novel in verse, Enemies in the Orchard, is inspired by German POWs who worked on her family orchard during WWII. A former English teacher, she now works as a literacy consultant in Michigan, where she lives with her husband, sons, and spoiled golden retriever. And yes, she makes a mean apple pie... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT
Gezon Auditorium

Concurrent Session, Conversation

2:30pm EDT

The Beauty in Broken Things: Writing Sadness with Grace

Thursday April 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

In conversation, poets Todd Davis and Kiki Petrosino explore how sorrow can be rendered with clarity, tenderness, and artistic precision, revealing how writing about sadness can open space for truth, connection, and unexpected forms of healing. 

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby

Speakers

Todd Davis

Todd Davis is the author of eight books of poetry, most recently Ditch Memory: New & Selected Poems and Coffin Honey. He also edited A Literary Field Guide to Northern Appalachia and Fast Break to Line Break: Poets on the Art of Basketball. His writing has won the Midwest Book Award and the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize. He teaches environmental studies at Penn State University... Read More →

Kiki Petrosino

Kiki Petrosino is the author of four books of poetry, including White Blood: a Lyric of Virginia. She holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop. Her memoir, Bright, was released from Sarabande in 2022. She is a Professor of Poetry at the University of Virginia... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Concurrent Session, Conversation

2:30pm EDT

The Invitation of Desert Literature: Meeting Ourselves and God in Bleak Places

Thursday April 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT

Prince Conference Center, Board Room

Deserts are often places of God encounter–in Scripture, literature, and our hearts. Novelist and Flannery O’Connor Award winner A. Muia discusses the lure of the desert as a space where we come to the edge of ourselves and wait for God. Muia uses published works of desert literature to illustrate how characters (and perhaps we ourselves) find good news, even in the bleakest of landscapes.

Book signing follows in the Prince Conference Center, Fireside Room

Speakers

A. Muia

A. Muia is the 2024 winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction for her novel, A Desert Between Two Seas. Her fiction has appeared in journals throughout the U.S. She holds a degree in Spanish language, a master's in teaching English to speakers of other languages, an... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT
Prince Conference Center, Board Room

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

3:15pm EDT

Afternoon Snack Break

Thursday April 16, 2026 3:15pm - 3:45pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby; Prince Conference Center Fireside Room; Spoelhof Atrium

Thursday April 16, 2026 3:15pm - 3:45pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby; Prince Conference Center Fireside Room; Spoelhof Atrium

Coffee + Snack Breaks, Afternoon Snack Break

4:00pm EDT

About a Million Blessings a Day

Thursday April 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

A poetry reading and writing practice is, by its very nature, a mindfulness practice. It can become a spiritual practice as well. In the tradition of William Stafford, poet Carrie Fountain has, over twenty-five years, developed an early morning writing and reading ritual that has become a kind of sleight-of-hand prayer practice. Fountain discusses how developing such a habit can, again and again, root one in the real world and attune one to the many miracles of the everyday. 

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby

Speakers

Carrie Fountain

Carrie Fountain is the author of three books of poetry: The Life, Instant Winner, and Burn Lake; the YA novel I’m Not Missing; and the children’s book The Poem Forest. She is currently adapting I’m Not Missing for the screen, working on a second YA novel, and finishing a th... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

4:00pm EDT

AI in the Literary Arts

Thursday April 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT

Prince Conference Center, Willow Room

It can seem our culture is all-in on AI replacing the creative arts. From writing and the visual arts to film production and music, AI is ascendant. Is AI merely another tool in the artist’s toolbox, or is it an idol to which we are outsourcing our humanity? Join veteran audiobook narrator (and nerd) Adam Verner in exploring this very timely issue.

Speakers

Adam Verner

Adam is a full time narrator and has recorded over 700 titles for publishers and authors large and small. Winner of a 2017 VoiceArts award and multiple Earphones Awards, he holds his MFA in Acting from Roosevelt University. He lives with his wife and family in beautiful Colorado... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
Prince Conference Center, Willow Room

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

4:00pm EDT

Cultivating Curiosity with Picture Books

Thursday April 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT

Prince Conference Center, Board Room

Children’s book author Larissa Theule believes that stories shape the world one young reader at a time. She discusses how the art and craft of picture books cultivate children’s curiosity, prompting them to think critically and engage with life in meaningful, creative ways.

Book signing follows in the Prince Conference Center, Fireside Room

Speakers

Larissa Theule

Larissa Theule is the author of critically-acclaimed fiction and nonfiction books for children, including Tove Under the Tree, illustrated by Julie Benbassat, Kafka and the Doll, illustrated by Rebecca Green, and the Material Marvels. She lives and writes in Pasadena, California... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
Prince Conference Center, Board Room

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

4:00pm EDT

Holding Both: Navigating Grief and Hope Together

Thursday April 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT

Chapel

In conversation, Hillary McBride and J.S. Park explore the tender, often difficult work of carrying grief and hope at the same time, inviting us to live honestly without abandoning the possibility of joy.

Book signing follows in the Chapel Narthex

Speakers

Hillary McBride

Dr. Hillary McBride is a registered psychologist, a researcher, and podcaster, and mother, with expertise including trauma, embodiment, psychedelic psychotherapy, and the intersection of spirituality and mental health. Hillary makes her home in Victoria, Canada.

J. S. Park

J.S. Park is a hospital chaplain, published author, and online educator. He serves a 1000+ bed hospital and Level 1 Trauma Center, providing grief support and end-of-life care.

J.S. has been interviewed by CNN, CBS News, Good Morning America, and The Today Show for his work in dea... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
Chapel

Concurrent Session, Conversation

4:00pm EDT

How the Stories Find Us

Thursday April 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Auditorium

Ariel Lawhon never intended to write historical fiction. She was just lucky enough to be paying attention when a great idea found her. Twelve years and six novels later, she understands that the creative works we undertake are the ones meant specifically for us. Lawhon discusses how faith and observation and an insatiable curiosity are the keys to a fulfilling life in the arts.

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby

Speakers

Ariel Lawhon

Ariel Lawhon is the New York Times bestselling author of The Frozen River as well as several other works of historical fiction, including I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène. The Frozen River was an instant paperback bestseller, rapidly ascending the New York Times bestseller... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Auditorium

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

4:00pm EDT

Writing in Place

Thursday April 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT

Gezon Auditorium

In a world where we are increasingly pressured to write and compete for a global audience, what does it mean to write and create IN place and FOR place in all its particularities? Opelt explores how place and embodied community shapes our writing, and how we, in turn, shape place and community with our words.

Book signing follows in the Spoelhof Atrium

Speakers

Amanda Held Opelt

Amanda Held Opelt is a speaker, songwriter, and author of the books Holy Unhappiness and A Hole in the World, which was selected by Publisher's Weekly as one of the best books of 2022. Amanda spent 15 years serving in the non-profit and humanitarian aid sectors. She lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina with her husband and two young daughters... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
Gezon Auditorium

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

5:30pm EDT

Evening Plenary Session - The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World

Thursday April 16, 2026 5:30pm - 6:30pm EDT

Van Noord Arena

Robin Wall Kimmerer reflects on the ethic of reciprocity at the heart of Indigenous wisdom, using the serviceberry as a guide. She invites us to rethink value beyond scarcity and competition, imagining a way of living rooted in gratitude, interconnectedness, and mutual care.

Book signing follows in the Spoelhof Fieldhouse Lobby

Speakers

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants; Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of ... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 5:30pm - 6:30pm EDT
Van Noord Arena

Plenary Session

6:30pm EDT

Reception: The Art of Scott Erickson

Thursday April 16, 2026 6:30pm - 8:00pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Center Art Gallery

Thursday April 16, 2026 6:30pm - 8:00pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Center Art Gallery

Center Art Gallery

7:30pm EDT

Collegeville Institute

The Collegeville Institute is a place of scholarship, worship, dialogue, and community immersed in the Benedictine rhythm of work and prayer.

We invite you to explore our site, join the online conversations, subscribe to us, apply for a program, make a visit to Collegeville. Howev... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 7:30pm - 9:00pm EDT
Prince Conference Center, Board Room

8:00pm EDT

Film Screening: Leap of Faith

Thursday April 16, 2026 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Join us for a screening of Nicholas Ma’s film Leap of Faith followed by a moderated conversation with Ma and Michael Gulker of The Colossian Forum, exploring the film’s themes and the role of storytelling in nurturing dialogue, reflection, and shared understanding.
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Speakers

Nicholas Ma

Nicholas Ma is an award-winning director, writer, and producer based in Brooklyn, whose film work spans an eclectic array of topics: from botany to basketball to Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, on the life of Fred Rogers.

Most recently he wrote and directed Mabel (SFIFF, 2024) and d... Read More →

Thursday April 16, 2026 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

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