2026 Festival of Faith and Writing: Full Schedule

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9:00am EDT

Seen & Heard: Character, Authenticity and Connection

Friday April 17, 2026 9:00am - 9:45am EDT

In her novel Lookout and memoir Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods, Christine Byl centers deeply emplaced, complex characters while resisting stereotypes. In this session, Byl discusses reading and writing nuanced portrayals of complicated people, families and communities, and how stories can both polarize and connect.

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby

Speakers

Christine Byl

Christine Byl is the author of the novel Lookout, short-listed for the Center for Fiction's 2023 First Novel prize and recipient of a Montana Book Award Honor, and Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods, shortlisted for the 2014 Willa Award in nonfiction. Christine has worked as a professional trail-builder for nearly three decades. She lives in Interior Alaska on the homelands of Dene' people... Read More →

Friday April 17, 2026 9:00am - 9:45am EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

10:30am EDT

Close Enough to See, Far Enough to Tell

Friday April 17, 2026 10:30am - 11:15am EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Eliza Griswold reflects on the craft and responsibility of immersive journalism, considering the delicate balance between getting close to a story and maintaining clear-eyed perspective. She explores how writers navigate trust, truth, and the moral stakes of bearing witness in complex human situations.

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby 

Speakers

Eliza Griswold

A celebrated author, poet, and New Yorker reporter covering religion, politics, and the environment, Griswold is the author of Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church, a finalist for the National Book Award, and Amity and Prosperity: One Fa... Read More →

Friday April 17, 2026 10:30am - 11:15am EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

11:45am EDT

Spell, Ceremony, Miracle: The Literacy Narrative of a Lapsed Catholic

Friday April 17, 2026 11:45am - 12:30pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Kiki Petrosino's poems and essays trace the story of her own literacy across complex terrains of text and memory. In this discussion, she talks about how her grief, following her grandfather's suicide, was shaped by her literary explorations of Shakespeare and Dante as well as by the ceremonies of her childhood Catholic faith.

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby

Speakers

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 →

Friday April 17, 2026 11:45am - 12:30pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

2:30pm EDT

Talking To Strangers: How To Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers, and Even Get The Reluctant Haters To Tell You Something Useful

Friday April 17, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Since we have so many ways to separate us from one another, the art of the interview has become more important than ever. Dean Nelson has been asking questions as a journalist and as host of the annual Writer's Symposium By The Sea for more than 30 years. In this session, Nelson shows you how to engage others at a deeper and more profound level. It's more than serendipity and intuition. It's a skill you can learn. 

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby

Speakers

Dean Nelson

Dean Nelson is the founder and director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, and the founder and host of the annual Writer's Symposium By The Sea, where he has interviewed great writers for more than 30 years. His most recent books are Talking... Read More →

Friday April 17, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

4:00pm EDT

How to Write Good

Friday April 17, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Sarah Perry reflects on how her work has considered theological and philosophical ideas of personal and collective moral responsibility, the influence of her strict Calvinist upbringing, whether a writer has an ethical duty to their readers, and to what extent artistic excellence might be considered a moral virtue.

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby 

Speakers

Sarah Perry

Sarah Perry is the internationally best selling author of the novels Melmouth, The Essex Serpent, After Me Comes the Flood, and Enlightenment, and the nonfiction Essex Girls.

Her essays have been widely published, and she has contributed to the Guardian, the New York Times, the ... Read More →

Friday April 17, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

2026 Festival of Faith and Writing

9:00am EDT

Christine Byl

10:30am EDT

Eliza Griswold

11:45am EDT

Kiki Petrosino

2:30pm EDT

Dean Nelson

4:00pm EDT

Sarah Perry

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