2026 Festival of Faith and Writing: Full Schedule

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9:00am EDT

Shared Roots: Converging Faiths in Care for the Earth 

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

In conversation, Robin Wall Kimmerer and Kyle Meyaard-Schaap discuss how distinct spiritual traditions—Indigenous wisdom and Christian climate activism—meet in a common call to love, protect, and learn from the earth.

Book signing follows in the Spoelhof Atrium

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 →

Kyle Meyaard-Schaap

Rev. Kyle Meyaard-Schaap is the Executive Director of the Association for a More Just Society-US. His work has been featured in news outlets such as PBS, NPR, CNN, NBC News, the New York Times, and more. He was named a Yale Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis in 2020 and to the Grist 50 Fixers cohort in 2022 or for his work on climate change education and advocacy... Read More →

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

Concurrent Session, Conversation

10:30am EDT

Rewriting the Record: Literature, Memory, and the Histories We Inherit

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

Gezon Auditorium

In conversation, Laurie Halse Anderson and Ayana Mathis discuss how literature can illuminate, challenge, and reshape historical narratives—especially those marked by racial injustice.They explore storytelling as an act of truthtelling and repair, revealing how writers help readers reckon with the past while imagining more honest, humane futures. 

Book signing follows in the Spoelhof Atrium

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 →

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 →

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

Concurrent Session, Conversation

11:45am EDT

The Power of Parable: Personal Story-telling as a Tool for Advocacy in the Church

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

Gezon Auditorium

As a Palestinian Episcopal priest, deeply committed to a Church that fails her own people, Leyla King grapples with the impact such dissonance has on her faith and her vocation. From that space, she discusses the power of telling her own family's stories as parables that dismantle systemic and personal defensive structures of the Church to open ears, hearts, and minds.

Book signing follows in the Spoelhof Atrium

Speakers

Leyla K. King

Leyla K. King is a Palestinian-American Episcopal priest and author. She is a founding member of both Palestinian Anglicans and Clergy Allies (www.palestiniananglicans.org) and The Small Churches Big Impact Collective. She writes about her experiences as a Palestinian, a clergywo... Read More →

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

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

2:30pm EDT

A Conversation with Carrie Fountain

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

Gezon Auditorium

Join us in a conversation with Carrie Fountain, interviewed by Abram VanEngen.

Book signing follows in the Spoelhof Atrium

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 →

Abram VanEngen

Abram Van Engen is the Stanley Elkin Professor of the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis. His books include City on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism (2020) and Word Made Fresh: An Invitation to Poetry for the Church (2024), named Best Book of 2024 in Cul... Read More →

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

Concurrent Session, Interview

4:00pm EDT

Drawing Stories Together: Writers and Illustrators in Creative Partnership

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

Gezon Auditorium

In conversation, Aimee Reid and Larissa Theule discuss the collaborative art of creating children’s picture books, exploring how writers and illustrators bring a shared story to life. This conversation will touch on communication, trust, and the joyful surprises that emerge when visual and written imagination meet, shaping books that resonate with young readers and their grownups. 

Book signing follows in the Spoelhof Atrium

Speakers

Aimee Reid

Children's author Aimee Reid learned to read through frequent story times with the Beginner Books from Random House. She soon read her way through the books in her Kindergarten classroom and received entrance to the big school library. It was special to release her first picture book... Read More →

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 →

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

Concurrent Session, Conversation

9:00am EDT

10:30am EDT

11:45am EDT

2:30pm EDT

4:00pm EDT

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