2026 Festival of Faith and Writing: Full Schedule

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9:00am EDT

Grace Notes: Tiny Moments that Make Our Stories Sing

Saturday April 18, 2026 9:00am - 9:45am EDT

Using several examples across the modern landscape of literary fiction, Bilal explores the power of the instant in storytelling, attuning us to the littlest details that add sparkle, beauty and meaning to the works we love. 

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby

Speakers

Aaliyah Bilal

Aaliyah Bilal is a fiction and nonfiction writer who focuses on the Black American Muslim experience and stories that connect Chinese and Afro-Diasporic peoples. She has experience as a director and producer of short films and she has published stories and essays with The Michiga... Read More →

Saturday April 18, 2026 9:00am - 9:45am EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

10:30am EDT

Writer Websites That Dazzle Publishers

Saturday April 18, 2026 10:30am - 11:15am EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

When an agent or publisher receives your pitch, you know what they do? They Google you! Today your writer website is your business card and there is a degree to which it legitimizes you as a professional communicator. Your site can be simple, but it does need to be doing its job. Impress gatekeepers by offering a site that gives them every reason to say “yes.” 

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby

Speakers

Margot Starbuck

Margot is a New York Times bestselling writer who’s written over 50 books and works with publishers as a writer, editor, and coach. She specializes in helping nonfiction writers get published by equipping them to dazzle gatekeepers. As a collaborator, Margot enjoys writing alongside... Read More →

Saturday April 18, 2026 10:30am - 11:15am EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Concurrent Session, Solo Session

11:45am EDT

From Manuscript to Marketplace

Saturday April 18, 2026 11:45am - 12:30pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

In this session, marketing professionals discuss how books find their readers in a crowded landscape, exploring strategies, trends, and challenges unique to faith-related publishing. This panel offers practical insight into audience engagement, platform building, and the creative collaboration that helps bring books into the world.

Speakers

Alexis DeWeese

Alexis De Weese is a writer, digital marketer, and student of theology. Her work is devoted to creating space for necessary conversations within the Church and helping others cultivate practices of digital hospitality.

As senior marketing manager with Zondervan Reflective, an... Read More →

Pete Ford

Pete Ford is a stay-at-home dad as well as a digital marketer for Christian authors, publishers, and nonprofits. By night, he is a reader, focusing on topics including nonviolence, time, the built environment, and spiritual practices like Sabbath.

Jeremy Wells

Jeremy Wells serves as Senior Marketing Director for Baker Academic & Brazos Press, where he brings
two decades of publishing experience to connecting readers with transformative books. He also works as a
part-time bookseller at Plumfield Books in Ada, Michigan, keeping him grounde... Read More →

Saturday April 18, 2026 11:45am - 12:30pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Concurrent Session, Panel Session

2:30pm EDT

A Conversation with Sarah Perry

Saturday April 18, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

A Conversation with Sarah Perry, interviewed by Jennifer L. Holberg, CCFW Director.

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 →

Saturday April 18, 2026 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Concurrent Session, Interview

4:00pm EDT

Place and Landscape as Character

Saturday April 18, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

In conversation, A. Muia, Christine Byl, and Eli Cranor explore how landscape shapes story—becoming not just backdrop but an active, breathing presence. They consider writing rooted in place, the ethics of depicting land and community, and how attentive engagement with the physical world deepens narrative voice, character, and meaning.

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 →

Eli Cranor

Nationally-bestselling, Edgar Award-winning author, Eli Cranor played quarterback at every level: peewee to professional. These days, he serves as the Writer in Residence at Arkansas Tech, where he also lends his expertise to the university's football team. His previous works include... Read More →

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 →

Saturday April 18, 2026 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
Covenant Fine Arts Center, Recital Hall

Concurrent Session, Conversation

9:00am EDT

10:30am EDT

11:45am EDT

2:30pm EDT

4:00pm EDT

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