2026 Festival of Faith and Writing: Full Schedule

2:30pm EDT

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

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

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

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

9:00am EDT

Shared Roots: Converging Faiths in Care for the Earth 

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

Gezon Auditorium

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

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

4:00pm EDT

Making and Meaning: The Creative Rhythm of Courage and Reflection

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

Chapel

In conversation, artist Scott Erickson and scholar Lanta Davis explore the essential interplay between creating and pausing, making and discerning, considering why creative work demands both bold action and thoughtful reflection–and how holding these modes together can deepen our art, our faith, and our capacity to see the world with clarity.

Book signing follows in the Chapel Narthex

Speakers

Lanta Davis

Lanta Davis writes and teaches about the sacramental imagination, beauty, and character formation. Her book, Becoming by Beholding: The Power of the Imagination in Spiritual Formation, was named one of Christianity Today's best books of the year, and her writing has also appeared... Read More →

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 →

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

Concurrent Session, Conversation

9:00am EDT

Forms of Joy and Witness: Poetry and Prose in Conversation

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

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Auditorium

In this conversation, Ross Gay and Patrick Rosal reflect on what they have learned from one another about play, collaboration, and attentiveness, both on and off the page.

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby 
(Please note: Ross Gay requests no photos, videos, or audio recordings at any time throughout his participation in the Festival.This includes before, during, and after sessions, at book signings, and in between events. Thank you for honoring this request.) 

Speakers

Ross Gay

Ross Gay is the author of four books of poetry: Against Which; Bringing the Shovel Down; Be Holding, winner of the PEN America Literary Jean Stein Award; and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry A... Read More →

Patrick Rosal

Patrick Rosal is the author of The Last Thing and has been published in The New York Times, The Nation, Best American Poetry and elsewhere. A Guggenheim and NEA Fellow, he is a Distinguished Professor at Rutgers-Camden. His mother and father immigrated from the Philippines and met in the U.S., while his father was still a Catholic priest and theologian in the Thomist tradition... Read More →

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

Concurrent Session, Conversation

9:00am EDT

Playing with Fire: Christian Poets Reflect on Faith and Practice

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

Gezon Auditorium

David Clark and L.S. Klatt discuss the publication journey of their new edited collection Playing with Fire: Christian Poets Reflect on Faith and Practice. In this session, they talk about the genesis of the project, the community of writers they cultivated in exploring what a Christian poetics might look like, and the special challenges and graces they encountered in putting together a theologically diverse collection of essays.

Book signing follows in the Spoelhof Atrium

Speakers

George David Clark

George David Clark is the author of Reveille (winner of the Miller Williams Poetry Prize, Arkansas) and Newly Not Eternal (LSU), and coeditor, with Lew Klatt, of Playing with Fire: Christian Poets Reflect on Faith and Practice. The editor-in-chief of 32 Poems, David teaches creative writing at Washington & Jefferson College... Read More →

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

Concurrent Session, Conversation

2:30pm EDT

Families We Know, Families We Imagine: Writing Identity for Young Readers

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

Covenant Fine Arts Center, Auditorium

Karina Yan Glaser and Jonathan Todd explore how stories for children can honor the richness of family and identity. In this conversation, they'll discuss crafting characters kids can see themselves in, portraying complex home lives with honesty and warmth, and creating narratives that help young readers feel recognized, included, and deeply at home.

Book signing follows in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Lobby

Speakers

Karina Yan Glaser

Karina Yan Glaser is the New York Times bestselling author of the Vanderbeeker series, the standalone middle grade novel A Duet for Home, the chapter book Poppy Song Bakes A Way (part of the multi-author series The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class), and the Newbery Honor-winning historical... Read More →

Jonathan Todd

Jonathan Todd is the author and illustrator of the semi-autobiographical graphic novel Timid (Scholastic/Graphix), which was inspired by his struggle to overcome shyness as a tween following his family's move from Miami to a Boston suburb in the 1980s. He is a recipient of a 2024 New England Book Award. For more information about Jonathan, including his author visits, visit... Read More →

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

Concurrent Session, Conversation

2:30pm EDT

Witnessing What’s There: Writing Attention in a Wounded World

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

Chapel

Daniel José Camacho and Alejandra Oliva explore writing as an act of paying attention—especially in places marked by structural suffering. In this conversation, they consider how faithful witnessing becomes a moral and spiritual practice, inviting writers to see clearly, name truthfully, and cultivate a gaze that honors both human dignity and the possibility of repair.

Book signing follows in the Chapel Narthex

Speakers

Daniel José Camacho

Daniel José Camacho is currently working on a book about Bartolomé de las Casas with Avid Reader Press. Previously an editor at Sojourners and Fortress Press, he won a Robert B. Silvers Foundation Grant for his essay "Saint Augustine's Slave Play," which became one of the top-t... Read More →

Alejandra Oliva

Alejandra Oliva is an essayist, embroiderer and translator. Her book, Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith and Migration, was published by Astra House, and received a Whiting Nonfiction Grant. She was the Yale Whitney Humanities Center Franke Visiting Fellow in Spring 2022... Read More →

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

Concurrent Session, Conversation

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

4:00pm EDT

Sacred Traces: Writing the Texture of Religious Experience

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

Chapel

In conversation, Aaliyah Bilal and Melody Gee explore how writers draw from lived religious experience—its rituals, questions, inheritances, and contradictions—to craft resonant stories.

Book signing follows in the Chapel Narthex

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 →

Melody S. Gee

Melody S. Gee is the author of We Carry Smoke and Paper: Essays on the Grief and Hope of Conversion (University of Iowa Press, October 2024) and three books of poetry. She is the recipient of Kundiman fellowships in poetry and fiction, a Sustainable Arts Foundation Award, and Artist Support Grants from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis... Read More →

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

Concurrent Session, Conversation

2:30pm EDT

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2:30pm EDT

4:00pm EDT

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10:30am EDT

4:00pm EDT

4:00pm EDT

9:00am EDT

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