New and Noteworthy Books from Festival Voices
Every two years, the Festival of Faith & Writing gathers readers and writers whose words remind us that stories can be sacred ground. Many of the Festival’s past speakers continue to offer books that illuminate the mysteries of belief and doubt in fresh and surprising ways.
From Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s luminous Dream Count to Leif Enger’s tender I Cheerfully Refuse, from children’s authors like Kate DiCamillo and Mitali Perkins to poets such as Luci Shaw and Scott Cairns, these works invite us to look again at the world and find meaning threaded through every shadow and joy.
Below, you’ll find a collection of recent and forthcoming titles by past Festival authors—poets, novelists, memoirists, and essayists—whose words continue to shape the conversation about what it means to live and create with faith, imagination, and courage. Whether you’re seeking quiet reflection, creative spark, or a good story well told, this list offers a place to begin.
Dream Count | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Black Star & J vs. K | Kwame Alexander
Once a Castle | Sarah Arthur
The Shapes are Real | Jill Peláez Baumgaertner
Rooted: A Spiritual Memoir of Homecoming | Christy Berghoef
Correspondence with My Greeks | Scott Cairns
Boxed Juice | Danielle Chapman
Extremely Yours | Susanna Childress
Good Soil | Jeff Chu
We’re Alone: Essays | Edwidge Danticat
Lost Evangeline & The Hotel Balzaar | Kate DiCamillo
Birds in the Sky & Fish in the Sea | Matthew Dickerson
I Cheerfully Refuse | Leif Enger
Piece | Diana Glancy
Consider the Birds | Jennifer Grant
A Little Bit Super | contributions from Nikki Grimes, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Daniel Nayeria, Linda Sue Park, Mitali Perkins, and Gary D. Schmidt
Awake | Jen Hatmaker
Unalone | Jessica Jacobs
The River is Waiting | Wally Lamb
Song So Wild and Blue | Paul Lisicky
Happier Far | Diane Mehta
Midwinter Light | Marilyn McEntyre
Here Comes the Sun | Bill McKibben
The Teacher of Nomad Land | Daniel Nayeri
Jella Lepman and Her Library of Dreams | Katherine Paterson
Just Making | Mitali Perkins
And She Was Loved | Andrea Davis Pinkney & Daniel Minter
You Have a Calling by Karen Swallow Prior
An Incremental Life | Luci Shaw
Show Don’t Tell | Curtis Sittenfeld
Believing Again: Stories of Leaving and Returning to Faith | Daniel Taylor
The Cost of Ambition | Miroslav Volf
A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker: 1925-2025 | edited by Kevin Young
