SPCK authors at St Andrews Literature Festival 2026

Books rarely come into the world fully formed. They begin in messy notebooks, voice notes, prayers, research, doubt, deadlines, bad drafts and, sometimes, a sentence appears while the washing-up water cools, as if it had been there all along, waiting for the writer to stop looking for it. Then comes the slower work of returning to the page: losing the thread, finding it again, and asking whether the words are honest enough to meet someone else where they are. From the very beginning, a book is being prepared for another pair of hands.

Once published, those words are no longer only the author’s. They go where readers go: into hospital rooms and train carriages, church halls and kitchens, lunch breaks, sleepless nights and private moments when someone reaches for words to steady them. A book may be underlined, argued with, prayed through, lent to a friend, or opened again when life has changed the reader enough to change the reading.

A literature festival brings that journey back into the room. It lets readers hear the voice behind the page: the pauses, humour, hesitation, and conviction that do not always fit inside a book. It offers a glimpse of what troubled the book into being, what kept the author returning to it, and the life behind the sentences. A private reading becomes something larger. A hand goes up, an author answers in their own voice, and something that began silently on the page suddenly becomes a conversation people can join.

This June, St Andrews Literature Festival returns for two days of talks and workshops on Christian books, faith and the life of the church. Taking place on 12–13 June 2026, it will bring readers, writers and church leaders into the same rooms, with books in bags, notes in margins and questions that may not have found their way into words yet. It is a chance to listen, ask honest questions, and think about faith in the middle of real life: tiredness, responsibility, unanswered prayers, and the quiet hope that God is still at work.

For SPCK, this is why books matter. They begin on the page, but they do not stay there. They help people bring Christian faith into conversation with the world they are living in: its doubts, pressures, hopes and daily demands.

We are delighted that this year’s speakers include SPCK authors John Lennox, Rachel Bearn, Rachael Newham, Les Moir, Patrick Regan and Emma Fowle. Our Editorial Director and author Lauren Windle will also be there, helping to guide the conversation.

At the heart of the weekend is a question many Christians are trying to live with, not just think about: How do we remain faithful, hopeful and fully human in a world that often treats being human as a problem to be solved?

The weekend will touch on big public questions, including AI, truth, trust and confidence in the gospel. It will also make room for quieter questions people carry with them, such as how to pray when words are hard to find, how to rest without guilt, how to remember we are beloved before we are useful, how to forgive, and how to keep noticing God in the middle of everything else.

In an age when so much reading, watching and listening happens alone, gathering in person matters. A room changes the way we hear things. A question sounds different when it is asked aloud. And when an author speaks about the life behind a book, the page can suddenly feel closer.

That is the quiet gift of a festival like this. It brings books back to the people who write them, read them, argue with them and carry them home.

St Andrews Literature Festival takes place on 12–13 June 2026. Expect talks, workshops, books to browse, authors to meet and conversations that carry on between sessions.

Whether you are attending the festival or simply curious to follow along, these books offer a way into the conversations taking place across the weekend. Some will be discussed directly in festival sessions, and authors will be there in person to speak about what sits behind their work.

You might want to read one before you go, bring a copy along, or come back to it afterwards because something from the session has stayed with you.

• God, AI and the End of History by John C. Lennox
• My Story by John C. Lennox
• Explore all books by John C. Lennox
• Drawing as Prayer by Lauren Windle
• A Year to Slow Down by Rachel Bearn
• Beloved Is Where We Begin by Rachael Newham
• All the Times You Were Not There by Emma Fowle
• Hallelujah! by Les Moir
• Brighter Days by Patrick Regan

Find out more and book tickets for St Andrews Literature Festival 2026 on their website.