St. Mark's Episcopal Church
Thursday, May 7
11:30 a.m. (Check-In opens at 11 a.m.)

315 Pecan Street
San Antonio 78205

The St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Bookstore will present novelist, screenwriter and essayist Stephen Harrigan in conversation with poet James R. Dennis. The event will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by a reception with light fare.

Dennis and Harrigan will discuss the author’s newest books, both published in 2025, “An Anchor in the Sea of Time: Essays” (UT Press) and “Sorrowful Mysteries: The Shepherd Children of Fatima and the Fate of the Twentieth Century” (Knopf). Esquire has chosen the latter as one of the 35 Best Books of the year.  

Harrigan, an incisive essayist and one of Texas Monthly’s early contributors, tackles in “An Anchor in the Sea of Time” what the publisher calls “the most personal, and yet most expansive, themes of all: identity, memory, and time itself.” His 14 books include the award-winning “The Gates of the Alamo;” “Big Wonderful Thing,” a 900-page history of Texas; and “Remember Ben Clayton.” “A Friend of Mr. Lincoln,” an historical novel, reimagines Lincoln’s early life.

James R. Dennis is a novelist, poet, and a Dominican friar. He co-wrote the Miles Arceneaux mystery series and frequently writes and teaches on spiritual matters. His second poetry collection, “Listening Devices,” won a 2023 International Book Award. His most recent collection, “Songs of Seven Days,” won the Best Book Award for contemporary poetry, the silver medal in the International Book Award for religious poetry, and the Independent Book Publisher’s Association “Ben Franklin” book award

Individual tickets are $60, and reserved pews for eight people are $500. Pews will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.

St. Mark’s Bookstore offers a well-stocked and curated collection of books inspired to “nurture the sacred imagination.” Limitless book titles are also available on its Bookshop portal, Bookshop.org. The bookstore is a ministry of St. Mark’s Church as well as an independent bookstore. It extends St. Mark’s mission statement of “Feeding San Antonio with the Bread of Life” and believes reading for spiritual growth is not just inspirational, but also formational as a way of shaping actions and identity as people of faith. It is open to all on Monday through Wednesday from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.; Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sundays from 8 a.m. through 10:45 a.m.

Download the event flyer