Kathryn Harrison is a New York Times bestselling author who has published novels, biographies, memoirs, travel memoirs, and essay collections, the most recent of which is a biography entitled Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured. Harrison reviews books for The New York Times Book Review and has been published in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, Vogue, O Magazine, and more.

John Keane is a professor of Politics at the University of Sydney and the director of the Sydney Democracy Network. He holds a doctorate and a master’s degree from the University of Toronto and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Adelaide. In addition to other research interests, Keane focuses on secularism, Islam, and Europe.

Jonathan Romain is a British Reform rabbi and commentator on ethical issues. He is the minister at Maidenhead Synagogue in Berkshire, England. He contributes to The Times of London, The Independent, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and The Jewish Chronicle, among others.

Abed Awad is an attorney and public speaker based in New Jersey and New York. He focuses on general civil litigation, including complex matrimonial law, commercial law, Islamic law and international law. Awad has an academic knowledge of shari’a and the laws of Arab countries. He holds a J.D. and a master’s degree in Near and Middle East Studies from the University of […]

Morgan Atkinson is a documentary filmmaker whose third film on the life of Thomas Merton, The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton, will be released later this year and will cover the last year of Merton’s life. Atkinson’s previous films, including Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton, have appeared on PBS nationwide. He […]

Kathleen Deignan is a Catholic nun, theologian, singer, composer and Merton scholar. Many of her compositions are based on the writings of Merton and are recorded by Schola Ministries in Washington, D.C. She has served on the board of directors of the International Thomas Merton Society.

Jonathan Montaldo is one of the foremost Thomas Merton scholars and interpreters of  his writings. Montaldo has served as associate director of the Merton Institute for Contemplative Living, director of a retreat center near Merton’s Abbey of Gethsemani and director of the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University. Montaldo is also editor of the 10-volume Bridges to Contemplative […]

Daniel P. Horan is the author of The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton and a columnist for America magazine, where he recently wrote an essay about why Merton still matters, especially to millennials. He blogs at Dating God. He is a Franciscan monk based in Boston.