Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. Bishop | Archdiocese of Louisville

Trappist Brother Paul Quenon, a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani near Bardstown, Kentucky, will be one of the presenters at the 43rd Kentucky Book Festival on November 2 at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington, Kentucky.

Brother Quenon will join his long-time publisher, Jon M. Sweeney, and author Fenton Johnson in a discussion of his latest book, a memoir entitled “A Matter of the Heart: A Monk’s Journal” at 11:15 a.m.

Brother Quenon has been a monk at the abbey for five decades. He entered the monastery at age 17 and was a novice under Thomas Merton — the renowned Trappist monk who lived and wrote from the abbey — and has taught and lived in a monastery in Nigeria.

His new book “mingles meditations, insights and wanderings with Quenon’s experiences in nature and community. He offers sketches of monastic life—saintly, comical and poetic moments in a multi-colored, diverse and surprising memoir of life inside the enclosure,” according to an announcement from the festival.

“A Matter of the Heart” will be available for purchase, and he will be available for signings for a limited time that day. The award-winning writer has also published 10 books of poetry.

Fenton Johnson was recently inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame and Jon Sweeney is an award-winning author of books on spirituality, mysticism, and religion. The presentation is free, but seating is limited. For more information, visit https://kybookfestival.org/2024-2/.