01 — About
I follow religion into its strangest, most human corners.
“Friend of saints and weirdos.”
—Eliza Griswold,
author of Circle of Hope
Education
PhD in Literature, Duke University
Origin
Born in Flint, Michigan
Work
Author of eight books on religion and life of faith
Amy Frykholm is a writer whose work traces the contours of religious life — from the apocalyptic imagination of Rapture Culture to the desert spirituality of Wild Woman.
Born in Flint, Michigan, she holds a PhD in Literature from Duke University.
For two decades she reported on faith in America and beyond, exploring outposts of inspiration, oddity, and and spiritual inquiry. In her scholarship she has reappraised overlooked women of Christian tradition: from the ancient desert saint Mary of Egypt to the medieval mystic Julian of Norwich.
Her recent books turn toward fiction and contemplative practice: the novel High Hawk (long listed for the PEN/Hemingway Award) and Journey to the Wild Heart.
The Work
Two decades of asking where belief takes us and what it means: from the rapture to desert saints, from purity culture to contemplative life.
Eight books · Fiction & nonfiction · PhD, Duke University
03 — Translations
Carrying voices across languages.
The entries below are placeholders — add Amy’s translation work here.
[ Sophronius ]
·
[ Patristic Greek ]
·
[ 7th century ]
02 — Books
Translation
·
2026
Julian of Norwich A Revelation of Divine Love
A translation from the original Middle English
Read more
Contemplative
·
2025
Journey to the Wild Heart
Four invitations into a contemplative way of living — attention, silence, longing, and love.
Read more
Novel
·
2024
High Hawk
Frykholm's debut novel, moving between the seen and unseen in a small mountain town.
Read more
Memoir
·
2021
Wild Woman
A footnote, the desert, and a quest across archives and landscapes for an elusive early Christian saint.
Read more
History
·
2021
The Hour of Light
Amy Frykholm’s debut book of poems is imagined as a dialogue between biblical figures Ruth and Elijah: spare, contemplative, and searching. Centered in silence, it resonates in its earthy exploration of ancient sources.
Read more
Nonfiction
·
2011
See Me Naked
Nine intimate portraits of Americans living in the distance between their bodies and their faith.
Read more
Biography
·
2010
Julian of Norwich
A contemplative life of the medieval anchoress who wrote the first book in English known to be by a woman.
Read more
Nonfiction
·
2004
Rapture Culture
Inside the Left Behind phenomenon and the apocalyptic imagination of American evangelicalism.
Read more
04 — Journalism
Essays, interviews, and reporting on the life of faith.
Here are a few of them:
2025
[ The Missing Head of Pancho Villa ]
[ The Christian Century ]
2024
[ The Slow Work of Dialogue: Shi’a-Mennonite Dialogue in Iran ]
[ The Christian Century ]
2024
[ The Architecture of Care in Calais: The Maria Skobtsova Refugee House ]
[ The Christian Century ]
2023
[ Julian of Norwich: Theologian ]
[ The Christian Century ]
2022-2024
IN SEARCH OF
[ A Podcast ]
Newsletter
Occasional letters on new writing, books as they arrive, and the contemplative life. No noise.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.