Sunday Morning Worship
Homecoming Sunday
September 20, 2026
11:00 AM
Preacher: Rev. Adriene Thorne
Sunday Morning Worship
Homecoming Sunday
September 20, 2026
11:00 AM
Preacher: Rev. Adriene Thorne
Ayana Mathis will discuss her novel, THE UNSETTLED (Knopf, 2023), which was the inaugural winner of McSweeney’s Gabe Hudson Prize. The book was named a New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book of 2023, a best of 2023 by The New Yorker, Publisher’s Weekly, an Oprah Daily Best Novels of 2023, and a Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2023. The New York Times calls it, “Poignant, heartbreaking,” while The Minneapolis Star Tribune describes it as, “An ardent, ambitious, and carefully stitched tapestry of a novel, one that deserves and rewards our attention.”
Ayana Mathis joined Riverside last year. She also studies at Union Theological Seminary in the M.Div. program, and has taught at Riverside.
About Author
Ayana Mathis is the author of THE TWELVE TRIBES OF HATTIE (Knopf, 2012) and THE UNSETTLED (Knopf, 2023), the inaugural winner of the McSweeney’s Gabe Hudson Prize. THE UNSETTLED was named a New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book of 2023 and recognized as a Best Book of 2023 by The New Yorker, Publisher’s Weekly, Oprah Daily, and Kirkus Reviews.
Mathis teaches in the MFA Program at Hunter College and is currently pursuing her Master of Divinity at Union Theological Seminary. She is also a 2025–26 Hodder Fellow at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts.
