On Faith and Freedom of Thought

Marilynne Robinson’s speech for the 2026 Jon Fosse Lecture, delivered at the Norwegian Royal Palace.

In a time of fragmentation and a constantly narrowing public discourse, Marilynne Robinson looks to writers and thinkers of the past in search of what we have lost along the way. In the work of Edgar Allan Poe, John Calvin, and others, Robinson finds a forgotten humanism, one that unifies faith, metaphysics, and freedom of thought. These rich veins contrast with the restricted modern understanding of what a human being is and can be.

Nevertheless, our creativity, along with the free space offered by literature, gives us reason for hope. This essay is a powerful exhortation to rediscover our spiritual and human obligations.

On Faith and Freedom of Thought is the written edition of the 2026 Jon Fosse Lecture, a second in this series of lectures on literature and art—named in honor of the Norwegian laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature.