Silas House
Silas House is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of ten books including his most recents, The Tulip Poplars (2026), All These Ghosts (2025), and Dead Man Blues (2025, as S.D. House). His honors include two Southern Book Prizes, the Duggins Prize, an EB White Award, and many others. He was a 2024 finalist for a Grammy and a 2018 longlist finalist for the Carnegie Award for Excellence in Fiction. House’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Time, The Washington Post, The Bitter Southerner, Garden and Gun, and many other publications. He is a former correspondent for NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’. He is an executive producer of the films Hillbilly (2028) and Willie and His Pigs (2026). House serves as the National Endowment for the Humanities Chair at Berea College.
Featured Book
The Tulip Poplars
Amos and Tom fall in love while working in the tobacco fields during the hot summers of the early 1900s, yet Tom cannot shake his strict religious upbringing nor the responsibilities of his family’s farm. His longtime friend Maeve also pines for a man she can’t have, lest she endanger his already tenuous life in a town and world shaped by racial lines.
The Tulip Poplars is a gorgeous and moving novel spanning most of the 20th century, centering on four people trying to find happiness in a world that demands conventional choices. Based on the story of an ancestor, House’s new novel takes us from NYC to Southern cities to Appalachia and will leave you with a bigger heart.
Meet Silas House and get a copy of their book at the 2026 Kentucky Book Festival, Saturday, November 7, 2026, at Joseph-Beth Booksellers.