In this interview, Aaron Lee sits down with Sam D. Kim to discuss the 2025 BookLife Prize that his book, A Holy Haunting, received. They talk about the journey to this moment, and how his book speaks into our cultural moment.
Transcript
Aaron Lee:
Hi everyone, this is Aaron for SOLA Network, and I am here today again with Sam D. Kim. Sam, congratulations. You won an award — your book won an award. We won an award? I don’t know. You won an award for the Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize, and that was for your book A Holy Haunting. Congratulations — this is huge. Can you kind of explain to us what this award means to you, maybe what it means for your book and how it came about?
Sam D. Kim:
I think it’s a win for all of us — for the Church, for the Kingdom of God. You know, it’s odd because I was telling my wife there’s no way I could win the grand prize. I was a finalist. I had some friends that made it to the semi-finals. There are multiple rounds in the Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize. There are two — one for fiction and one for nonfiction.
I was telling my wife the finalists in the memoir section and the psychology/self-help section — they were endorsed by Mel Robbins and Oprah. I was like, there’s no way I could win because it’s really out there. They’re prolific books — starred reviews in Kirkus and profound endorsements.
I might have Lee Strobel and Craig Keener on mine, but these are like elite of the elite in the secular world. So my wife is like, “No, you’re going to win because God’s on it.” I’m like, “I don’t think so.” I had no faith.
And because Publishers Weekly is sort of a big deal in the publishing world — it’s the greatest, sort of the most credible professional organization for books — having a feature or a profile in their magazine and them pushing your book really shows the book world how much it matters. It just really brings eyeballs to the book.
So that grand prize, especially because it was the first time a spiritual book ever won — I think in the last 20 years or so — the first time ever. It just brings conversations to the table.
How many people are interested in this spiritual vacuum today in culture? They’re very hungry and haunted by something more transcending, meaningful, and beautiful.
Aaron:
I read that quote from you in the article that kind of announced this, and I thought it was really insightful about why you thought your book took the prize. Let me read the quote here. It says: “I believe I won primarily due to the significant spiritual and moral vacuum in our culture today.” So yeah, I really want you to elaborate — the spiritual and moral vacuum.
Sam:
I think that when things are precarious and when institutions and public trust — societal trust — is at an all-time low, sort of like 9/11, when the world seems out of control, we can go to theory, psychology, research and all that. But in the end, you want something to hold on to.
And I think that the well — you know, in the longest — is God. I mean, you go back to the well where the water is, you know? And people are thirsty. People are hungry for guidance about what’s going on.
And that instability, I think, creates a vacuum and an opportunity for the gospel to speak its bold, ancient wisdom.
Aaron:
I think your book is very personal, but I think it also shows — kind of like — it speaks to the moment. I think this kind of uncertain moment maybe that one might be living in. There’s another quote that you put in there too, and this is what kind of caught my attention probably more. You said: “I have carefully avoided commercializing the gospel.” Okay, now this was significant to me because I read a lot of books. I’m pretty sure I know what you mean by commercializing the gospel, but I want to hear it from your own words. And I want to hear why you think that’s kind of important.
Sam:
Yeah, because you know, I think Gen Z — particularly the next generation — knows when they’re being sold to. And spirituality, a lot of times, is a product.
And all authors know you have to sell your books. And so this over — you know, sort of infomercial for Christian products — I mean, of course you have to write based on needs, societal needs, and things like that to hit the heart where people are at.
But I think that there is, in a sense, something missing — an authenticity, a sincerity missing in the conversation in that book space.
So I didn’t want to commercialize, sort of. And I was inspired actually by G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis — this sort of observation on how Lewis became a Christian through his writing.
C.S. Lewis said that what he loved about G.K. Chesterton was his cheerfulness, his subtlety, and how his good nature spoke about things. Lewis was able to see the substance — the goodness of God behind it — and he was drawn to Chesterton.
I think that God — you know — we don’t have to put makeup on or edit, Photoshop God. He is beautiful and magnificent as He is. And the gospel is the same.
I feel like we have to just give people God — the presence of God and the beauty of God — as is.
Aaron:
You also wrote: incorporate some lighthearted self-deprecation in writing. So is it fair to say that we don’t want to — what did you say — we don’t want to brand God, I guess, in a certain way? In the same way, you didn’t sugarcoat yourself either, right? So is that a fair thing to say? You didn’t want to commercialize the gospel, but you also didn’t want to hide your true self either, in that sense. Is that correct?
Sam:
Yeah, you hit it right on the money. Right on the nail.
I mean, I think it also hit home for people searching and doubting their faith — deconstructing. You know, people are not just deconstructing their faith; they’re deconstructing reality now because of instability.
And I think that, on one hand, when you’re vulnerable and you come with a sense of epistemic humility — how you know anything about anything at all — and you’re sincere about your doubts to people, I think they listen because they have the same kind of feelings.
And I felt like me sharing my struggles and being honest — my doubts, my crisis — really opened up people to the conversation.
Aaron:
I think that was — having read your book — I think that was probably maybe one of my biggest takeaways from it: that this book is just so honest about what it means to be a Christian, to struggle in faith, to find God — however you want to phrase that. And I think that even for some Christians today, it’s just very matter-of-fact. And there’s no nuance there. I want to go off script a little bit. What advice would you give to maybe church leaders, pastors, preachers, in incorporating that — while still being able to say, this is the Word of God? How do you do that?
Sam:
Well, I think that I don’t think you need to sugarcoat it at all. I mean, if you look at the motif of the New Testament, Christianity begins with incessant doubt on the day of the resurrection.
All the eyewitnesses doubt the resurrection on the first day. It’s like a tradition of the Church — because it was unbelievable. But they didn’t sugarcoat their doubt, and the New Testament writers 70 years later didn’t lie about it — because it was the truth.
It’s almost crazy what happened. And I think whether you’re full of faith or full of doubt or somewhere in between, the story of Christianity is our story — everyone’s story — because it starts with doubt.
And Easter is everyone’s story as a result.
I would say the culture right now feels a suspicion about the Church, because so many leaders are falling from this marketing, commercialized kind of point of view — looking like perfect people. But then movements are collapsing. Major megachurches are collapsing, especially because of the leaders’ duplicity.
And so it doesn’t match up. And so I think the next generation can smell that — when something is unauthentic, or a person is unauthentic.
So I think that it’s just better off to do what the Bible sort of models in the very beginning — and share Peter. Peter didn’t have to share that he denied Jesus three times and struggled in many different parts of his story. But he said, “No.” He said, “Mark, keep it in there.” You know? “Luke, keep it in there,” because this story is about Jesus being the hero of the story.
So there shouldn’t be any ambiguity to pastors about who the hero is. You’re not the hero.
And if you don’t know the script of dramas and novels right now — the mentor can never be the hero, or no one is interested. The character is the audience. The hero is the audience. And we’re the mentor.
Aaron:
Sam, does it mean anything for you to be an Asian American, having received this award, having maybe — yeah — shared your personal story out there? Does that mean anything to you?
Sam:
I mean, clearly. I mean, positionality matters. And I think I’m the first Asian American to win the award — in spirituality.
I think it matters a lot, because it just shows that our stories transcend cultures and boundaries and connect. The struggle bus is real for everyone.
But that expression of being Asian American or Asian — I think it’s pretty special too, because it shows how much more we have in common than that we’re different, you know?
So I think that that’s particularly important in this cultural moment — that that speaks.
Aaron:
Yeah. And amen, dude — the gospel is good news for Asian Americans, for Christians, for the world. I’m so thankful for you, and congrats again on your win. This is huge.
Sam:
I know. I appreciate it. Thank you so much for the support from day one — and your very positive review really helped.
Aaron:
Thanks, Sam.