Award Winning Author Peter Godwin Inspires CFH Luncheon Crowd
On September 25, renowned author and journalist Peter Godwin opened up about the challenges and lessons learned following his mother’s death during his keynote address at the 2025 Center for HOPE Luncheon. The event was held at the Wee Burn Beach Club in Rowayton. Click here to view photos from Fairfield County LOOK.
Mixing humor with deeply personal stories, Godwin discussed his own journey with grief as outlined in his latest book, Exit Wounds: A Story of Love, Loss and Occasional Wars. Through his powerful method of storytelling, he encouraged the event’s audience of nearly 200 to approach grief by confronting pain, embracing healing and celebrating the enduring bonds of family and memory.
Godwin is the award-winning author of six nonfiction books, including Mukiwa, which received the George Orwell Prize and the Esquire-Apple-Waterstones Award, and When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, winner of the Borders Original Voices Award. His acclaimed work The Fear was named a best book of the year by The New Yorker. In addition to his literary accolades, Godwin has taught writing at Wesleyan and Columbia and previously served as President of PEN American Center.
The 2025 Center for HOPE Luncheon was co-chaired by Jen Hyde, Megan Kearney Enright and Meredith Pyne O'Brien. More than $150,000 was raised to support Center for HOPE and The Den for Grieving Kids, Family Centers’ programs offering counseling and support to residents of lower Fairfield County coping with a loss, a critical illness or life-altering circumstance.
| 
