By Sarah Ladd
Kentucky Lantern
September 1, 2026
Kentucky leaders and writers, in a chorus of grief over the death of Wendell Berry, called the writer and farmer a “literary giant,” “revolutionary” and a “Kentuckian of the highest order.”
The news broke late Monday that Berry died at 92. He was a farmer, author of dozens of books, former English professor and defender of land.
Silas House, a bestselling Kentucky author of “A Parchment of Leaves” and many other books, shared a photo on social media Monday night with Berry and a dog named Liz.
“Wendell Berry has passed. Another great light gone out,” House, former poet laureate of Kentucky, wrote. “There are so many ways he influenced me but most of all what I keep thinking is that he was so good to me. Generous with his time and words. Complex. Brilliant. Revolutionary.”
Kentucky writer, farmer and advocate Wendell Berry dies at 92
Barbara Kingsolver, a bestselling author of “The Poisonwood Bible” and many other books, wrote on Instagram Monday night that Berry was a “prophet, good farmer, gentle literary giant, Kentuckian of the finest order and friend to all that is good.”
Berry was “the mentor who surely meant more to me than any other,” Kingsolver wrote. “All I can do with my grief tonight is go to my shelves and put my hands on his books. Our world will go on needing him, and the words will be here, even as his soul rests with the day blind stars.”
Joyce Carol Oates, bestselling American author of “Zero-Sum” and many other works, called Berry “a wonderful writer.”
“Long before it became a more familiar subject Wendell Berry was conscious of the endangered natural environment; indeed, Berry helped to raise this consciousness in the American tradition of Thoreau & Emerson in his idealism & reverence for life,” Oates wrote on social media.
The Kentucky Arts Council shared that it’s “both saddened by the passing of Wendell Berry, one of our greatest literary artists, and celebrating a Kentuckian who truly understood that ‘art is a way.’”
“He used his gift to exalt what matters most: the land from which we come, the food that blesses us, and the people who steward both,” the council wrote on social media.
Gov. Andy Beshear wrote on social media that Berry was a “a literary giant and a great Kentuckian.”
He added: “His writing reminded us to live simply and to love our neighbors.”
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said Berry “captured the way so many of us feel about Kentucky.”
“I keep coming back to his stories about love of place and caring for our neighbors,” Coleman wrote on social media.
Republican Sen. Aaron Reed, whose district includes Berry’s hometown, said Henry County “was more than Wendell Berry’s home. It was the ground beneath much of his writing about land, honest work, family and community.”
“He lived a long, consequential life,” Reed said in a statement, “and his work and words will endure.”
This story may be updated.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Linda Blackford for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.
