Nantucket Book Festival

Join us for the Nantucket Book Festival Discover A Weekend Of Literary Wonder.

The Nantucket Book Festival is an annual celebration of the literary arts that brings together authors, book lovers, and storytellers. For one exciting weekend each June, the island of Nantucket transforms into a book lover's paradise, featuring a captivating lineup of author readings, panel discussions, writing workshops, and book signings..

Festival Schedule

Saturday, June 15

Nancy Thayer with Meg Ruley

9:00AM - 9:45AM, Methodist Church

Rise and shine with New York Times best-selling author Nancy Thayer in conversation with her agent, friend and island native Meg Ruley. The two will discuss all of Nancy's beloved Nantucket books and literary career with special emphasis on her newest novel about two Nantucket sisters, The Summer We Started Over.

Manni & Reuben Coe with Nathan Coe

10:00AM - 10:45AM, Methodist Church‍

Join brothers Reuben, Manni and Nantucket’s own Nathan Coe for a very special conversation about Manni and Reuben’s book brother.do.you.love.me. The book contains Manni’s tender words and Reuben’s powerful illustrations which share their story of brotherly love and care after Reuben’s life in an adult care center in Europe left him nonverbal and depressed. This family affair is guaranteed to tug on your heartstrings.

Kwame Alexander

11:00AM - 11:45AM, Methodist Church

Poet, educator, publisher, Emmy® Award-winning producer, and #1 New York Times bestselling author of 40 books, Kwame Alexander will be speaking at the Methodist Church about his moving memoir, Why Fathers Cry at Night, which Publisher’s Weekly says, “finds poetry in places both ordinary and extraordinary.” Kwame was a 2023 Nantucket Book Foundation Visiting Author in Schools, and his visit left a lasting impression on island students and teachers. Join Kwame as he shares stories from his memoir and his award-winning writing career.

LUNCH

Adrienne Brodeur with Mary Bergman

‍1:00PM - 1:45PM, Methodist Church‍

Adrienne Brodeur will delve into complicated people and the natural world they inhabit with deep emotional intelligence by discussing the writing and inspiration behind her best-selling memoir, Wild Game, which was selected as a Best Book of the Year by NPR, and her novel, Little Monsters with co-chair of our Literary Committee, Mary Bergman.

Kerri Greenidge with Kaley Kokomoor

2:00PM - 2:45PM, Methodist Church‍

Dr. Kerri Greenidge is Mellon Associate Professor in the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts University, where she also co-directs the African American Trail Project. Her most recent book, The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in An American Family, is a counter narrative to historical accounts of the famous abolitionist Grimke sisters which finally acknowledges the black members of that family. The Grimkes was recently listed as a best book of the year by The New York Times and was the 2023 semi-finalist for the Stone Book Award from the Museum of African American History in Boston/Nantucket. Dr. Greenidge will be in conversation with Nantucket Book Foundation Executive Director, Kaley Kokomoor, as they discuss her research of the entire Grimke family and their often conflicting contributions to freedom and equality in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

Lara Love Hardin with Tim Ehrenberg

3:00PM - 3:45PM, Methodist Church‍

Lara Love Hardin is the author of The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing (the Spring 2024 Oprah's Book Club Selection). Join Lara and Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books, as they discuss her heartbreaking journey from shame to redemption. Oprah says, "Once you start reading, be prepared, because you won't want to stop!" It's a conversation and stranger-than-fiction true story you won't want to miss.

Bill Janovitz with Donick Cary

4:00PM - 4:45PM, Methodist Church‍

Join writer, producer, and director Donick Cary and go behind the scenes with one of the best storytellers in the music business. Bill Janovitz’s (of alt-rock band Buffalo Tom) recent work, Leon Russell, is the definitive biography on one of rock’s most underappreciated icons.

Saturday Celebration!

7:30PM - 9PM, Dreamland Main Theater

Join us for a special conversation with Kwame Alexander and Safiya Sinclair; poets who have brought the grace and beauty of language into their work in writing. These two critically acclaimed writers are redefining contemporary literature with dynamic and innovative voices that are reshaping how to tell the stories of the narrative of our lives and how their personal journeys have led to creating change in the world. As Kwame reminds us, that change happens “one word at a time”.

Our evening begins with the presentation of the Nantucket Book Foundation’s YOUNG WRITER AWARD, which celebrates and honors the work and vision of our high school students who, through an essay competition, stand with us tonight to accept their award together as One Winner, Four Finalists, “First Among Equals”, inspiration drawn from the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Click here for register

Date: June 13 - 16, 2024