Nantucket Book Festival Returns This Week With Margaret Atwood, Kwame Alexander, Erik Larson, And More

The Nantucket Book Festival returns this week, running from Thursday, June 13th through June 16th. The festival will feature a series of panel discussions, author readings, and social events, most of which are free.

This year's festival boasts a large slate of accomplished writers including two-time Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood, best known for her massively best-selling novel "The Handmaid’s Tale," along with New York Times bestselling authors Kwame Alexander and Erik Larson.

Atwood, who has also received significant attention for her poetry and political activism, will be joined in conversation by Indigo Books CEO Heather Reisman and Atwood’s longtime editor and publisher Louise Dennys at 6:30 p.m. on June 14th at the First Congregational Church.

Featured authors this year include New York Times bestseller Lara Love Hardin, award-winning historian Dr. Kerri Greenidge, long-time Nantucket resident and award-winning photographer Rob Benchley, and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist Safiya Sinclair

Nantucket Current Editor in Chief Jason Graziadei will be interviewing Gabrielle Burnham, a Nantucket High School class of 2005 graduate who received critical acclaim for her debut novel "It is Wood, It is Stone," on June 13th. Burnham, now based in Brooklyn, will be speaking about "Wait," her new coming-of-age novel set largely on Nantucket. The interview will be held at 4 p.m. at the Nantucket Atheneum and is free.

The Nantucket Book Festival is also highlighting local NHS students through the Nantucket Young Playwrights staged reading of plays written by local teens and the Young Writer Award presentation celebrating the winners of the festival’s annual high school essay contest. The award presentation will feature a conversation with the prolific bestselling young adult author Kwame Alexander.

One event, a special dinner at the White Elephant on the evening of June 14th, does require paid tickets. This event is a critical fundraiser for the festival and allows participants the chance to speak with many of the year’s authors.

To see the full slate of events and learn more about this year's authors, click here.