Patrick Ryan

The Nantucket Book Festival, run by the Nantucket Book Foundation, is back this June to celebrate its 15th anniversary with a can’t-miss weekend for literary lovers. Filled with author talks, panel discussions, and social events, the festival will take place June 11-14 primarily at Methodist Church with a special preview evening on June 10 to celebrate the festival’s crystal anniversary.

This year’s lineup is filled with authors across several genres including Ann Patchett (“Whistler”), Tayari Jones (“Kin”), Norah O’Donnell (“We the Women”), Belle Burden (“Strangers”), Patrick Ryan (“Buckeye”), and Laura Zigman (“The Author Weekend”).

Zigman has attended the Nantucket Book Festival twice before; however, this year is her first time presenting.

“You really feel like it’s run by people who love books and who are trying to build a community every summer that comes back for this,” Zigman said. “It’s just fun.”

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Adam Nee, the new executive director of the Nantucket Book Foundation, emphasized the foundation’s deep ties to the island community and its focus on making the festival accessible for all. One of the ways it accomplishes this is by making it completely free to attend.

“It’s a really well-run festival,” Nee said. “It’s free for all, and we take that very seriously so all of the fundraising that we’re doing is really to make sure this festival is open to the public and accessible.”

The Nantucket Book Foundation’s work isn’t just limited to the festival itself. As an organization, it helps bring visiting authors to local schools, funds scholarships, runs a Nantucket Book Mobile which brings free books to children on the island who may not have access, and more.

“What struck me was how much the Nantucket community is connected with this,” Nee said. “We really do have a community, and it’s a community that casual visitors to Nantucket might not see initially. This is a success story for all of Nantucket, not just the Book Foundation.”

Throughout the jam-packed weekend of author conversation, Nee hopes book lovers will be reminded why they love to read in the first place.

“You open a book, and you’re transported,” Nee said. “It’s just so powerful to hear what authors are thinking and what inspired them to create these works. So hopefully people who love reading, love books, and love the world that they step into when they open a book will be extra excited to hear from the people who created these worlds.”

Gitana Savage can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @gitana_savage.