On a small island, big stories connect us. That's the driving spirit of our annual book festival - gathering as neighbors and friends to meet authors, share ideas, and celebrate the power of the written word to shape lives.
Once upon an island, a few book lovers had a dream to bring authors, residents, and readers together around stories. In 2012, the Nantucket Book Festival began.
We started small - handing out fliers out of a local coffee shop, hoping the summer skies would hold. But people came that first year, then returned the next, bringing their friends along. Before long, this little festival found its wings.
Over the past decade, we've welcomed famous storytellers, highlighted local writers, and watched wide-eyed children meet characters who once lived solely in their imaginations. Each June, we watch stories come to life on Nantucket. And that's just the beginning of this tale...
The Nantucket Book Festival seeks to ignite the spark that turns young readers into book lovers. We want to bottle the wonderful feeling of falling into a story for the first time - when the world fades away, and you feel less alone in the universe.
As our nonprofit foundation runs literacy programs and author events year-round, we celebrate the enduring power of books to teach, transport, and connect us to each other. Our island is small, but the tales told here ripple outwards across the sea.
Join us at the festival and beyond! With every book we give to a child and every reader we welcome, we build community on Nantucket one story at a time.
