The Nantucket Book Festival Presents
At Home With Authors™
At a time like this, we need voices like these. The Nantucket Book Foundation & Festival presents memorable conversations and time-sensitive takeaways with our 2020 authors, and a growing roster of great writers.
Four Friends: Promising Lives Cut Short
One of those four faces is instantly recognizable. All were friends and classmates of William Cohan at Andover. In his latest book, Cohan has taken a break from exposing the inner workings of Wall Street, to explore the fragility of life.
Nancy Thayer: What Is A Normal Family?
During 30 minutes, with the author of more than 30 novels over 30 years, we arrive at Nancy Thayer's definition of romance, and a redefinition of the normal family. Keep watching for the surprise, unplanned appearance from the author's daughter, novelist Samantha Wilde.
Azar Nafisi: Books for Turbulent Times
The indomitable author of "Reading Lolita in Tehran" on the parallels between America and Iran; and the literature that empowers her to navigate the tumult, stay sane, and retain her humor.
Sarah Broom: The Yellow House
The winner of the 2019 National Book Award for Non-Fiction on how her mother instilled the power of words; on earning her nickname The Recorder; and on laughter.
Azar & Will: Intimate Strangers
Nantucket Book Festival alums Azar Nafisi and Will Schwalbe meet here for the first time. They began as strangers. Watch them become something more, through the power of books.
Gabriella Burnham's Debut Novel
"It Is Wood, It Is Stone" is about "a woman's reckoning with what it is that she desires from her life." Gabriella Burnham's own desire, to be a writer, was fueled by Nantucket High School lit teacher Anne Phaneuf. Here they are, together, in joy.
Tiny Takes
Too busy for a deep conversation with a great author? Sample them here, a minute at a time.
Skip Finley on Whaling Captains of Color: America's First Meritocracy
Oak Bluffs’ Skip Finley has the kind of obsessiveness you read about in whaling stories. He needed it to uncover this chapter in American history, which sheds new light on the meaning of merit.
Alice Hoffman: Remaining Humane in a Dark World
In 1992, a NY Times book reviewer wrote that Alice Hoffman makes us aware of the darkness, and helps us seek the light. That was 20 novels ago. We have a lot to talk about.
Muskeget's Man
A new book release during a pandemic is a colorful affair when the author is Crocker Snow Jr. We caught up with Crocker at Mitchell's Book Corner to talk about Muskeget: Raw, Restless, Relentless Island.