Pulitzer Prize winning author Rick Tulsky will sit down with Adam Nee, Executive Director of the Nantucket Book Foundation, for a gripping discussion on his newest work of investigative journalism, Injustice Town: A Corrupt City, a Wrongly Convicted Man, and a Struggle for Freedom. The two lawyers will discuss our criminal justice system, racism, and police corruption by focusing on this story of one man and showing us a vision of what a better future could be.
Liaquat Ahamed spent a career in finance as an investment advisor, knowledge that led to his prescient first book, Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, which won the Pulitzer Prize. His just released second book, 1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World, named a “Most Anticipated Book of 2026” by Literary Hub, reckons with the first truly global financial crisis that reverberated across history whose fault lines are still felt today. Liaquat will be joined in conversation with Michael Schulder, a former CNN Producer and founder of Wavemaker, a podcast where “curiosity meets hope”.
Please join us for the presentation of the Nantucket Book Foundation’s two student awards: the Young Writer Award, which celebrates and honors the work of our high school students who, through an essay competition, will accept their awards together as One Winner, Four Finalists (inspiration drawn from the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction), and the Tharon Dunn Scholarship Award, honoring longtime NBF board member Tharon Dunn by celebrating a graduating Nantucket High School senior passionate about literature and for whom English is not their first language. Internationally acclaimed New York Times bestselling author, Ruta Sepetys, will present.
John Vaillant’s Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World, was a 2024 Pulitzer Prize Finalist. Through vivid storytelling and meticulous research, Vaillant captures both the human drama and the environmental stakes of a rapidly warming planet. In this solo session, he will share the real-life events behind his book, the science and storytelling of extreme weather, and the urgent questions his work raises about our collective future. As an award-winning writer known for his immersive nonfiction that explores the powerful intersections of nature, humanity, and survival, this session will offer a deeply thoughtful examination of climate change and the escalating forces shaping our world.
Gather at Cisco Brewers on our final day of the Festival for great food, music, and conversation for readers and writers alike. Attendees may choose from delicious options for lunch, plus drinks by Cisco Brewers, Triple 8, and Nantucket Vineyards.
Shuttle available from the Visitors Services on Federal Street. No tickets required; pay for your own food and drinks.
