Nonfiction Presenters

More presenters will be added in the weeks to come.
The detailed session schedule will be available in late August.

 

Nonfiction Presenters

 
 

Burkhard Bilger

Burkhard Bilger has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2001. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, Harper’s, and The New York Times, among other publications, and has been anthologized ten times in the Best American series. Bilger has received fellowships from Yale University, MacDowell, and the Cullman Center at the New York Public Library. His first book, Noodling for Flatheads, was a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Jennifer Nelson.

Photo Credit: Beowulf Sheehan

www.newyorker.com/contributors/burkhard-bilger

In Fatherland, Burkhard Bilger sifts through his German grandfather’s confounding identities — teacher, soldier, party chief, traitor.

 

Michael Finkel

Michael Finkel is the best-selling author of The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit and True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Photo Credit: Doug Lineman

www.michaelfinkel.com

One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first century: the story of the world’s most prolific art thief, Stéphane Breitwieser. In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, the best-selling author of The Stranger in the Woods brings us into Breitwieser’s strange world—unlike most thieves, he never stole for money, keeping all his treasures in a single room where he could admire them.

 

Finn Murphy

Finn Murphy is the author of The Long Haul, a national bestseller about his many years as a long-haul trucker. His new book is Rocky Mountain High. He grew up in Connecticut and now lives in Colorado.

Photo Credit: Jack Greene Photography

www.finnmurphy.net

The best-selling author of The Long Haul returns with the story of ditching his truck to seek his fortune … in hemp.

 

Unfortunately, Rebecca Nagle is no longer able to attend the 2023 Festival.

 

Rebecca Nagle

Rebecca Nagle (Good Hart Writer in Residence) is an award winning journalist and citizen of Cherokee Nation. She is the writer and host of the podcast This Land. Her writing on Native representation, federal Indian law, and tribal sovereignty has been featured in The Atlantic, the Washington Post, The Guardian, USA Today, Indian Country Today, and more. Rebecca Nagle is the recipient of the American Mosaic Journalism Prize, Women’s Media Center’s Exceptional Journalism Award, a Peabody Nominee, and numerous awards from the Native American Journalist Association. Nagle lives in Tahlequah, OK, where she also works on language revitalization.

Indigenous communities deserve the same standard of journalism as the rest of the country, but rarely receive it from non-Native media outlets. Nagle‘s journalism seeks to correct this. From the census, to COVID, to the Supreme Court, Nagle focuses on deeply and timely reporting that sheds light on issues of national importance.

www.goodhartartistresidency.org
 

Alex Prud’homme

Alex Prud’homme is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and other publications. He is the coauthor of Julia Child's memoir, My Life in France, and has authored or coauthored The French Chef in America, France is a Feast, Born Hungry, The Ripple Effect, Hydrofracking, The Cell Game, and Forewarned. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.

Photo Credit: Michael Lionstar

www.alexprudhomme.com

A wonderfully entertaining, often surprising history of presidential taste, from the grim meals eaten by Washington and his starving troops at Valley Forge to Trump’s fast-food burgers and Biden’s ice cream—what they ate, why they ate it, and what it tells us about the state of the nation—from the coauthor of Julia Child’s best-selling memoir My Life in France.

 

Sarah Ruhl

Sarah Ruhl is a playwright, essayist and poet. Her plays include In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, The Clean House, Passion Play, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Melancholy Play; For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, The Oldest Boy, Stage Kiss, Dear Elizabeth, Eurydice, Orlando, Late: a cowboy song, and a translation of Three Sisters. She has been a two-time Pulitzer prize finalist and a Tony award nominee. Her plays have been produced on and off-Broadway, around the country, and internationally where they have been translated into over fifteen languages. Most recently a play adaptation of her book, Letters From Max, premiered at Signature Theatre. Originally from Chicago, Ms. Ruhl received her M.F.A. from Brown University where she studied with Paula Vogel. She has received the Steinberg award, the Sam French award, the Susan Smith Blackburn award, the Whiting award, the Lily Award, a PEN award for mid-career playwrights, and the MacArthur award. Her two books of poetry are published by Copper Canyon Press, and her collaboration with poet Max Ritvo, Letters from Max, was published by Milkweed. Her book 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write was a Times notable book of the year, and she most recently published Smile: A Memoir which was listed by Time magazine as a must read book of 2021. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama, and she lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Photo Credit: Gregory Costanzo

www.sarahruhlplaywright.com

From the MacArthur genius, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and playwright, this “captivating,
insightful memoir” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) is “a beautiful meditation on identity and how we see ourselves” (Real Simple).

 

Will Sofrin

Will Sofrin is a master shipwright who has taught naval architecture at MIT and has built boats for Billy Joel and Estée Lauder. As a former professional sailor and licensed captain, he has tracked more than 30,000 blue-water miles. Today, he is a freelance writer for numerous maritime periodicals, continues to race sailboats, and explores the coast of California with his wife and 6-year-old daughter. All Hands on Deck is his first book.

Photo Credit: Andrew Grossardt

www.willsofrin.com

A maritime adventure memoir that follows a crew of misfits hired to sail an 18th-century warship 5,000 miles to Hollywood.