About the event:
On an autumn morning in 1849, Henry David Thoreau stepped out his front door to walk the beaches of Cape Cod. Over a century and a half later, Ben Shattuck does the same. With little more than a loaf of bread, brick of cheese, and a notebook, Shattuck sets out to retrace Thoreau’s path through the Cape’s outer beaches, from the elbow to Provincetown’s fingertip. This is the first of six journeys taken by Shattuck, each one inspired by a walk once taken by Henry David Thoreau. Intimate, entertaining, and beautifully crafted, “Six Walks” is a resounding tribute to the ways walking in nature can inspire us all. Join us for a reading and conversation about the book with author Ben Shattuck, moderated by National Book Award Winner Nathaniel Philbrick.

About Ben Shattuck:
Ben Shattuck, a former Teaching-Writing Fellow and graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, is a recipient of the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize and a 2019 Pushcart Prize. He is the director of the Cuttyhunk Island Writers’ Residency and curator of the Dedee Shattuck Gallery. His writing can be found in the Harvard Review, The Common, the Paris Review Daily, Lit Hub, and Kinfolk Magazine. He lives with his wife and daughter on the coast of Massachusetts, where he owns and runs a general store built in 1793.

About Nathaniel Philbrick:
Nathaniel Philbrick is the author of “In the Heart of the Sea”, winner of the National Book Award; “Mayflower”, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; “Valiant Ambition”, winner of the George Washington Prize; “Bunker Hill”, winner of the New England Book Award; “Travels with George”; “In the Hurricane’s Eye”; “Sea of Glory”; “The Last Stand”, among others.