In Conversation: Ethan Rutherford

About this event

Join us for a special afternoon with acclaimed Connecticut author Ethan Rutherford, whose debut novel, North Sun: Or, The Voyage of the Whaleship Esther , was a finalist for the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction.

Set during the waning days of the American whaling industry, North Sun follows the crew of the Esther as they set sail from New Bedford in 1878, bound for the northern whaling grounds. As the ship pushes toward the remote Chukchi Sea and Captain Arnold Lovejoy pursues a mysterious mission of his own, the voyage grows increasingly dangerous, strange, and haunting. Part high-seas adventure and part modern myth, North Sun explores ambition, survival, and the devastating consequences of humanity's desire to conquer the natural world.

Rutherford is the author of the story collections Farthest South and The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories , and his fiction has appeared in Ploughshares and The Best American Short Stories . His work has earned a Minnesota Book Award and recognition from the PEN/Hemingway Award, among other honors. He teaches creative writing at Trinity College in Hartford.

The program will include a live conversation with Rutherford followed by an audience Q&A. Books will be available for purchase courtesy of Black Rock Books , and a book signing will follow the discussion.

This event is free and open to the public, generously sponsored by the Friends of the Trumbull Library. Registration is required.