Writer and veteran Matt Gallagher returned from Iraq in 2009 with a lot of material for his first book, his memoir “Kaboom.’’ Now Gallagher has drawn from his war experience for his first novel, “Youngblood.’’ He joins a panel of writers at the Nantucket Book Festival at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 18, at the Atheneum Great Hall. The event is free.

BOOKS: What are you reading?

GALLAGHER: I’m halfway through “The Sympathizer’’ by Viet Thanh Nguyen, which won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It’s so subversive and thoughtful. With so much literature about the Vietnam War out there you’d think it would all be said and done. Then along comes this novel.

BOOKS: Do you read a lot of war literature?

GALLAGHER: I don’t. I try to avoid it. This is a bit of an exception. I recently just reread “Slouching Towards Bethlehem’’ by Joan Didion. She had a huge influence on me growing up in Reno, Nevada. When I was 15 or 16 I said something to my mother like writers don’t come from Reno. My mother handed over some Didion books and told me to read them while keeping in mind that she was from just over the hills in Sacramento.

BOOKS: Is the Didion typical of your reading?

GALLAGHER: I try to read things I’m interested in but don’t know a lot about, something that will defy my worldview. I want to be challenged.

BOOKS: Did your service in Iraq change you as a reader?

GALLAGHER: It must have. I never had lived in a place where someone speaking out meant death. It took me awhile to catch on to the subtlest use of defiance in their language. Then I grew fascinated with the layers and layers of meaning. Iraq gave me a much deeper understanding of subtext.

BOOKS: Did you read much while you were there?

GALLAGHER: I probably read too much. You’d have a lot of free time, like an eight-hour patrol watching an intersection. I’d pull out “Moby-Dick.’’ I still remember once when it was 3 a.m., and I was reading that famous chapter with Father Mapple’s sermon, which sent shivers down my spine. It was a really murky evening in the desert. I really wanted the sun to come up because I was freaked out.

BOOKS: What else did you read while you were in Iraq?

GALLAGHER: I asked my mom to send me some books, probably Hemingway and Conrad, all macho books. She sent me Rebecca West’s “The Return of the Soldier.’’ It was her subtle way of reminding me that my tour was not forever, and there would be a world to come back to.

BOOKS: Did you avoid any kind of books while you were deployed in Iraq?

GALLAGHER: Books about Iraq. I read some journalistic accounts of the war before I got there, Thomas E. Ricks “Fiasco’’ as well as T.E. Lawrence’s autobiography “Seven Pillars of Wisdom.’’ When I got over there, I read to escape.

BOOKS: Did you stand out as a reader among the soldiers?

GALLAGHER: I wasn’t the only one. You could order books from Amazon. They would take a while to get there. It was kind of surreal, a sign of the mighty American empire.

BOOKS: Did you have a favorite reading spot?

GALLAGHER: There was a small patio at a big outpost where a lot of soldiers smoked. I wasn’t a smoker, but this patio had a nook that turned into my reading nook. I could look out on the town and listen to the religious prayers from the mosques. I could think about my day and immerse myself in reading.

BOOKS: What will you read next?

GALLAGHER: Scott Anderson’s biography on T. E. Lawrence. He was such an influential person. In 2008 you couldn’t go a day in Iraq without someone quoting Lawrence. I think I’m done writing about Iraq, and this is my way of closing that journey. I’ve devoted nearly 10 years of my life to this place and subject. Now I will do something else as a reader and writer.

AMY SUTHERLAND

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