Laura Cumming: Seeing the Light; Remembering a Life 

Thunderclap: A memoir of art and life and sudden death is something of a companion piece to Laura Cumming's previous book, On Chapel Sands and equally luminous. It weaves together art critic Cummings’ love for Dutch art of the Golden Age, and her relationship with her Scottish father – an artist who lectured in the very room that Cumming will speak in. Infused with love, it’s an intimate yet epic look at identity, memory, and mortality. In conversation with Stuart Kelly.

Book Festival News

Celebrating the 2024 Book Festival Celebrating the 2024 Book Festival
Monday 26 August

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Watch more

Jeremy Corbyn with Yanis Varoufakis (2018 Event) Jeremy Corbyn with Yanis Varoufakis (2018 Event) The remarkable transformation of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn caught commentators by surprise. Against a backdrop of mainstream media scepticism, Corbyn galvanised his grassroots support and denied Theresa May an overall majority at the last… Katherine May: A Natural Harbour Katherine May: A Natural Harbour Many of us find ourselves in the shadow of the events of the last few years, feeling a little unmoored and wondering: does anybody else feel like this? Overwhelmed and burnt out, Katherine May opens her door and journeys into the natural world in search… Serhii Plokhy with Allan Little: Ukraine at the Crossroads of Europe and Russia Serhii Plokhy with Allan Little: Ukraine at the Crossroads of Europe and Russia The Russian invasion is one of many devastating episodes for Ukraine over the past century. Serhii Plokhy is Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard and the author of The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine. Today, he explores how precursors such as… Karl Ove Knausgaard (2014 event) Karl Ove Knausgaard (2014 event) Norwegian literary sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard has been gathering an ever-increasing band of avid followers with his epic and much-discussed six-volume novel cycle, My Struggle. ‘It’s completely blown my mind… I need the next volume… Rory MacLean (2015 Event) Rory MacLean (2015 Event) When the USSR dissolved in 1991, a narrow sliver of land next to the Ukraine declared independence. Transnistria now has its own Leninist government, but is still not recognised by any other country in the world. Photojournalist Nick Danziger and author… Eva Baltasar & Lina Meruane: Body Politics Eva Baltasar & Lina Meruane: Body Politics Rebecca Solnit has argued that ‘every illness is narrative’ and Lina Meruane’s novel Nervous System certainly gives credence to that view. It centres on a woman named Ella who, in struggling to finish her PhD, becomes fixated on the functions and rhythms… Mieko Kawakami: Three Daughters of Osaka Mieko Kawakami: Three Daughters of Osaka While this year’s release of Breasts and Eggs marks the first time Mieko Kawakami has been translated into English (by Sam Bett and David Boyd), she has been a literary sensation in Japan for more than ten years. Her legions of fans include Haruki… Jura Unbound: Illicit Ink & Graphic Scotland (2013 event) Jura Unbound: Illicit Ink & Graphic Scotland (2013 event) Graphic Scotland and Illicit Ink joined forces to combine stories from the page with illustrators on the stage in this lively, late night Jura Unbound event…… Louise Welsh (2010 event) Louise Welsh (2010 event) Much-loved author of The Cutting Room and The Bullet Trick Louise Welsh discusses and reads from her new novel… Mark Haddon talks to Charlotte Higgins at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Mark Haddon talks to Charlotte Higgins at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Mark Haddon is back with his first novel in seven years – and this could be his masterwork. The author behind The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time takes us on another wildly imaginative adventure in The Porpoise, a modern-day reworking of…