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

Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024 Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024
Friday 13 December

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

Donate

Share

Watch more

Reading Scotland: Jen Hadfield, Landscape and Light Reading Scotland: Jen Hadfield, Landscape and Light Poet Jen Hadfield sometimes writes outside near her home on Shetland, taking a notebook with her and disappearing into the landscape, returning when she gets cold and hungry. The islands – situated between Scotland and Norway – have provided fertile… Howard Jacobson (2015 Event) Howard Jacobson (2015 Event) A welcome return to Charlotte Square Gardens for the winner of the Man Booker Prize 2010 who was also shortlisted last year for his acclaimed Huxley-esque dystopian drama, J. Recently, Howard Jacobson has been reflecting in the media on one of his early… Jack Monroe at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Jack Monroe at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Good food should be affordable for everyone. Jack Monroe is an active anti-poverty campaigner and her recipe books – including Cooking on a Bootstrap and Tin Can Cook – are about making simple yet delicious recipes on a shoestring, based on her own… The Front List: Alan Cumming & Forbes Masson in conversation with Jackie Kay The Front List: Alan Cumming & Forbes Masson in conversation with Jackie Kay One of Scotland’s most beloved comedy double acts of all time, Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson, are delving back into their comedy past, to present ‘Victor and Barry’s Kelvinside Compendium’, a riotous romp through their formative years treading the boards… Michele Hutchison & Marieke Lucas Rijneveld: Reap What You Sow Michele Hutchison & Marieke Lucas Rijneveld: Reap What You Sow Great art doesn’t just reinforce or reassure: the authors we love challenge us; they illuminate new perspectives, make us question our certainties. They discomfort us. From its very title, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld’s International Booker shortlisted debut… The Front List: Matt Haig in conversation with Chitra Ramaswamy The Front List: Matt Haig in conversation with Chitra Ramaswamy Through his memoir and fiction, Matt Haig has changed the way we talk about mental health. Matt presents his new novel, The Life Impossible, in this very special event as part of our key festival strand, How to Live a Meaningful Life. In conversation with… William Dalrymple: When India Led the World William Dalrymple: When India Led the World A huge success as co-host with Anita Anand of the Empire podcast, looking at how empires rose and fell in history, best-selling Scottish-born, India-based historian William Dalrymple is about to publish The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the… Salman Rushdie with Allan Little: Standing in the Rubble of Truth Salman Rushdie with Allan Little: Standing in the Rubble of Truth World famous for his novels, Salman Rushdie is the author of fourteen works of fiction including the Booker Prize-winning Midnight’s Children and his most recent book Quichotte, shortlisted for the Booker in 2019. Alongside his storytelling, Rushdie’s non-… Edwin Morgan: A Centenary Celebration of Scotland’s Great Poet Edwin Morgan: A Centenary Celebration of Scotland’s Great Poet Almost exactly ten years ago, on 17 August 2010, an eerie hush fell on the Edinburgh International Book Festival as word spread around Charlotte Square Gardens that one of the most significant poets of the 20th century, Edwin Morgan, had died. The… R F Kuang & Samantha Shannon: The Future of Fantasy R F Kuang & Samantha Shannon: The Future of Fantasy Two of fantasy fiction’s finest young talents converge in Edinburgh, talking about the ways they both love and hope to expand the limits of the genre. R F Kuang author of Yellowface and The Poppy War trilogy talks about Babel, and Samantha Shannon, author…