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

Book Festival reveals first author events for 2024 Book Festival reveals first author events for 2024
Sunday 14 April

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

Donate

Share

Watch more

Markus Zusak speaks to Janet Ellis at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Markus Zusak speaks to Janet Ellis at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Thirteen years since his multi-million bestseller The Book Thief, Markus Zusak joins fellow writer Janet Ellis for his first Book Festival appearance with his much-anticipated follow-up, Bridge of Clay. In this ambitious portrait of a family, Zusak introd… Lucy Hawking - pt2 Lucy Hawking - pt2   A young audience plays Who Wants to be a Cosmic Billionaire?, is showered by an asteroid storm and learns about the solar system with Lucy Hawking and her father Professor Stephen Hawking (via live audio link-up) in video highlights from this … Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o: The Myth of Human Progress Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o: The Myth of Human Progress One of the greatest living writers, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o joins us by a live link from his home in Kenya. When he visited Edinburgh in 2018, Thiong’o discussed his detainment as a political prisoner in Kenya and his passionate advocacy for the use o… DeRay Mckesson at the Edinburgh International Book Festival DeRay Mckesson at the Edinburgh International Book Festival In 2014 DeRay Mckesson quit his job and moved to Ferguson, Missouri to protest against the police shooting of Michael Brown Jr, an unarmed African-American teenager. He spent the next 400 days on the streets as an activist and helped bring the Black Lives… Ma Jian talks to André Naffis-Sahely at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Ma Jian talks to André Naffis-Sahely at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Exile in London hasn’t dulled Chinese author Ma Jian’s anger at the state which permanently banned his work over 30 years ago. His biting satire China Dream takes aim at Xi Jinping’s regime and the mistruths told by the Communist Party today, centri… Thomas Keneally at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Thomas Keneally at the Edinburgh International Book Festival The Booker Prize-winning Australian author of Schindler’s Ark, Thomas Keneally comes to Edinburgh having woven another masterpiece in The Book of Science and Antiquities. Ancient human remains are found in Western Australia, causing controversy: was the… Carol Ann Duffy at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Carol Ann Duffy at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry has long been both private and public, her knack for voicing her own imagination and the sighs and roars of the world around her unparalleled. She recently ended a decade as Poet Laureate, and the final collection of her tenure,… Who’s Afraid of the Working Class? Who’s Afraid of the Working Class? In 2018, The Panic! Arts report found that working-class people are dramatically under-represented in the arts, and it is – as many have long-known – a culture dominated by the white middle class. So how do you make your own way, and bring people… Ross Benjamin & Daniel Kehlmann: When History Prefigures Our Own Times Ross Benjamin & Daniel Kehlmann: When History Prefigures Our Own Times For anyone feeling that the world has turned decidedly apocalyptic on us, Daniel Kehlmann’s picaresque novel Tyll offers an intriguing parallel from 17th century Europe. The Thirty Years War over the Holy Roman Empire left millions of Germans dead: dark… Samar Yazbek: Escapism for Survival Samar Yazbek: Escapism for Survival Today, Yazbek speaks to academic and activist Esa Aldegheri about her work.The TV news reports from war-torn countries such as Syria offer a picture of suffering amid the debris and devastation, with women and children often reduced to the role of ‘vict…