Michael Cunningham – Day
WithMichael Cunningham
In conversation withMary Paulson-Ellis
On:6th February 2024, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
We're so pleased that Michael Cunningham is coming to the bookshop for an event to celebrate the publication of his eagerly-anticipated latest novel, Day. The multi-million copy bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours returns with his first novel in a decade! Cunningham will be in conversation with fellow writer Mary Paulson-Ellis.
This event will take place in the bookshop with an in-person audience, as well as a livestream for attendees watching from home. There will be a signing after the event.
In-person vouchers can be redeemed on the night of the event against a single copy of Day – we will have a list of attendees with vouchers to be redeemed. Please note that only one voucher can be redeemed per book. Livestream vouchers are valid until the day after the event and can be redeemed on the website against a single copy of Day.
Please note that Day will be published on Thursday 18th January. If you have signed up for a Book & In-person or a Book & Livestream option and would like to receive your copy ahead of the event on Tuesday 6th February, please get in touch via our contact form and we'll be happy to help.
About Day:
April 5, 2019: In a cosy brownstone in Brooklyn, the veneer of domestic bliss is beginning to crack. Dan and Isabel, husband and wife, are slowly drifting apart – and both, it seems, are a little bit in love with Isabel’s younger brother, Robbie. Robbie, wayward soul of the family, who still lives in the attic loft; Robbie, who, trying to get over his most recent boyfriend, is living vicariously through a glamorous avatar online; Robbie, who now has to move out of the house – and whose departure threatens to break the family apart. And then there is Nathan, age ten, taking his first uncertain steps toward independence, while his sister, Violet, five, does her best not to notice the growing rift between her parents.
April 5, 2020: As the world goes into lockdown, the cosy brownstone is starting to feel more like a prison. Violet is terrified of leaving the windows open, obsessed with keeping her family safe. Isabel and Dan communicate mostly in veiled slights and frustrated sighs. And dear Robbie is stranded in Iceland, alone in a mountain cabin with nothing but his thoughts – and his secret Instagram life – for company.
April 5, 2021: Emerging from the worst of the crisis, the family reckons with a new, very different reality—and with what they’ve learned, what they’ve lost, and how they might go on.
From Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham, Day is a searing, exquisitely crafted meditation on love and loss, the struggles and limitations of family life – and how we must learn to live together and apart.
Please note: Tickets for our events are non-refundable. Professional photography and videography may take place during this event. Thank you for your understanding.
Participants:
Michael Cunningham Author
Michael Cunningham’s novels include A Home at the End of the World, Flesh and Blood, Specimen Days, By Nightfall, and The Snow Queen, as well as the collection A Wild Swan and Other Tales and the nonfiction book Land’s End: A Walk in Provincetown. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Whiting Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and his work has appeared in The New Yorker and The Best American Short Stories.The Hours was a New York Times bestseller and the winner of both the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Raised in Los Angeles, Cunningham lives in New York City and is a professor in the practice at Yale University.
Mary Paulson-Ellis Chair
Mary Paulson-Ellis is an award-winning novelist writing across the boundaries of crime, historical and literary fiction. Her debut, The Other Mrs Walker was a Times bestseller and Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year. Mary’s work has featured in the Guardian and on BBC Radio 4 and in 2019 Val McDermid named her one of ten exciting LGBTQ+ writers working today. In 2023 she was appointed Dr Gavin Wallace Fellow by Edinburgh Unesco City of Literature for work on a new book about the city. Emily Noble’s Disgrace is her third novel.
The venue
The Portobello Bookshop
46 Portobello High Street
Edinburgh
EH15 1DA
Telephone: 0131 629 6756
Website: www.theportobellobookshop.com
Wheelchair Access
We have a ramp at the front of the shop which has a ratio of 1:10 and loading capacity of 300kg, and so should be able to be used by most wheelchair users or those with mobility vehicles. The front doors are fully automated. Our shop interior is designed to allow access throughout for wheelchair users and prams, though please note there is only 700mm wide clearance to access the staff toilet.
Sound
We use a PA system to enhance the audio at our live events. We also have a hearing loop system installed, if you’d like to use our loop system during an event please let us know and we’ll make sure we have it set up and connected to the live audio feed during the event. If you wish to attend an event and require BSL interpretation, please give us a few weeks notice and we’ll do our best to arrange an interpreter.