Edinburgh International Book Festival, 25th August
Alistair Moffat is currently promoting a new book where he retraces (he assumes) the steps of St Cuthbert from Melrose down to Lindisfarne. Moffat is a fine speaker anyway, but I suspect most of the audience were there to hear his take on the Holy Island, which forms the centrepiece of his book.
Moffat was introduced and then walked on and spoke beautifully for fully thirty minutes, almost without any reference to notes at all; as a piece of public speaking it was a masterclass. In the process we learned much about Cuthbert, a great deal about Lindisfarne, but most of all about Moffat himself, his views on God and religion, churches, theology and the ability of 'place' and location to infuse the spirit with a sense of peace.
Moffat isn't really a historian, although his excellent A History of Scotland Since Earliest Times sits in with Scottish history books on our bookshelves. Instead, he's a writer who writes about history. Here, he was speaking instead.
Given Moffat's 'performance approach', Brian Meechan (Scottish, but works for BBC Wales) chaired the event brilliantly, quietly allowing the audience to ask questions aside from the classic 'what's next?' one at the end.
Alistair Moffat is currently promoting a new book where he retraces (he assumes) the steps of St Cuthbert from Melrose down to Lindisfarne. Moffat is a fine speaker anyway, but I suspect most of the audience were there to hear his take on the Holy Island, which forms the centrepiece of his book.
Moffat was introduced and then walked on and spoke beautifully for fully thirty minutes, almost without any reference to notes at all; as a piece of public speaking it was a masterclass. In the process we learned much about Cuthbert, a great deal about Lindisfarne, but most of all about Moffat himself, his views on God and religion, churches, theology and the ability of 'place' and location to infuse the spirit with a sense of peace.
Moffat isn't really a historian, although his excellent A History of Scotland Since Earliest Times sits in with Scottish history books on our bookshelves. Instead, he's a writer who writes about history. Here, he was speaking instead.
Given Moffat's 'performance approach', Brian Meechan (Scottish, but works for BBC Wales) chaired the event brilliantly, quietly allowing the audience to ask questions aside from the classic 'what's next?' one at the end.
