Great to spend an unseasonably sunny April afternoon exploring ‘the city of dreaming spires’ ahead of an appearance at the Oxford Literary Festival in conversation with mountain historian Mick Conefrey.

It was a pleasure to meet Mick, ‘one of our finest gazetteers of the Himalaya’, whose accounts of expeditions to climb Everest, K2 and Kangchenjunga have been a real source of inspiration to me – and too of information.

Mick’s most recent book, Fallen, situates an unflinching examination of the real George Mallory amid the drama of the fateful 1924 expedition, making for a heady mix of narrative verve and meticulously researched non-fiction.

It was fascinating to be in conversation with Mick, and to understand the deep dive he has taken into the life – and death – of ‘one of history’s most well-known and least understood adventurers’.

The post Oxford Literary Festival appeared first on Daniel Light.

After so many hours in The Alpine Club library it felt special to be invited to deliver a talk at the world’s oldest mountaineering club, especially with an introduction from its current president, Simon Richardson.

I was happy to have the opportunity to thank honorary archivist Glyn Hughes and former librarian Nigel Buckley for their help with the book, and to apologise in advance to Emma McDonald, Nigel’s replacement, for what comes next…

The post The Alpine Club, London appeared first on Daniel Light.

Established in 1853, Stanfords was purveying maps back when the pioneering protagonists of The White Ladder were in the market for them. I asked my publicist more than once to see if I might have the opportunity to do a talk there, so was delighted when a spot opened up.

I was happier still to write a short piece for the Stanfords blog promoting the book and the talk. I feel like I’m getting better at turning out articles like these in the hours and minutes that fall loose, and enjoyed drafting a news item for my alma mater, Charterhouse School, around the same time.

The post Stanfords, London appeared first on Daniel Light.

I’ve made new friends and caught up with old ones at every stop on my book tour, and Topping & Company in Bath was no different.

I was taken by complete surprise when my cousin Briony and her family arrived. Her mother, my aunt Liz, has her own connection with mountaineering royalty – she was once au pair to the family of the legendary French alpinist Gaston Rébuffat.

This event also gave me the opportunity to meet Clare Homfray, god-daughter of George Mallory’s oldest child, the late Frances ‘Clare’ Mallory.

It’s incredibly moving for me each time I meet, in three dimensions, the friends and family of those who, until recently, had lived only on the page.

The post Topping & Company, Bath appeared first on Daniel Light.

The promise of ‘an evening with Daniel Light’ made me wonder if I needed some jokes, a musical number, maybe even a bit of burlesque.

Instead, mindful that I’m still finding my feet in a new career, I left my tap shoes at home and let the slides do the talking.

Thanks to James for grabbing a few snaps of the talk, and for making the time to give me a wistful tour of Christ Church in the afternoon.

The post Blackwell’s, Oxford appeared first on Daniel Light.

Great to be back in Edinburgh thirty years after I arrived as a fresh(ish)-faced undergraduate with my whole adult life ahead of me.

This was the third outing for this talk, so I ditched the script and backed myself to be conversant in a subject I’ve been reading and writing about for six years.

All seemed to go well, thanks in part to a very responsive audience, and especially to Matthew Land of Blackwell’s Edinburgh, who made me feel very welcome and had set everything up perfectly.

The post Blackwell’s, Edinburgh appeared first on Daniel Light.

Shortly before my Q&A at Tetbury Book Festival I was approached by Dermot McMeekin, grandson of Dr Tom Longstaff. For me, Longstaff is one of the true heroes of The White Ladder.

Dermot invited me to meet his mother, Lady Anne McMeekin, Longstaff’s only surviving daughter, who was kind enough to show me some photographs and share a few memories of her father.

Alistair Roberts, grandson of Geoffrey Bruce and author of ‘Forgotten Man of Everest’, was also at the festival. So here I am, pictured with direct descendants of not one but two members of the 1922 Mount Everest expedition.

The post Tetbury Book Festival, Tetbury appeared first on Daniel Light.

The launch party took place at Burley Fisher Books in Haggerston, a shop I must have passed a thousand times in the writing of this book.

Thanks to Samuel Fisher for the use of his lovely shop, and to my editor Sam Carter for addressing the assembled ahead of my own teary-eyed utterances.

The post Burley Fisher Books, Haggerston appeared first on Daniel Light.

For years I’ve been walking past my local bookshops imagining a book of my own there in the window.

In the event, the first shop I would see it displayed in was Rossiter Books in Ross-on-Wye, the second stop on my book tour. Great to deliver my talk to a full house, and to meet the team at one of Andy and Victoria Rossiter’s chain of six lovingly curated independent bookshops.

The post Rossiter Books, Ross-on-Wye appeared first on Daniel Light.

Great to be invited to David’s Bookshop in Letchworth Garden City on the day of the book’s UK launch.

It can be tough to draw a crowd on the first leg of a book tour, especially for a debut writer, so I cheated and loaded the room with friends and family. It was a great way to celebrate publication day, delivering my illustrated talk for the very first time to an audience full of familiar faces.

The post David’s Bookshop, Letchworth appeared first on Daniel Light.