Praise For The Age of Creativity:
A CBC Book of the Year
A Quill & Quire Book of the Year
A Now Magazine Book of the Year
“Heartfelt and thoughtful … [The Age of Creativity] deal[s] with dementia and old age with sensitivity and respect, and may soothe readers and caregivers coping with the same.” — Quill & Quire
“Meticulously researched and including interviews with aging creators, Urquhart’s book is both a deeply personal account and an important critique of ageism.” — Now Magazine
“The Age of Creativity is everything I crave in a work of nonfiction. Urquhart’s relationship with her father is a portal through which I was happy to step through and wander, guided by her skilful approach to memoir, research and art. I started the book curious about where Urquhart would take me as I meandered backwards and forwards in time and into the artistic practices of those whose work I, too, have admired. Since finishing The Age of Creativity, I’ve found myself returning to the themes and ideas she presented, questioning my own beliefs about creativity and curious to learn more.” – Megan Cole, Hamilton Review of Books
“My favourite book of 2020 nonfiction is Emily Urquhart’s The Age of Creativity. Featuring her octogenarian father, she explores what happens to creativity as one ages. I loved the personal anecdotes about her relationship with her artist father, but I also became engaged with her research and, being in my seventies, was filled with hope for what I might accomplish in my waning years.” — Lorna Crozier, Writers Trust, Author’s Favourite Books of 2020
“A woman sits at a bar that feels like it’s in Montparnasse and looks in the mirror at herself and her father. They look like a Flemish still life painting. He says: “Who’s the old guy in the mirror?” So begins Urquhart’s wonderful journey into her father’s lifetime of art. He is losing his memory to Alzheimer’s, but he still paints. Does creativity diminish in old age? His daughter marshals the experience of other artists and speaks with such depth and naturalness of their work that you understand what it might mean to live with art as the fabric of your life. A celebration of life in an elegiac tone, just right for our Covid times.” – Rosemary Sullivan, Writers’ Trust, Author’s Favourite Books of 2020
“This is a gift of a book, an ode to late style, a daughter’s devotional, a fascinating dive into art history, but above all a radical detonation of accepted notions of ageing and art. Emily Urquhart is a curious and frank guide, who captures her subject with clear and perfect brushstrokes.” — Kyo Maclear, award-winning and bestselling author of Birds Art Life
“Wise and thoughtful, Emily Urquhart’s The Age of Creativity leads us through the landscape of imagination. The bonds of familial love, the workings of memory, the drive to create, and the process of aging are all explored with Urquhart’s trademark blending of intelligence and warmth. This important work delves into the life of an artist who surveys the transformation of his work over decades and the parallel trajectory of his life. Urquhart’s beautifully crafted memoir celebrates the longevity and the universality of the creative spirit alive in us all.” — Joanna Pocock, author of Surrender: The Call of the American West