Alasdair Gray

Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. He published novels, short stories, plays, poetry and translations, and wrote on politics and the history of English and Scots literature. His works of fiction combine realism, fantasy, and science fiction with the use of his own typography and illustrations, and won several awards. Utilising a postmodern writing style, Gray's works have been compared with those of Franz Kafka, George Orwell, Jorge Luis Borges and Italo Calvino; and often contain extensive footnotes explaining the works that influenced them. His books inspired many younger Scottish writers, including Irvine Welsh, Alan Warner, A. L. Kennedy, Janice Galloway, Chris Kelso and Iain Banks. His first novel, Lanark (1981), is considered a landmark of Scottish fiction; in a 2016 public poll by the BBC, it was named the third-best Scottish novel of all time. He was writer-in-residence at the University of Glasgow from 1977 to 1979 and a professor of Creative Writing from 2001 to 2003; simultaneously holding the latter position at the University of Strathclyde. Gray studied at the Glasgow School of Art from 1952 to 1957. As well as his book illustrations, he painted portraits and murals, including at the Òran Mór venue and one at Hillhead subway station. His artwork has been widely exhibited and is held in several important collections. Before Lanark, he had written plays for radio and television. Gray was a Scottish nationalist and a republican, and wrote in support of socialism and Scottish independence. He popularised the epigram "Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation" which was engraved in the Canongate Wall of the Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh when it opened in 2004. He lived almost all his life in Glasgow, married twice, and...