#alasdairgray — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #alasdairgray, aggregated by home.social.
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Coming May 2026:
The Edinburgh Companion to Alasdair Gray & the Arts
Ed. Marie-Odile Pittin-Hedon, Camille Manfredi, & Kirsten StirlingInterrogating Alasdair Gray’s literary & visual artistic practice & exploring relationships between these forms
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-edinburgh-companion-to-alasdair-gray-and-the-arts.html
#Scottish #literature #art #visualart #AlasdairGray #PoorThings
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It's funny reading Poor Things after seeing the film. I find myself seeing Emma Stone as Bella, but thus far the other characters all seem too Scottish to be their cinematic counterparts.
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Responding to Alasdair Gray’s LANARK
15 April, University of Glasgow – free, ticketedRachelle Atalla in conversation with Rodge Glass, presented by The Alasdair Gray Archive. Rachelle Atalla will read from her newly commissioned short story, “Waste Management”, which delves into Glasgow’s hidden subterranean layers, drawing inspiration from LANARK & the city’s sanitation infrastructure
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/responding-to-alasdair-grays-lanark-tickets-1984371725248
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Bookclub: Alan Cumming on Alasdair Gray’s LANARK
Currently available on BBC Sounds.
Recorded at the at the 2026 Pitlochry Winter Words Festival, this special episode of Bookclub celebrates Alasdair Gray’s 1981 masterpiece, LANARK, with the actor Alan Cumming, who is the voice of the new audiobook recently released by @canongatebookshttps://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002s2yx
#Scottish #literature #Lanark #novel #AlasdairGray #AlanCumming
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“Novels like LANARK do what all the best art does: awaken your imaginative capacities without swallowing them whole. It does not give you answers, but it does give you the right questions.”
—Stephen Durkan: “LANARK: an escape to reality”
https://stephendurkan.wordpress.com/2021/02/25/lanark-an-escape-to-reality/
#Scottish #literature #AlasdairGray #GrayDay #Lanark #fantasy
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“LANARK is a strange, experimental book that immediately thrusts the reader into a weird world with glimmers of familiarity”
—author Rodge Glass & the International Anthony Burgess Foundation discuss Alasdair Gray’s LANARK
https://www.anthonyburgess.org/blog-posts/ninety-nine-novels-lanark-by-alasdair-gray/
#Scottish #literature #AlasdairGray #GrayDay #Lanark #AnthonyBurgess
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“LANARK, in common with all great books, is still, and always will be, an act of resistance. It is part of the system of whispers and sedition and direct communion, one voice to another, we call literature.”
—Janice Galloway, writing in 2002
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/oct/12/fiction.alasdairgray
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Envoi
Prof Alan Riach, University of Glasgow – who appears, briefly & fictionally, in Alasdair Gray’s 2007 novel OLD MEN IN LOVE (although not, I should add, as an old man in love) – discusses LANARK at our 2022 Schools Conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTCGw6e_OSI&list=PLEP9HxY4X7WaVgzFyI3JdP1V-XAopXEgR
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“Taken together, the four prints underscore the oft-disputed unity of LANARK, as well as the sheer will of Gray’s effort to portray the individual’s capabilities for art & love against the backdrop of the modern industrialized state”
—David Auerbach on Alasdair Gray’s art
8/8
https://www.waggish.org/2020/alasdair-grays-lanark-the-four-frontispieces/
#Scottish #literature #AlasdairGray #GrayDay #Lanark #visualart #print #printmaking #illustration
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(although we’re still waiting for “The Provision Merchant as Agent of Evil in Scottish Literature from Galt to Gunn” tbh – though there’s no particular rush)
7/8
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Which academic will finally dare to write the long-awaited paper “The Dynamics of Interbeing and Monological Imperatives in Alasdair Gray’s LANARK: A Study in Psychic Transrelational Gender Modes”?
6/8
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The second half of Gray’s slogan draws on the Bible – specifically, the description of the sea-monster Leviathan (Job 41.34):
“He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.”
Alasdair Gray’s LANARK: Calvin & Hobbes, avant la lettre
5/8
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A colour print of Gray’s frontispiece to Book Four is held by the Tate
4/8
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gray-lanark-book-four-p20974
#Scottish #literature #AlasdairGray #GrayDay #Lanark #print #screenprint #printmaking #visualart
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The frontispiece carries the quotation
“By Arts is formed that great Mechanical Man called a State, foremost of the Beasts of the Earth for Pride”
which is also from Hobbes: “For by art is created that great LEVIATHAN called a COMMONWEALTH, or STATE…”
3/8
https://alasdairgrayspace.net/who-is-alasdair-gray/lanark
#Scottish #literature #AlasdairGray #GrayDay #Lanark #Hobbes #Leviathan
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Discernible landmarks include Glasgow University tower; John Knox’s statue in the Glasgow Necropolis; the Wallace Monument; the Grangemouth oil refinery; St Giles Cathedral; Edinburgh Castle; the Forth & Tay bridges; & the experimental fast-breeder nuclear reactor at Dounreay. Also visible are oil rigs in the North Sea, nuclear submarines in the Irish Sea & Holy Loch, & the paddle-steamer PS Waverley sailing down the Clyde.
2/8
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INTERVIEWER: When somebody asks you to describe your book LANARK, what do you say to them?
ALASDAIR GRAY: I say it is a Scottish petit bourgeois model of the universe.
I: Just like that?
AG: Yes, I’ve rehearsed it & honed it down to as few words as possible.It’s #GrayDay! Alasdair Gray’s LANARK was first published on 25 Feb 1981
@bookstodon
🧵
preface/🎨 Screenprint of the title page to LANARK, by Gray & Murray Robertson
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A Kick Up the Arts
Gray Day on 25 February celebrates the 45th anniversary of Lanark. Curated by Sorcha Dallas, custodian of the Alasdair Gray Archive, the event will be hosted by writer & comedian Josie Long & will feature a new short story by Rachelle Atalla inspired by Gray’s work.
A Kick Up the Arts host Nicola Meighan visits the archive & speaks to Sorcha, Josie & Rachelle about the upcoming celebration
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Alan Bisset superb last night in his When Billy Met Alasdair show on a meeting between the two Scottish icons Billy Connolly and Alasdair Gray.
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/when-billy-met-alasdair
#EdinburghFringe #Edinburgh #theatre #BillyConnolly #AlasdairGray #PoorThings #Scotland
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Today, 20 July, is World Chess Day
Episode 2 of the Alasdair Gray Archive’s UNLIKELY OBJECTS MOSTLY looks at Alasdair’s chessboard & the part chess played in his practice, uncovering the game’s pivotal role in the making of his Hillhead Subway mural & the novel POOR THINGS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vbB7OeYkeo
#Scottish #literature #AlasdairGray #PoorThings #mural #murals #publicart #Glasgow #Chess #WorldChessDay
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Translating Alasdair Gray
Recorded at the Alasdair Gray Archive on 23 May: a conversation between Professor Enrico Terrinoni (translator of Gray’s work in Italian) & Dr Rodge Glass (Gray’s biographer).
https://youtu.be/fXaiJeJE33k?si=0UG58FFH5DiiMgAP
#Scottish #literature #AlasdairGray #translation #literarytranslation #Italian
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New—old—book & new—old—bookstand, both picked up in Glasgow today.
The former is an apparently rare Edwin Morgan title from Mariscat Press, first published in 1984. This is the 1986 2nd impression. Wonderful, unmistakeable Alasdair Gray cover.
The stand is more likely a display stand, made for the Dahlberg Offisupply Company of Des Moines, Iowa. No idea where I’m going to put it!
#EdwinMorgan #ScottishPoetry #ScottishPoet #MariscatPress #AlasdairGray #BookStand #DahlbergOffisupplyCompany
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New—old—book & new—old—bookstand, both picked up in Glasgow today.
The former is an apparently rare Edwin Morgan title from Mariscat Press, first published in 1984. This is the 1986 2nd impression. Wonderful, unmistakeable Alasdair Gray cover.
The stand is more likely a display stand, made for the Dahlberg Offisupply Company of Des Moines, Iowa. No idea where I’m going to put it!
#EdwinMorgan #ScottishPoetry #ScottishPoet #MariscatPress #AlasdairGray #BookStand #DahlbergOffisupplyCompany
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New—old—book & new—old—bookstand, both picked up in Glasgow today.
The former is an apparently rare Edwin Morgan title from Mariscat Press, first published in 1984. This is the 1986 2nd impression. Wonderful, unmistakeable Alasdair Gray cover.
The stand is more likely a display stand, made for the Dahlberg Offisupply Company of Des Moines, Iowa. No idea where I’m going to put it!
#EdwinMorgan #ScottishPoetry #ScottishPoet #MariscatPress #AlasdairGray #BookStand #DahlbergOffisupplyCompany
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New—old—book & new—old—bookstand, both picked up in Glasgow today.
The former is an apparently rare Edwin Morgan title from Mariscat Press, first published in 1984. This is the 1986 2nd impression. Wonderful, unmistakeable Alasdair Gray cover.
The stand is more likely a display stand, made for the Dahlberg Offisupply Company of Des Moines, Iowa. No idea where I’m going to put it!
#EdwinMorgan #ScottishPoetry #ScottishPoet #MariscatPress #AlasdairGray #BookStand #DahlbergOffisupplyCompany
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New—old—book & new—old—bookstand, both picked up in Glasgow today.
The former is an apparently rare Edwin Morgan title from Mariscat Press, first published in 1984. This is the 1986 2nd impression. Wonderful, unmistakeable Alasdair Gray cover.
The stand is more likely a display stand, made for the Dahlberg Offisupply Company of Des Moines, Iowa. No idea where I’m going to put it!
#EdwinMorgan #ScottishPoetry #ScottishPoet #MariscatPress #AlasdairGray #BookStand #DahlbergOffisupplyCompany
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“Novels like LANARK do what all the best art does: awaken your imaginative capacities without swallowing them whole. It does not give you answers, but it does give you the right questions.”
—Stephen Durkan: “LANARK: an escape to reality”
https://stephendurkan.wordpress.com/2021/02/25/lanark-an-escape-to-reality/
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Prof Alan Riach – who appears, briefly & fictionally, in Alasdair Gray’s 2007 novel OLD MEN IN LOVE (although not, I should add, as an old man in love) – discusses LANARK at our 2022 Schools Conference
8/8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTCGw6e_OSI&list=PLEP9HxY4X7WaVgzFyI3JdP1V-XAopXEgR
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“Taken together, the four prints underscore the oft-disputed unity of LANARK, as well as the sheer will of Gray’s effort to portray the individual’s capabilities for art & love against the backdrop of the modern industrialized state”
—David Auerbach on the sources of the frontispieces for LANARK’s four books, and how Alasdair Gray used them
7/8
https://www.waggish.org/2020/alasdair-grays-lanark-the-four-frontispieces/
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(although we’re still waiting for “The Provision Merchant as Agent of Evil in Scottish Literature from Galt to Gunn” tbh)
6/8
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Which academic will finally dare to write the long-awaited paper “The Dynamics of Interbeing and Monological Imperatives in Alasdair Gray’s LANARK: A Study in Psychic Transrelational Gender Modes”?
5/8
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Alasdair Gray’s LANARK: Calvin & Hobbes, avant la lettre
4/8
-
The frontispiece’s quotation
“By Arts is formed that great Mechanical Man called a State, foremost of the Beasts of the Earth for Pride”
is based on Hobbes: “For by art is created that great LEVIATHAN called a COMMONWEALTH, or STATE…”
The 2nd part draws on the Bible—the description of Leviathan (Job 41.34):
“He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.”
3/8
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gray-lanark-book-four-p20974
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Discernible landmarks include Glasgow University tower; John Knox’s statue in the Glasgow Necropolis; the Wallace Monument; the Grangemouth oil refinery; St Giles Cathedral; Edinburgh Castle; the Forth & Tay bridges; & the experimental fast-breeder nuclear reactor at Dounreay. Also visible are oil rigs in the North Sea, nuclear submarines in the Irish Sea & Holy Loch, & the paddle-steamer PS Waverley sailing down the Clyde.
2/8
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The cover of this edition shows Gray’s frontispiece for Book 4. Based on Abraham Bosse’s 1651 frontispiece to Hobbes’ LEVIATHAN, it depicts a figurative State towering over a panoramic view across Scotland
1/8
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INTERVIEWER: When somebody asks you to describe your book LANARK, what do you say to them?
ALASDAIR GRAY: I say it is a Scottish petit bourgeois model of the universe.
I: Just like that?
AG: Yes, I’ve rehearsed it & honed it down to as few words as possible.It’s #GrayDay! Alasdair Gray’s LANARK was first published on 25 Feb 1981
@bookstodon
🧵
preface/🎨 Screenprint of the title page to LANARK, by Gray & Murray Robertson
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Fishing for Poetry: A Celebration of Norman MacCaig
Aly Bain, Andrew Greig & Billy Connolly seek the Loch of the Green Corrie – with MacCaig’s poetry read by Douglas Dunn, Alasdair Gray, Seamus Heaney, Jackie Kay, Tom Leonard, Liz Lochhead & Aonghas MacNeacail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilGV9OCHei0
#Scottish #literature #poetry #20thcentury #NormanMacCaig #fishing #AlyBain #AndrewGreig #BillyConnolly #DouglasDunn #AlasdairGray #SeamusHeaney #JackieKay #TomLeonard #LizLochhead #AonghasMacNeacail
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Exploring Colonialism in Alasdair Gray’s POOR THINGS
10 Dec Glasgow. Free, booking essential
Following a discussion of Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel POOR THINGS by Hussein Mitha, participants will undertake creative writing exercises. Participants are not expected to have read the book, but some familiarity with the novel (or film) will be beneficial
To secure your spot please email [email protected]
#Scottish #literature #CreativeWriting #AlasdairGray #PoorThings #Colonialism
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CIVIS Webinar: Poor Things Revisited
Sorcha Dallas introduces the Alasdair Gray Archive & discusses POOR THINGS and its digital guide. Lauren Forde discusses her research work on this novel. Lauren & Sorcha together examine the film adaptation, which is placed in the context of what material is available at the Archive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPWsP7NSfa0
#Scottish #literature #AlasdairGray #archive #PoorThings #film #adaptation
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Thanks to the Alasdair Gray panel this morning we knew to add Ubiquitous Chip to our tour of Glasgow's west end. And at Óran Mòr we got a peek at his auditorium mural (ask the staff nicely)!
#Glasgow2024 #Worldcon2024 #ForOurFutures #Glasgow #AlasdairGray
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#LunchtimeReading : revisiting Poor Things for the first time in decades, as it is the pick for my SF Book Group this month. Delighted to re-read Alasdair...
#books #Livres #AmReading #AlasdairGray #BookGroup #bookstodon
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And the winner for best book that inspired a best picture nominee is … https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/06/and-the-winner-for-best-book-that-inspired-a-best-picture-nominee-is- #KillersoftheFlowerMoon #TheZoneofInterest #Awardsandprizes #PercivalEverett #AlasdairGray #Oppenheimer #MartinAmis #PoorThings #Culture #Oscars #Books #Film
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#PoorThings: A grand and profoundly autistic fantasy. Never before have I felt so seen.
Full review at Mahan's Media: https://betwixtstarproductions.blogspot.com/2023/12/poor-things-2023-movie-review.html #film #movies #filmreview #moviereview #cinema #cinemastodon #scifi #fantasy #blackcomedy #yorgoslanthimos #tonymcnamara #alasdairgray #emmastone #willemdafoe #markruffalo #ramyyoussef #jerrodcarmichael #kathrynhunter #christopherabbott #margaretqualley #trans #autism #feminism #socialism #sexuality #masking #RedRibbonReviewers
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#PoorThings: A grand and profoundly autistic fantasy. Never before have I felt so seen.
Full review at Mahan's Media: https://betwixtstarproductions.blogspot.com/2023/12/poor-things-2023-movie-review.html #film #movies #filmreview #moviereview #cinema #cinemastodon #scifi #fantasy #blackcomedy #yorgoslanthimos #tonymcnamara #alasdairgray #emmastone #willemdafoe #markruffalo #ramyyoussef #jerrodcarmichael #kathrynhunter #christopherabbott #margaretqualley #trans #autism #feminism #socialism #sexuality #masking #RedRibbonReviewers
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#PoorThings: A grand and profoundly autistic fantasy. Never before have I felt so seen.
Full review at Mahan's Media: https://betwixtstarproductions.blogspot.com/2023/12/poor-things-2023-movie-review.html #film #movies #filmreview #moviereview #cinema #cinemastodon #scifi #fantasy #blackcomedy #yorgoslanthimos #tonymcnamara #alasdairgray #emmastone #willemdafoe #markruffalo #ramyyoussef #jerrodcarmichael #kathrynhunter #christopherabbott #margaretqualley #trans #autism #feminism #socialism #sexuality #masking #RedRibbonReviewers
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#PoorThings: A grand and profoundly autistic fantasy. Never before have I felt so seen.
Full review at Mahan's Media: https://betwixtstarproductions.blogspot.com/2023/12/poor-things-2023-movie-review.html #film #movies #filmreview #moviereview #cinema #cinemastodon #scifi #fantasy #blackcomedy #yorgoslanthimos #tonymcnamara #alasdairgray #emmastone #willemdafoe #markruffalo #ramyyoussef #jerrodcarmichael #kathrynhunter #christopherabbott #margaretqualley #trans #autism #feminism #socialism #sexuality #masking #RedRibbonReviewers