Alasdair Gray
Alasdair Gray (born December 28, 1934) is a Scottish writer and artist. His most acclaimed work is his first novel Lanark, which he wrote over a period of almost 30 years and was published in 1981. His works combine elements of realism, fantasy and science fiction, plus eccentric typography and his own illustrations. He has also written on politics, in support of socialism and an independent Scotland. He has been described by Will Self as "a creative polymath with an integrated politico-philosophic vision", and by himself as "a fat, spectacled, balding, increasingly old Glasgow pedestrian".
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Gray was born in Riddrie, east Glasgow. His father had been wounded in the first world war and worked at the time in a factory, while his mother worked in a shop. During the war, he was evacuated to Perthshire and then Lanarkshire, experiences which he drew on in his later fiction. He studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1952 to 1957, and taught there from 1958 to 1962. It was as a student that he first began what would become the novel Lanark.
After graduation, Gray worked as a scene and portrait painter, as well as an independent artist and writer. His first plays were broadcast on radio and television in 1968. Between 1972 and 1974 he participated in a writing group organised by Philip Hobsbaum, where he met James Kelman, Liz Lochhead and Tom Leonard.
Gray illustrates his books himself, and has produced many murals as wells as paintings.
He has been married twice: firstly to Inge Sorenson (1961-1970), and since 1991 to Morag McAlpine. He has one son, Andrew, born in 1964. He still lives in Glasgow.
Life
Bibliography
Novels
Short stories
Poetry
Non-fiction
External links