Lifetime achievement award for Scots writer

Alasdair Gray has been given a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Scottish literature.

The writer and artist received the gong at the 2019 Literary Awards hosted by the Saltire Society at the National Museum of Scotland on Saturday evening.

It is the first year that there has been a Saltire Society Scottish Lifetime Achievement Award.

Born in Glasgow in 1934, Mr Gray graduated in design and mural painting from Glasgow School of Art.

His acclaimed first novel, Lanark – written over almost 30 years – has been described as “one of the landmarks of 20th Century fiction”.

Since the publication of Lanark in 1981 he has written, designed and illustrated seven novels, including Poor Things which won him a Whitbread Novel Award and Guardian Fiction Prize, several books of short stories, a collection of his stage, radio and TV plays and a book of his visual art, A Life In Pictures.

Sarah Mason, programme director for the Saltire Society, said that the influence of the 84-yearold, who was unable to attend the ceremony, runs deep within Scotland.

“Scotland’s National Book Awards 2019 have again shown the astounding literary talent of Scotland and we congratulate all our recipients and shortlistees,” said Ms Mason.

Among other winners at the ceremony, Kirstie Blair received the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award for her Working Verse In Victorian Scotland: Poetry, Press, Community.

The Saltire Society Scottish Fiction Book of the Year was won by Ewan Morrison for his novel Nina X, while the Saltire Society Scottish Non Fiction Book of the Year was won by Melanie Reid for her memoir The World I Fell Out Of.

The Saltire Society Scottish Poetry Book of the Year was presented to Janette Ayachi for her collection Hand Over Mouth Music

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon congratulated all those who received awards.

Alasdair Gray. Picture: PA.