‘Literary giant’ Alasdair Gray dies
● First Minister leads tributes to writer and artist
Alasdair Gray, one of Scotland’s most acclaimed writers and artists, has died at the age of 85 in his native Glasgow. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Alasdair Gray was one of Scotland’s literary giants.”
Tributes have poured in after the death of the hugely influential writer and artist Alasdair Gray at the age of 85 in his native Glasgow.
The Lanark author was hailed by his publisher Canongate, who announced his death, for his “phenomenal body of work”.
Gray produced novels, short stories, poems and visual art, as well as plays for television, radio and the stage, throughout a career that can be traced back to the 1950s.
The Glasgow School of Art graduate, who passed away the day after his 85th birthday, was described by his family as “unique and irreplaceable”.
He died just weeks after being honoured with the inaugural lifetime achievement award at Scotland’s annual literary and publishing Oscars.
Gray was arguably scotland’ s greatest modern-day cultural polymath due to the popularity of his murals, which can be seen around Glasgow, and the impact of his writing. His family said he had passed away in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow after a “short illness”, adding that he had insisted his body be donated to medical science and did not want a funeral.
The family added: “Alasdair was an extraordinary person; very talented and, even more importantly, very humane.”
In a tribute posted on Twitter, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Such sad news. Alasdair Gray was one of Scotland’s literary giants and a decent, principled human being. He’ll be remembered best for the masterpiece that is Lanark, but everything he wrote reflected his brilliance.”
Gray, who wrote, designed and illustrated his books, is best known for his debut work Lanark, which was published in 1981 and is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s greatest pieces of literature. It famously took Gray nearly 30 years to complete after he started work on it while at Glasgow School of Art from 1952-57.
He studied design and mural painting, and went on to make his living from writing, painting and teaching. Gray was honoured with a major exhibition at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove gallery in 2014 to mark his 80th birthday, but he had been unable to walk since suffering a serious injury in a fall outside his home in 2015.
Francis Bickmore, Gray’s editor at Canongate, said: “It seems hard to believe that Alasdair was mortal and might ever leave us. At least through Gray’s phenomenal body of work, he leaves a legacy that will outlive us all.”
Edinburgh International Book Festival director Nick Barley said: “Scotland has been blessed with a host of great writers over the past 50 years, but if history remembers only one, it will likely be Alasdair Gray. He was a bright star in a luminous constellation of northern lights, a gamechanger whose boundlessly innovative, cross-disciplinary thinking paved the way for so many others to succeed.”
Sarah Mason, programme director at the Saltire Society, said: “His inspiration has reached generations and will continue to do so for many more to come.”
In a tribute on Twitter, author Irvine Welsh said: “Alasdair Gray was a unique talent. In Lanark, and 1982 Janine especially, he wrote two of the greatest Scottish novels and influenced a creative generation.”
Crime writer Ian Rankin posted: “Remembering Alasdair Gray by reading his words and looking at his art. He’s gone; they remain.”
“Scotland has been blessed with a host of great writers over the past 50 years, but if history remembers only one, it will likely be Alasdair Gray.” NICK BARLEY Edinburgh Book Festival director