Yesterday, as part of the inaugural Gray Day – a day celebrating the life and work of Alasdair Gray – saw the launch of the Gray Matters Podcast. It’s a series of interviews with friends, family, academics, and acolytes of Alasdair which will give a vital audio archive of people’s memories and thoughts on one of Scotland’s great cultural figures. The first two are with Professor Alan Riach and Alasdair’s sister Mora who both talk to Sorcha Dallas, the custodian of The Alasda

Sorcha Dallas at the Alasdair Gray Archive For the latest SWH! podcast, Ali caught up with Sorcha Dallas, the custodian of the Alasdair Gray Archive, to talk about the plans for Gray Day, which is the 25th February 2021 – the 40th anniversary of the publication of Alasdair’s debut novel Lanark, a book which had a profound impact on Scotland’s literature and culture. They talk about the day itself and what’s happening to mark it, the wide-range of people involved, the ‘Lanark’

This year was such a great one for Scottish writing that we had to split our Best Books of 2020 podcast into two parts to fit in everything we wanted to talk about. This is Part II. Ali was once again joined by Publishing Scotland‘s Vikki Reilly (right), who became a published author herself this year. The two pick their favourite books from the last 12 months, (most Scottish, but some not) and take many detours and diversions along the way. These are always among the most pl

You will read, today and in the coming days, many warm testimonies and tributes to Alasdair Gray after his sad passing this morning (29/12/19), and from people who knew him far better than I did. However, I feel I have to say something about a man who not only helped to define Scotland’s sense of self, but who changed the literary landscape alongside his friends and contemporaries, who include (among others) Tom Leonard, Liz Lochhhead, James Kelman, Agnes Owens, and Aonghas M