| We close Imprint 5 with Alasdair Gray – described by Will Self as “… a septuagenarian little grey deity” and by himself as a “fat, spectacled, balding, increasingly old, Glasgow pedestrian”. Gray’s first novel Lanark, is considered to be one of the landmarks of 20th century fiction. He has been described variously as novelist, national icon, polymath, playwright, teacher and poet.
Born in Glasgow in 1934 and graduating from Glasgow School of Art in 1957, Alasdair Gray struggled as an artist while writing and illustrating his ground breaking novel Lanark. 30 years in creation, Lanark is loosely autobiographical and led to him being described by Anthony Burgess as “the most important Scottish writer since Sir Walter Scott”.
Famed not only for his writing Alasdair Gray is equally revered for his unique and frequently iconoclastic illustrations, murals and paintings which have been exhibited all over the world.
The great public acclaim for this multi-talented commentator has left him unmoved. He regards his own work as “deeply unfashionable”.
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