Who is Alasdair Gray?
Alasdair Gray (1934–2019) was a writer and artist. His books include Lanark (widely regarded as a masterpiece of Scottish fiction), Poor Things, Unlikely Stories, Mostly, 1982, Janine and his Englishing of Dante’s Divine Trilogy. As well as designing and illustrating his own books, his art included murals, paintings, prints and more.
What is Gray Day?
Gray Day is the 25th February, an annual day-long celebration of Alasdair Gray’s life and work. The first Gray Day was held in 2021 on the 40th anniversary of the publication of Lanark, and included a Gray Day Broadcast. In 2022 and 2023, Gray Day was celebrated with a live event at the Òran Mór in Glasgow, beneath Alasdair’s celestial ceiling mural.
An array of writers, actors and musicians have joined to celebrate Alasdair for Gray Day including Ali Smith, Alan Cumming, Ian Rankin, Irvine Welsh, Gemma Cairney, Chitra Ramaswamy, Alex Kapranos, Ewen Bremner, Louise Welsh, Salena Godden, Bernard MacLaverty, Michael Pedersen, Hollie McNish, Norman Blake and more.
Photos of past Gray Days can be found in the gallery.
A selected Gray bibliography
Novels
- Lanark
- 1982, Janine
- The Fall of Kelvin Walker
- McGrotty and Ludmilla
- Poor Things
- A History Maker
- Old Men in Love
Short Story Collections
- Unlikely Stories, Mostly
- The Ends of Our Tethers
- Every Short Story 1951–2012
Non-Fiction & Others
- A Life in Pictures
- Of Me & Others
- A Gray Play Book
- McGrotty and Ludmilla
- Gray’s Englishing of Dante’s Divine trilogy: Hell, Purgatory and Paradise
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More of Alasdair Gray’s mural in the Òran Mór, Glasgow. Photo by Kat Gollock. -
A detail from Alasdair Gray’s mural at the Òran Mór in Glasgow. “What are we? Animals who want more than we need.” Photo by Kat Gollock. -
A photo from Gray Day 2022 at the Òran Mór, beneath Alasdair Gray’s mural. Photo by Kat Gollock. -
Purgatory. Cover artwork by Alasdair Gray. -
Ludmilla and McGrotty (Canongate edition, 2021). Cover artwork by Alasdair Gray. -
Alasdair at the launch of Lanark. Photo courtesy Kat Rolley, @alasdairgrayrereads. -
Val McDermid reading from Paradise at Gray Day 2022. Photo by Kat Gollock. - Full gallery →

Alasdair Gray in Other Places
Archivists & Publishers
Galleries And the like
Assorted others
- At BBC Arts
- A Life in Progress (documentary)
- Wikipedia entry