Alan Bissett & Sorcha Dallas on Alasdair Gray

Recorded at the Alasdair Gray Archive

Well. Let’s just say we’re celebrating the fantastical Glasgow polymath, Alasdair Gray. 

The writer, painter, playwright and poet has mapped out the city in vivid murals, the recent Hollywood adaptation of his novel Poor Things starred Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe, and his landmark epic, Lanark, exists in a brilliant realm like no other – and it’s been a huge influence on many of the special guests who’re appearing at this year’s Gray Day celebrations, at Oran Mor on February 25th.

The annual event takes place in what would be Alasdair’s 90th year – and it’s all beneath his celestial mural in the auditorium… Performers include comedians Ashley Storrie and Christopher Macarthur-Boyd, and writers Alan Bissett and Sara Sheridan, not to mention new animations and the involvement of composer, musician and visionary Scott Twynholm…

I’ll be hosting proceedings, and if you move fast you can still get the remaining tickets. (Update: it’s sold out!)

Gray Day is thanks to the terrific Alasdair Gray Archive, helmed by custodian and long-term friend of Alasdair’s, Sorcha Dallas – and in this year it’s in cahoots with Glasgow International Comedy Festival…

Sorcha and she warmly welcomed Alan Bissett and I into that magical archive – as she always does – and plied us with coffee in Gray-inspired mugs, and we chatted a bit more about his legacy, his imagination, his roving work – and what’s coming up…

You can listen on all podcast platforms, or below – thank you!