Gray Day is the 25th February, an annual day-long celebration of Alasdair Gray’s life and work.
We chose the date of the 25th February as this was the publication date of his ground breaking work of fiction, Lanark, in 1981. For more information about Gray Day: grayday.info
2021: A Gray Broadcast
The first ever Gray Day was held in the midst of the global pandemic. We wanted to still all come together so to celebrate so we created a special broadcast, hosted by Neu Reekie, with the Alasdair Gray Archive & Canongate Books. Featuring guests: Ali Smith, Yann Martel, Alan Cumming, Ian Rankin, Denise Mina, Irvine Welsh, Gemma Cairney, Chitra Ramaswamy, Alex Kapranos, Ewen Bremner, Louise Welsh, Salena Godden, Gavin Mitchell, Bernard MacLaverty, Rodge Glass, Eugene Kelly, Liz Lochhead, Hollie McNish, and more. Special thanks to the Òran Mór in Glasgow.
2022: Gray’s Divine Comedy
The first ‘live’ Gray Day 2022 happened underneath Alasdair’s masterwork auditorium at Oran Mor, in the heart of the neighbourhood in which he lived and worked all his adult life. To celebrate the compilation release of Gray’s Divine Comedy their was readings from Liz Lochhead, Hollie McNish, Val McDermid, music from Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) Plus Kevin Cameron (film footage) & Michael Pedersen (poetry) Brought to you by: Neu Reekie, Canongate Books, & The Alasdair Gray Archive with Òran Mór
2023: Gray Day x Poor Things
This was third annual Gray Day and a celebration of Gray’s novel Poor Things – his peculiar gothic masterpiece, as strange and marvellous a creation as Bella Baxter herself (and a 2023 fim release from director Yorgos Lanthimos) The event was hosted by author, playwright & performer Alan Bissett with readings from Bernard MacLaverty, Rodge Glass, Chitra Ramaswamy, Michael Pedersen and an acoustic set from Jill Lorean. Their was film screenings of ‘Our History’ on the history of The Alasdair Gray Archive by Kevin Cameron and ‘Magnificent Citizen’ by Marissa Keating and Cara Connolly for The National Galleries of Scotland.
2024: Gray Day – A Family Friendly Celebration
For this year’s Gray Day celebration, we decided to start proceedings earlier in the day to cultivate a space perfect for Gray enthusiasts of all ages. There was a packed schedule including readings by host Tam Dean Burn, a print workshop with Claire Forsyth of the Glasgow Print Studio, writer Denise Mina discussing her new creative commission with Rodge Glass, and a talk from Nichol Wheatley about working with Alasdair on his murals. We had the Travelling Archive on display, as well as our pop-up shop and a range of Alasdair’s original prints for sale. We even had an on-site nail bar with Nine Inch Nails where guests could get a set of Poor Things inspired nails!
The day was an amazing experience for kids and grown ups alike, and we look forward to many more Gray Days to come.
2025: A Celebration of Alasdair Gray at 90
Curated by AGA’s Custodian, Sorcha Dallas, our fifth annual Gray Day honoured the life and work of renowned Scottish polymath, Alasdair Gray, in what would have been his 90th birthday year. For it we celebrated his seismic impact on art and culture through an evening of celebration, including readings, performances, comedic interpretations and new animations, aptly staged under his masterwork auditorium at Òran Mór.
The event was hosted by arts writer and broadcaster, Nicola Meighan. It featured presentations from Christopher Macarthur-Boyd, Ashley Storrie and Alan Bissett (developed in partnership with Glasgow International Comedy Festival (GICF) and supported by the Glasgow 850 Festival Fund). AGA and GICF collaborated for the first time on these commissions inspired by the fact that humour was a defining thread across Gray’s work. All three comedians were invited to spend time at The Alasdair Gray Archive in Glasgow, researching his words, images and art, and speaking to its Custodian as part of their research. Also there was an exclusive reading of award-winning writer Sara Sheridan’s brand new short story Found, commissioned by AGA in partnership with Creative Writing at The University of Strathclyde. Found explores, through fictionalising archival sources, Gray’s mural artworks and the enduring legacy they have on Glasgow’s ongoing history. Screened alongside this was a series of new animations by the Communication Design 4th year students at The Glasgow School of Art responding to Scott Twynholm’s original score used in the 2014 documentary film on Alasdair Gray by Kevin Cameron, A Life in Progress.
2026: Reimagined Glasgow – 45 Years of Lanark
The Alasdair Gray Archive (AGA) proudly presents Gray Day 2026, the sixth annual celebration honouring the life and work of the acclaimed Scottish polymath Alasdair Gray. Curated by AGA Custodian Sorcha Dallas, this special evening marked 45 years since the publication of Lanark, one of the most influential works of modern Scottish literature. The event was hosted by multi-award-winning comedian and writer Josie Long, and featured original presentations by Rachelle Atalla and Alan Bissett, alongside the screening of five newly commissioned animations created by emerging animators Ann Dinh, Ollie Pearse, Yu Sun, Tintin Lindkvist Nielsen, and Miranda Peyton-Jones. The animations draw on excerpts from the newly recorded Lanark audiobook, narrated by Alan Cumming. 25 February 2026 | 7–10pm Òran Mór, Glasgow