The Agnes Owens Archive (AOA) is a dedicated collection housed within The Alasdair Gray Archive (AGA). It is the first standalone satellite archive created by the AGA, designed to illuminate the network of influence surrounding Alasdair Gray. In The Ends of Our Tethers, Gray described Agnes Owens as “the most unfairly neglected of all living Scottish authors” and this archive aims to support a fuller recognition of her work and legacy.

Our collection began with an initial donation of more than 700 items—including press articles, photographs, correspondence, and draft manuscripts—kindly gifted by Agnes’ son, John Crosbie. The archive continues to grow through ongoing donations and newly recorded oral histories, gathered as part of a Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities Collaborative Doctoral Award project led by researcher Laura MacDonald.

All of our work is focused on deepening understanding of Owens’ creative process and the cultural context in which she wrote, both within Scotland and beyond. Our approach to curating the collection is informed by AGA practices; we have used Owens’ published and unpublished titles as an organising principle, with archival boxes dedicated to each work.

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