An international conference exploring and celebrating the works of Alasdair Gray is to take place later this year – and will see participants travel between Glasgow sites associated with the author and artist.
Making Imagined Objects: The 2nd International Alasdair Gray Conference will be a series of talks, debates, exhibitions and social events on the acclaimed Glaswegian writer, whose works included Lanark, 1982, Janine and A History Maker, as well as many paintings and murals. He died in 2019, aged 85.
Writers, artists and academics will lead the events in the conference, on 16-17 June. Attendees will travel together to locations where Gray’s artwork is displayed, including the opening venue of the Òran Mór cultural centre, Hillhead subway station, Garscube Links and the Hunterian Museum. They will also view the Alasdair Gray Archive at the Whisky Bond and Domestic Bliss, a Gallery of Modern Art exhibition featuring his works.
The conference will examine the nature, value and legacy of Alasdair Gray's artistic output, considering his literary work and his visual practice, and the relationship between the two in Gray's oeuvre.
Speakers will include artist Nichol Wheatley, Sorcha Dallas, custodian of the Alasdair Gray Archive, Jenny Brownrigg, Exhibitions Director of the Glasgow School of Art, and award-winning author Ali Smith.
Dr Rodge Glass, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde, wrote an award-winning biography of Gray and is Chair of the Conference Committee. He said:” We’re really excited to be organising the biggest gathering yet of folk interested in Gray Studies from across the world in a conference like no other.
“In the spirit of Alasdair’s work, it will be inclusive, interdisciplinary, and interactive. And it can only happen in Glasgow, Gray’s own city, which was so often the artist’s subject – being able to visit Gray’s major visual artworks in the landscape will also be a real highlight.”
The conference will be held online and in person and follows an online-only Symposium in 2021, which attracted 220 attendees in 17 countries.
Registration for the conference is now open.
Dr Glass is Convener of Strathclyde’s MLitt in Creative Writing. The University also offers Scotland’s only undergraduate English & Creative Writing course.