Continuing our Meet the Board series—meet our Secretary, Dougie Smith. With wide UK governance experience, he champions open, accessible structures. A lifelong Alasdair Gray fan, he joined in 2022 to help build a lasting legacy. 📸 by Matthew Arthur Williams.
This week we’d like to introduce our Board- Meet our Chair, Monica Callaghan—Head of Operations & Strategy @sgsah.bsky.social With 20+ years in arts leadership, she champions access, innovation, & inclusion. She joins us to support growth, learning and long-term impact. 📸 by Matthew Arthur Williams
Available for preorder now! Edinburgh University Press will publish The Edinburgh Companion to Alasdair Gray and the Arts (May 2026), inspired by the 2022 conference by @rodgeglass.bsky.social & @sorchadallas.bsky.social - a fresh look at Gray’s literary & visual world.
Delighted to share our new short film on Agnes Owens, marking her 2026 centenary, now live on AGA’s YouTube. Discover her life, work, and legacy—or watch it on a retro TV at the Lillie Art Gallery exhibition from today!
📚 Pre-orders now open! 📚
Polygon’s @birlinn.bsky.social reissued Agnes Owens titles—with new introductions by @danigaravelli.bsky.social Kirsty Logan @kirstininnes.bsky.social and @heatherparry.bsky.social are in our shop. New covers by Joan Eardley. Order via link in bio!
📚 Agnes Owens in the Archives ✨ FREE TALK ✨
23 Apr, 17:30–18:30 | National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
Celebrate Agnes Owens’ centenary and explore her archives with expert speakers @laurzzs.bsky.social @sorchadallas.bsky.social and Dr Colin McIlroy
🎟️ Book via Eventbrite (link in bio)
Thanks for joining us Stefan!
Centenary Agnes Owens tote with her striking quote, in typewriter-style font. Baby pink, 100% organic cotton. Features Calum Colvin photos. Limited run—pre-order now or buy at events. Link in bio.
Final event in our Milngavie programme for the Agnes Owens centenary ✨ Join a special Curator’s Tour of Out of the Margins with @sorchadallas.bsky.social 12 June, 11:00am, Lillie Art Gallery.
PLEASE SHARE ✨
Celebrate Agnes Owens this spring (Apr–Jun 2026) in Milngavie & Alexandria. Join the Polygon launch + live event (9 May, 4–6:30pm, Milngavie Town Hall) with readings, Q&A & signing. Tickets via Eventbrite.👇🏽
Celebrating 100 years of Agnes Owens ✨
Out of the Margins opens 18 April at Lillie Art Gallery. Featuring archival & contemporary works, it honours Owens’ powerful, place-rooted writing and lasting impact, curated by @sorchadallas.bsky.social
PLEASE SHARE ✨
Agnes Owens at 100
‘Out of the Margins’ celebrates her life & work with exhibitions, events & talks across Milngavie & Alexandria this spring. Join us to rediscover a vital Scottish voice. More details soon! Curated by @sorchadallas.bsky.social @agrayarchive.bsky.social
We can’t wait to share our plans with you tomorrow for the upcoming centenary celebrations of the life and work of Agnes Owens ✨
This marks the launch of our first satellite archive @aowensarchive.bsky.social
Stay tuned for details of upcoming events in Milngavie and Alexandria!
Happy Easter!
This spring scene, complete with bunny rabbits and daffodils, from Alasdair's wildlife mural at Palacerigg (1978) celebrates nature and wildlife, and highlights the vital part that humankind plays in its preservation and protection.
We’re taking part in ARA Scotland #Archive30! Day 4 #UntoldStories: The Alasdair Gray Archive champions radical empathy. In 2026, we celebrate Agnes Owens’ centenary and launch @aowensarchive.bsky.social, amplifying her life and work.
Sharing feedback + photos from last month’s clay workshop in the ‘Play With Gray’ series which explored process, play, and writing as a malleable form—highlighting creativity, intuition, and wellbeing.
PLEASE SHARE 🙏
Visit the us & @aowensarchive.bsky.social this April–May 2026. Tours by @sorchadallas.bsky.social (Gray collaborator since 2007). Dates: Apr 24; May 2, 8, 15, 30 at 11am. Book via Eventbrite link in bio.
Happy World Theatre Day!
Alasdair Gray’s creativity spanned theatre as well as literature. A Gray Play Book (2009) collects his stage, screen & radio work. We’re proud to continue his legacy—don’t miss ‘When Billy Met Alasdair’ by Alan Bissett tmrw night, our co-commission with GICF! Last tix left!
A Kick Up the Arts podcast
@nicolameighan.bsky.social visits the @agrayarchive.bsky.social & talks to Scottish writers Rory Watson & Alan Bissett about the wonder of words, the magic of old photographs, & the power of listening to women’s voices
💙📚
www.akickupthearts.org/blog-3-1/ror...
We are delighted to announce that the Ubiquitous Chip murals by Alasdair Gray have been Category B listed by Historic Environment Scotland as a result of our support of the designation application!
It’s World Dante Day 📖✨
Celebrating Dante’s Divine Comedy and Alasdair Gray’s final works: Hell, Purgatory & Heaven. Explore annotated editions in our archive or grab your own copy via the link in bio!
The Ubiquitous Chip in Glasgow’s Ashton Lane has been granted listed building status thanks to its murals painted by the renowned Scottish artist & author Alasdair Gray, “one of Scotland’s most well-known cultural figures of the 20th & 21st centuries”
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Celebrating World Poetry Day with Alasdair Gray reading Biography, recorded for Decemberism 2006. A simple, rhythmic reflection on life and change. Video by Rachel Hartley features archive imagery.
Huge congrats to Christopher Macarthur-Boyd for a knockout Howling at the Moon at The King’s Theatre. Sharp, hilarious takes on family, friendships & social chaos. Brilliant for us at Gray Day 2025. Comedy isn’t always recognised as an art form—but CMB proves its power.
“Glasgow’s cityscapes become both newly-colonised sci fi planets & Escher-esque lithographs… the impassive wit of the city & its surroundings is often on display”
—Heather Parry in residence at the @agrayarchive.bsky.social & the @aowensarchive.bsky.social
heatherparry.substack.com/p/in-the-mar...
For Neurodiversity Celebration Week, we spotlight cigarette cards in AGA’s collection—tiny, detailed worlds that inspired Alasdair Gray. Researched by David Lothian, whose @sgsah.bsky.social internship explored Gray & neurodivergence.
To mark Neurodiversity Celebration Week, we share new research exploring Alasdair Gray through a neurodiverse lens. Discover ‘Process, Cognition & Neurodiversity’ by @sorchadallas.bsky.social —link below 👇🏽
Meet Daniele Blee on placement with us during her PhD in Scottish Literature at @uofgartshums.bsky.social. Dani is exploring the Alasdair Gray archive to inspire a tabletop RPG, connecting Gray’s imagination with inclusive, community-driven play.
