Creative work inspired by Alasdair Gray

“Welcome to our creative collaboration of projects and personal perspectives inspired by Alasdair Gray - the SPIRIT of our Gray Space.
A Gray Space is a reanimation of Alasdair in a body of new work. As eclectic and unexpected as our inspiration, we embrace all forms of creativity from tattoos and literary translation to films and disability theatre. Enter, explore and be inspired.”
— Kat, Anita and Tracy

Our Gray Space

Creative ideas, projects and personal perspectives inspired by Alasdair Gray.

Purple Alasdair Gray drawing of winged baby curled inside brain cavity of a skull

Head is our Gray matter - what we’re thinking

Explore articles and ideas inspired by Alasdair and his work...

See what’s in our head

Heart is our Gray DNA - what we’re feeling

Discover how friends, fans, family and collaborators describe Alasdair...

Find our beating heart

Red emblematic Alasdair Gray drawing of heart with outspread wings

Hands is our Gray projects - what we’re doing

Tour Alasdair’s home, hear him read and browse our tattoo gallery…

Join hands with us

Green Alasdair Gray drawing of clasped hands with older lined one supporting smaller soft one

Who is Alasdair Gray?

Startled looking middle-aged white man with dishevelled hair and glasses, wearing a red shirt, tweed waistcoat and tie. He's standing in front of an easel stacked with paints and paintings and carrying mugs and a carton of milk.

Alasdair Gray was a visionary Scottish artist and writer famous for his bold, genre-blending novels and distinctive visual style. Best known for his novels Lanark and Poor Things, Alasdair’s powerfully personal and imaginative work reshaped Scottish literature - and he was also Kat and Tracy’s Uncle.

Explore what Alasdair means to us…

Alasdair Gray in his own words…

”I’ve always felt that stories and pictures were a way of keeping people I knew alive and as they were. The portraits for instance, that show people young and middle aged long after they’re dead! And keep them remembered long after they’re forgotten, I hope!”

Read audio transcript

Alasdair’s books are often autobiographical…

Aspects of Alasdair’s life found their way into many of his books, in particular Lanark which is strongly autobiographical. Read the reviews and personal stories behind some of Alasdair’s best known books:

Dustjacket of Alasdair Gray’s Lanark with drawing of strong naked woman holding aloft a white disc with a gold sun inside it. She's surrounded by a landscape with faces, buildings and a baby being born. Words inside an outline of an arrow say Lanark
Dustjacket of Alasdair Gray’s Poor Things with coloured illustration of large man cradling small man and woman on his knee.

Lanark

A personal tragedy...?

Poor Things

Monstrously good fun...?

Dustjacket of Alasdair Gray’s 1982 Janine with a drawing of a naked man whose outstretched arms and legs touch an enclosing circle.
Dustjacket of Alasdair Gray’s Something Leather with drawing of a strong young white woman with hands on hips looking directly at us. She has long dark hair, white shirt, black skirt and low-heeled black boots.

Something Leather

Feminism and fetishism...?

1982 Janine

Alasdair's best novel...?

Our featured projects

Discover Alasdair Gray’s creative DNA…

A man sits at a desk in a dim workspace beside the words “Decidedly driven.” Below are six skull icons with symbols and gold labels: multi-talented, self determined, ambitious, always working, back, forward.

Visit paradise, hell and everywhere in between - an interactive experience featuring Alasdair creative collaborators.

Discover Alasdair’s creative DNA

Explore Alasdair Gray’s home and work space…

Flattened 360 image of Alasdair Gray’s large old-fashioned front room with red ceiling and cream walls covered in books and pictures

Immerse yourself in a reconstruction of Alasdair Gray’s home studio in 360 and interactive video.

Explore A Gray’s place

Browse our gallery of Alasdair Gray tattoos…

White arm with black and gold tattoo of a winged embryo inside the brain cavity of a skull. Inset is a page from an album full of different versions of the same image.

Find inspiration in our inked art gallery of Alasdair Gray tattoos and the stories behind them.

Browse our tattoo gallery

Spotlight on Poor Things…

Yorgos Lanthimos's extraordinary 2023 adaptation of Poor Things captured our imagination. But the book behind the film more than matches it for creativity and strange visions.

Bella Baxter is heroine for all times - funny, feminist and fearless – and Alasdair Gray’s version of her story is interwoven with political points, false documents, editorial disputes and his own illustrations.

Whatever you already know about Poor Things the movie and the book, we’ve got more to explore…

Dustjacket of Alasdair Gray’s Poor Things with coloured illustration of large man cradling small man and woman on his knee.

Enjoy personal perspectives on the book in Poor Things: Monstrously good fun.

Movie poster with black text titled Poor Things. Surreal image of a young woman with dark hair and striking blue eyes. To the right are the word POOR THINGS Written by Tony McNamara FINAL CUT Based on the novel POOR THINGS by Alasdair Gray

Discover how Tony McNamara created the screenplay in Adapting Poor Things.

Dustjacket of Alasdair Gray’s Poor Things with coloured illustration of Victorian interior + Poor Things movie poster of young woman wearing badly applied blue and purple eyeliner and red lipstick.

Find out more about a match made in heaven Alasdair Gray + Yorgos Lanthimos.

Man smiling on a seaside balcony, holding a copy of Poor Things by Alasdair Gray, with ocean waves, beach, and coastal buildings visible in the background.

Imagine Poor Things as a young adult novel in Poor Wee Things.

Red emblematic Alasdair Gray drawing of heart with outspread wings

Our Gray DNA…

What does it mean to be Gray?

What does Alasdair Gray mean to us?

Discover how writers, artists, friends and fans describe Alasdair and his work in over 30 personal perspectives. Explore more…

A heart-shaped border surrounds a quote by A.L. Kennedy about Alasdair's kindness and love, with a light gray background.
A red heart shaped outline encloses quote text that says "People sort of assumed it (Lanark) would be a great novel. It's completely remarkable that this collective prediction should have come true." Attributed to William Boyd.