In 1993 Alasdair Gray sent his sister Mora a cassette tape in reply to one of her letters. On it he reads the whole of this bitter-sweet short story Time Travel – which was published the same year with some revisions in Ten Tales Tall And True and later in Every Short Story. With thanks to: Alasdair Gray; David Thomas - technical advice and support; Berniya Hamie – closing piano; Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: Ten Tales Tall And True by Alasdair Gray. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.  

Alasdair Gray rereads

Unlikely Stories: Time Travel

In 1993 Alasdair Gray sent his sister Mora a cassette tape in reply to one of her letters. He ends it with this excerpt from Lanark and an explanation of why he only included the miserable aspects of his childhood in the novel. With thanks to: Alasdair Gray; David Thomas - technical advice and support; Berniya Hamie – closing piano; Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: Lanark by Alasdair Gray. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Lanark: Chapter 40. Provan

In 1993 Alasdair Gray sent his sister Mora a cassette tape in reply to one of her letters. On it he reads bits of his work he thinks she'll enjoy - including this excerpt from the Climax of Lanark that’s clearly based on memories of spending time with his own son, Andrew. With thanks to: Alasdair Gray; David Thomas - technical advice and support; Berniya Hamie – closing piano; Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: Lanark by Alasdair Gray. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Lanark: Chapter 41. Climax

In 1993 Alasdair Gray sent his sister Mora a cassette tape in reply to one of her letters. On it he reads bits of his work he thinks she'll enjoy including this poem from 'In a Cold Room 1952 - 57' - the first of four verse sequences in Old Negatives. With thanks to: Alasdair Gray; David Thomas - technical advice and support; Berniya Hamie – closing piano; Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: Old Negatives: 4 verse sequences by Alasdair Gray. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Poetry: The Unit

Alasdair Gray rereads his own choice of short story, the slyly sinister The Trendelenburg Position. It was originally published in 1993 and although Alasdair never owned a television - and only engaged with digital technology via his assistants - the story is surprisingly prescient and still seems relevant today. With thanks to:Alasdair Gray;David Thomas - technical advice and support;Berniya Hamie – closing piano;Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: Every Short Story 1951 - 2012 by Alasdair Gray. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Unlikely Stories: The Trendelenburg Position

Alasdair Gray continues rereading Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Sadly there wasn’t time for him to finish the whole book! But I found it so gripping I had to borrow it and read to the end. With thanks to: Alasdair Gray; David Thomas - technical advice and support; Berniya Hamie – closing piano; Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Childhood favourites: Treasure Island continued

Alasdair Gray rereads the opening chapters of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure story, Treasure Island. Alasdair particularly admired the way Stevenson opened his novels and credited him with providing the model for the opening paragraph of his own novel, Poor Things. With thanks to:  Alasdair Gray;  David Thomas - technical advice and support;  Berniya Hamie – closing piano;  Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Childhood favourites: Treasure Island

Alasdair Gray and his sister Mora recite and reread Edward Lear’s limericks and nonsense rhymes – which leads them on to childhood quarrels, other favourite books and poems and the huge influence of author-illustrators on Alasdair’s own art. With thanks to:  Alasdair Gray & Mora Rolley;  David Thomas - technical advice and support;  Berniya Hamie – closing piano;  Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: Nonsense Omnibus by Edward Lear. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Childhood favourites: Edward Lear & others

Alasdair Gray rereads the passage from Chapter 22 of Lanark that includes his most quoted excerpt - where Thaw explains to his friend McAlpin why nobody notices the magnificence of the city they live in. With thanks to:  Alasdair Gray;  David Thomas - technical advice and support;  Berniya Hamie – closing piano;  Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: Lanark by Alasdair Gray. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Lanark: Glasgow is a magnificent city…

Alasdair Gray reads his own favourite excerpt from Lanark – Chapter 44. End. This podcast is in memory of my beloved Uncle who left us on the 29th of December. When I asked him why he had chosen this chapter he said "because it's the end and, I think, a rather good one". I'm so pleased to be able to say that Alasdair's own death - like his life - was a good one. With thanks to:  Alasdair Gray;  David Thomas - technical advice and support;  Berniya Hamie – closing piano;  Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: Lanark by Alasdair Gray. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Lanark: Chapter 44. End

Alasdair Gray rereads an excerpt from the Epilogue of his novel Lanark - where the hero meets his author and argues against his forthcoming death. With thanks to:  Alasdair Gray;  David Thomas - technical advice and support;  Berniya Hamie – closing piano;  Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: Lanark by Alasdair Gray. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Lanark: Epilogue

Alasdair Gray explains how H G Wells’s description of interplanetary conflict in The War Of The Worlds - informed by socialism and the brutality of the British Empire - quickly became a dominant narrative and rereads excerpts from the Wells novel that particularly impressed him - The First Men On The Moon. With thanks to:  Alasdair Gray;  David Thomas - technical advice and support;  Berniya Hamie – closing piano;  Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: The First Men on the Moon by H G Wells. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Other Worlds: The First Men On The Moon

Alasdair Gray rereads the first part of his essay New Kelvingrove from Of Me And Others - in which he describes how childhood visits to Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum fuelled his imagination and aided his obsession with creating and escaping to other worlds. With thanks to:  Alasdair Gray;  David Thomas - technical advice and support;  Berniya Hamie – closing piano;  Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: Of Me And Others by Alasdair Gray. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Other Worlds: Of Me And Others – New Kelvingrove

Alasdair Gray rereads another excerpt from the stories that so terrified him as a child and explains how Edgar Allen Poe’s The Imp Of The Perverse relates to Freud’s death wish. With thanks to:  Alasdair Gray;  David Thomas - technical advice and support;  Berniya Hamie – closing piano;  Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: The Imp Of The Perverse by Edgar Allen Poe. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Other Worlds: The Imp Of The Perverse

Alasdair Gray describes the terror he experienced as a child on first reading the stories of Edgar Allan Poe and rereads the start of one of his most famous works – The Fall Of The House Of Usher. With thanks to:  Alasdair Gray; David Thomas - technical advice and support;  Berniya Hamie – closing piano;  Matthew Robinson – rereads logos. Featured book: The Fall Of The House Of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe. You can follow @alasdairgrayrereads on Instagram for news, pictures and previews of upcoming episodes.

Other Worlds: The Fall Of The House Of Usher

Iconic Scottish writer Alasdair Gray revisits and rereads favourite books

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Alasdair Gray rereads

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