SOME OF the world’s greatest artists, writers, poets and thinkers were born in Glasgow.
As we continue our search for the Greatest Glaswegian of all time, the arts are in the spotlight.
Today, we reveal the penultimate two contenders of our 50 finalists.
Once all have been unveiled, a public vote will open to give you the chance to vote for your number one.
He has been described as the nearest Scotland has to a Leonardo da Vinci, and “perhaps the greatest living writer” in the UK.
READ MORE:
The story of the city's Alasdair Gray murals
In typically down to earth fashion, Alasdair Gray, who was born in Riddrie in 1934, once described himself as a “fat, bespectacled, balding, increasingly old Glasgow pedestrian.”
His impact on the arts world is immense – he is best known as a writer, notably for his surreal atmospheric novel Lanark, but he is also an artist, a playwright, a polemicist and a poet and he has won many awards.
Gray’s family was evacuated from Glasgow during World War II but he later returned to attend Whitehill Senior Secondary School and Glasgow School of Art. He went on to work as a part-time teacher and a scene painter for local theatres. Throughout the 1960s and 70s he wrote plays for television, radio and the stage. He worked on his first novel, the highly-acclaimed Lanark, for decades and when it was finally published in 1981, it was hailed as a landmark of Scottish literature.
In 2001 he became a professor of creative writing at the University of Glasgow. Throughout his career, Gray’s murals, writings, and political activism endorsed socialism, opposed war and nuclear arms, and advocated Scottish independence. He is one of the most recognisable figures of Scottish literature.
Dame Carol Ann Duffy smashed a really ancient glass ceiling when she became the first woman to hold the position of Poet Laureate in the UK, a post that had been introduced in the seventeenth century. She also overcame prejudice to hold the post – it had been suggested her homosexuality had caused her to be overlooked in the past.
READ MORE:
Carol Ann Duffy pens poem to mark centenary of Armistice Day
She was born in Glasgow and raised in the Gorbals until, aged six, she and her family moved to England. She began publishing her poetry in magazines when she was a teenager and went on to write much-loved and well-received poems, plays and children’s books.
Duffy’s work brilliantly tackles the biting political and cultural issues of our times and she has opened up many opportunities for other poets through prizes, competitions and education projects across the country.
She was made a Dame in 2015.
You can catch up with all the contenders so far at eveningtimes.co.uk
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here