He reckoned what Joyce did for Dublin made him think: ‘I’d like to do that in Glasgow’. He spoke of those writers he admired and books that influenced him, such as, Kafka’s ‘The Trial’ and Joyce’s ‘Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man’. He cited ‘ambition and vanity’ as the key factors. He was asked about his inspiration in writing Lanark and what sustained him in the completion of this immense task. I think it’s fair to say that he was in his element and the Q and A Session saw him in full rambling, eccentric and entertaining flight. Zoe Strachan was very comfortable in her role as host and Alasdair could not have been more at ease. He appeared to have great fun mulling over works such as Poe’s ‘The Raven’ but ultimately let the poem stand as it was. He entertained us with his study of other epic poems where words were longer, albeit, lacking in a clear meaning. He explained that he was happy with it apart from the last verse – where the words were too short and prosaic. What more could you ask for.Īlasdair began by explaining to a crowded university chapel that he was going to read a long poem called ‘Humanitad’, which he had just completed. Some days the West End is the perfect place to be: Alasdair Gray in the University Chapel. I had a great time at Creative Conversations yesterday.
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