A BBC Radio 4 Book Club Event

Lanark

A must-read becomes a must-listen.

Join us as we celebrate the long-awaited arrival of Lanark in audio, brought to life by award-winning actor Alan Cumming.

BBC Radio 4’s Bookclub programme, presented by James Naughtie, will be recording a special episode at the Winter Words Festival 2026 to celebrate the forty-fifth anniversary of Lanark: A Life In Four Books. It was Alasdair Gray’s first novel, and when it was published in 1981, it marked the arrival of a generational talent and has since been hailed as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.  So who better to speak of this than one of Scotland’s other finest exports, Alan Cumming, who is also a successful novelist and memoirist in his own right, and the voice behind the new audiobook of Lanark, which will be published by Canongate next year.  

Hailed by the Observer as “probably the greatest novel of the century”, Alasdair Gray’s modern masterpiece returns in a vivid new form, offering listeners a fresh way to experience one of Scotland’s most influential works of fiction.

A visionary blend of dystopia, realism and myth, Lanark moves between the disintegrating cities of Unthank and Glasgow, weaving together the stories of Lanark and Duncan Thaw. Darkly playful, political and deeply humane, it explores our struggle to love and our irresistible compulsion to keep trying.

First published in 1981, Lanark established Alasdair Gray as a towering figure in contemporary British literature and helped catalyse a new era in Scottish writing. His body of work includes seven novels, numerous short stories, stage and radio plays, and the illustrated volume A Life in Pictures. Yorgos Lanthimos’s Oscar-winning adaptation of Gray’s Poor Things has further cemented his international legacy.

Bookclub is one of Radio 4’s longest-running and most-loved programmes, and it’s based on audience questions. If you’d like to come along, please email bookclub@bbc.co.uk with the question you’d like to ask. 

Make the most of your visit…