Daniel Gray
Email:
danielgray2009@gmail.comWebsite:
www.stramashthebook.comBRAW network:
noLL funded:
yesPublisher:
Luath PressBiography:
I am an Englishman fascinated by my adopted Scottish homeland, from its social history to its wee fitba’ teams. My first writing project was a story I wrote about an overweight spaceman when I was at primary school. My most recent was a book named Stramash: Tackling Scotland’s Towns and Teams. I’m only mildly confident the latter was a better piece of work. I live in Leith with my very Scottish wife.About writer's work:
I’m interested in the ‘story’ part of ‘history’, i.e. the interesting, often amusing part. My aim is to write history in an accessible, colourful way, with the odd joke thrown in. For Stramash I added a travel element to my writing, which is the direction I’m moving towards with future books (and not only because I like being on trains).
Before Stramash, I wrote Homage to Caledonia: Scotland and the Spanish Civil War, later turning it into an STV miniseries and a Fringe show (with the help of others, obviously). Before that, I co-authored The Historical Dictionary of Marxism. I am still waiting to sell the film rights.
On the back of Homage, I gave around 50 talks, shows and workshops, with audiences ranging from schoolchildren to the entire population of the Isle of Muck.
About writer's events and projects:
I enjoy doing readings – though always write something fresh rather than read directly from my books – to audiences of all ages and knowledge. I get quite impassioned as a speaker, and have only ever sent one person to sleep (it was warm in that room, ok?) I can also bring images or footage – from old football pictures to TV interviews with men that fought in the Spanish Civil War – to enhance talks, and even a Spanish guitarist. At the moment, I am writing a talk named ‘A Yorkshireman’s Scotland’, which is based on my travels around the country’s forgotten, nether regions for Stramash.
I have gained particular pleasure from working with younger audiences, for instance in a workshop with secondary pupils in which we used the Spanish Civil War as a starting point for creative writing exercises. I am keen to use Stramash in schools, too, as its themes can be used to cover a number of topics from creative writing through to history and even maths.
Language:
EnglishAge groups:
9-12, Teens, AdultsBooks written
Homage to Caledonia (‘Important and powerful’ – Tony Benn) is the story of Scotland’s colossal role in Spain’s civil war, a conflict many see as the first act of WWII. Gray uses letters ...
Part travel log, part history and part mistakenly spilling ketchup on the face of a small child, Stramash (‘a great way to rediscover Scotland’ – The Herald) takes an uplifting and insightful ...
