Agnes Owens (24 May 1926 – 13 October 2014) was a Scottish author.
Life
Owens was born in
Milngavie
Milngavie ( ; gd, Muileann-Ghaidh) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland and a suburb of Glasgow. It is on the Allander Water, at the northwestern edge of Greater Glasgow, and about from Glasgow city centre. It neighbours Bearsden. Milngav ...
in 1926 and spent most of her life on the west coast of Scotland Her father worked in a paper mill, and had lost a leg in the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. She did not do well at school and went on to learn typing at college, before she married for the first time to a man who was badly affected by his experiences in the war and drank heavily. Her first husband, to whom she bore four children, died at the age of 43.
Later, Owens found her second husband Patrick and had three more children. During her life, as well as bringing up her seven children, she variously held jobs as a cleaner, typist and factory worker.
In 1987, her youngest son Patrick was murdered at the age of 19, and for a number of years afterwards she did not write.
Owens died on 13 October 2014, in the
Vale of Leven
The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ' ...
following a long illness.
Writing
Owens came to attention through a writer's group led by
Liz Lochhead
Liz Lochhead Hon FRSE (born 26 December 1947) is a Scottish poet, playwright, translator and broadcaster. Between 2011 and 2016 she was the Makar, or National Poet of Scotland, and served as Poet Laureate for Glasgow between 2005 and 2011.
E ...
Alasdair Gray
Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. His first novel, ''Lanark'' (1981), is seen as a landmark of Scottish fiction. He published novels, short stories, plays, poetry and translations, and ...
and
James Kelman
James Kelman (born 9 June 1946) is a Scottish novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist. His novel '' A Disaffection'' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1989. Kelman won ...
. It was said that the by then middle aged Owens had only attended the class originally "to get out of the house". She went on to draw upon her background in a series of novels noted for their accomplishment, brutal humour and powers of observation.
In his postscript to '' Lean Tales'' Alasdair Gray describes the early part of Owens' writing career:
"Her first novel, ''Gentlemen of the West'', was returned by a publisher who said that he might consider printing it if a famous Scottish comedian said something about it which could be used as an advertisement. She posted the typescript to the comedian who put it on that pile of unsolicited correspondence which no famous person has time to answer. Industry in the Vale of Leven started closing even faster than in the rest of Britain. Westclox limited went into liquidation and Agnes did what our dynamic prime minister would do if the Thatcher family had to go on the dole: she hunted for part-time cleaning jobs. She worked for a while in the house of the comedian who had received her typescript a few years before, and got it back." The first novel was published in 1984, and the famous comedian mentioned was
Billy Connolly
Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...
.
In 1985, Owens contributed eight stories to a collection together with Kelman and Gray, ''Lean Tales''. Her writing career was then interrupted following the death of her son. In 1994 however she published ''A Working Mother'' about marriage to an alcoholic, and followed this up in 1998 with ''For the Love of Willie''.
Alasdair Gray described Owens as "the most unfairly neglected of all living Scottish authors".
Novellas
*''Gentlemen of the West'', 1984
*''Like Birds in the Wilderness'', 1987
*''A Working Mother'', 1994
*''For the Love of Willie'', 1998 (shortlisted for the 1998 Stakis Prize)
*''Bad Attitudes/Jen’s Party'', 2004
*''The Complete Novellas'', 2009 ontains all the above
James Kelman
James Kelman (born 9 June 1946) is a Scottish novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist. His novel '' A Disaffection'' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1989. Kelman won ...
&
Alasdair Gray
Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. His first novel, ''Lanark'' (1981), is seen as a landmark of Scottish fiction. He published novels, short stories, plays, poetry and translations, and ...