The late Scottish writer William McIlvanney has been given an honorary title by the University of Glasgow, which will accepted at his memorial service today.
The honorary title, a Doctor of Literature (D.Litt) will be accepted by his daughter Siobhan McIlvanney on behalf of her father at the memorial service which will take place at 3pm on Saturday April 2, at the University's Bute Hall.
The service is open to all, and will include a number of noted speakers.
Tributes will include the author Allan Massie who will talk about McIlvanney's literary achievements; crime writer Val McDermid who will speak on his crime writing; author Ali Smith remembering him as a creative writing teacher; Francis Bickmore of Canongate publishers describing the republication of his books; and Herald sports writer and friend Hugh MacDonald reflecting on his qualities as a journalist.
The service will be introduced by McIlvanney's friend, the journalist Ruth Wishart.
There will also be readings by actor David Hayman and contributions from his daughter Siobhan McIlvanney and his brother Hugh McIlvanney, and songs will be sung by Sheena Wellington.
McIlvanney, who died on December 5 last year at the age of 79, graduated from the university in 1960 after studying English.
Siobhan McIlvanney said: "The University of Glasgow was Dad’s alma mater – as it was my brother Liam’s and my own – and I know how pleased he was when the University contacted him last year to tell him that they would like to award him the degree.
"In fact, the last piece of writing he ever did was a brief note confirming his acceptance.
"Attending the University of Glasgow as an English and History undergraduate in the late 1950s not only instigated his deep affection for the city itself, an affection to which his writing repeatedly bears witness, but represented a significant stage in Dad’s intellectual development."
She added: "Above all else, he valued the atmosphere of openness the university fostered and relished the opportunity to exchange ideas with his peers.
"His time here confirmed his belief in learning as a lifelong objective, whether through reading, writing or discussion.
"There was no academic institution closer to Dad’s heart than the University of Glasgow and I am very proud to represent him for the conferment of the honorary degree."
Professor Roibeard O Maolalaigh, vice-principal and head of the college of arts, who will confer the degree, said: "The College of Arts and the University of Glasgow are very proud to have William McIlvanney as one of our most distinguished and talented alumni.
"He was an inspirational figure who made an outstanding contribution to Scottish life and culture in an astonishing array of different spheres.
"He was one of Scotland’s most accessible intellectuals who captured accurately and gracefully so many facets of the human condition. It is entirely fitting that his alma mater should honour and recognise his extraordinary contribution."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
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