The estate of Agnes Owens
Agnes Owens is one of Scotland’s most original but often overlooked short fiction authors. She was always a writer, although for the majority of her life she was preoccupied with making a living and domesticity. She brought up seven children and variously worked as a typist, cleaner and factory worker. It wasn’t until she attended an evening creative writing course – taught by Alasdair Gray, James Kelman and Liz Lochhead – that she wrote her first novel Gentlemen of the West, published in 1984 to widespread critical acclaim; she would go on to write a further five novellas, including A Working Mother and For the Love of Willie, and three short-story collections. She died in 2014.
In May 2026, to mark the centenary of Agnes Owens’ birth, Polygon will publish new editions of Gentleman of the West, introduced by Dani Garavelli, Like Birds in the Wilderness, introduced by Kirsty Logan, A Working Mother, introduced by Kristin Innes, and For the Love of Willie, introduced by Liz Lochhead. Four months later, in September 2026, Polygon will publish new editions of Bad Attitudes, introduced by Jenni Fagan, Lean Tales: The Collected Short Stories, introduced by William Letford, and Jen’s Party.
The Agnes Owens Archive is a new dedicated collection housed within The Alasdair Gray Archive, focused on deepening understanding of Owens’ creative process and the cultural context in which she wrote, both within Scotland and beyond.
The Literary Estate of Agnes Owens is represented by Jenny. For all enquiries contact jenny@jennybrownassociates.com
Praise for Agnes Owens
‘I cannot wait for a new generation of readers to re-discover the work of Agnes Owens’
–Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain
‘Agnes Owens’ hallmarks have been a frank irony, a deadpan gothic quality and a down-to-
earth insistence on the surreality of most people’s normality’ –Ali Smith
‘Agnes Owens is the most unfairly neglected of all living Scottish authors’ –Alasdair Gray
‘A literary hero’ –James Kelman
