AUTHOR James Kelman and a host of musicians are to appear at an event on December 1 to mark 100 years since revolutionary socialist John Maclean’s return to Glasgow from prison.
Henry Bell will also talk about his new book John Maclean: Hero of Red Clydeside at the event, which is hosted by the Scottish Labour History Society and is a fundraiser for the Living Rent Campaign.
National columnist Cat Boyd will introduce the night’s speakers, which include Nicola Fisher from teachers’ union the EIS, as well as the musicians Arthur Johnstone, Declan Welsh and Heir Of The Cursed, the captivating project from Glasgow-based Kenyan singer-songwriter Beldina Odenyo Onassis.
An outspoken opponent of the First World War, Maclean was released from Peterhead prison after the November armistice in 1918, having been sentenced to five years for sedition by a UK Government fearful of an insurrection in Glasgow to mirror the uprisings in Dublin, Berlin and Petrodgrad.
He died in November 1922 while giving a speech, his health weakened by the force feeding he had been subjected to in prison.
“John Maclean is perhaps the greatest hero of the Scottish left and a key figure in the history of the Scottish independence movement,” said Bell, whose biography of the radical has been acclaimed by historian Tom Devine, Scotland’s Makar Jackie Kay and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Bell added: “This new book tries to get beyond the myth to find what Maclean truly said and felt. It looks at why he sacrificed everything for the struggle and what he should mean to us today.”
December 1, Stereo, Glasgow, 7pm, £5 to £10. Tickets: bit.ly/JohnMacStereo
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