As well as being a bestselling novelist, Alexander McCall Smith has a passion for music. He set up the No. 1 Ladies’ Opera House in Botswana to give local singers a chance to perform; plus he’s written several operas and song cycles including Silver Darlings and Fergus of Galloway. Today he discusses books, music and […]

His books have become bestsellers around the globe, but Alexander McCall Smith remains resolutely proud of, and fascinated by, his Scottish home. Today he talks with Jamie Jauncey about how the country has influenced his writing and infused his international novels, including the world-renowned The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and Scotland Street series. Tickets are available […]

A FAREWELL TO SLAVERY?—The Tumbling Lassie ‘We have no slaves in Scotland…’ This was the conclusion of a 1687 case concerning a travelling showman and a performing gymnast he’d ‘acquired’. It was the first time a Scottish court had rejected slavery. Now, thanks to the work of Alan McLean QC, composer Tom Cunningham and one […]

Philip Larkin’s work doesn’t feature in Scotland’s Best Loved Poems, but the subtitle of this event, Be Kind While There is Still Time—a line from a Larkin poem—sums up Alexander McCall Smith’s approach. Kindness is a red thread running through his novels’ lively plots, and it’s no wonder they’ve achieved global sales. Today he talks […]

Climb aboard and join celebrated Edinburgh author Alexander McCall Smith and illustrator Iain McIntosh as they share the latest exciting adventures of the School Ship Tobermory crew. This time, the team are headed down under to the land of Oz. Set sail for a wonderful hour of storytelling as Alexander also introduces two other exhilarating […]

It is 20 years since the No1 Ladies Detective Agency was published and since then a glorious torrent of fiction has flowed from Sandy’s keyboard. This year alone will see three new novels and three new children’s novels as well as the libretto for an opera and two new radio series on the Scotland Street books and […]