Alistair Moffat MBE – Alexander McCall Smith delighted as great friend and fellow creative receives Honour

Date Published: 18th June 2025

Alexander was delighted to receive the news that his great friend Alistair Moffat had been awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours. The award was given for services to literature and culture.

Alistair Moffat MBE, an award-winning writer and historian, is author of more than 30 books mostly on aspects of Scotland and Scottish history. He is also the founder and director of Borders Book Festival which was taking place in Melrose as the news broke. Previously he was Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Director of Programmes at Scottish Television, and Rector of the University of St Andrews. He is also a BAFTA winning programme-maker and broadcaster.

Working together on The Great Tapestry of Scotland

The newly honoured Alistair Moffat MBE and recently (2024) honoured Sir Alexander McCall Smith worked together with artist Dr Andrew Crummy MBE (honoured 2024) and 1000+ stitchers to create The Great Tapestry of Scotland. This was a joyous project for which Alistair and Alexander were jointly chair of the trustees. Alistair created the narrative behind the beautifully designed panels. These were then hand embroidered by (mostly) women across Scotland under the guiding hand of lead stitcher Dorie Wilkie. As frequent visitors to this site will know, The Great Tapestry of Scotland now resides in a purpose built gallery in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. It achieved a much coveted Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Award in 2024 making it one of the most popular visitor attractions in the world! Reader more about a visit by BBC’s Andrew Marr here.

Alistair Moffat commented on his honour:
‘It’s a lovely surprise, and I confess to being chuffed! Most things I’ve been involved with depend on lots of other people and their superb support and I want to acknowledge that. It has been a lot of fun doing the book festival, the Great Tapestry of Scotland and writing about the history of places I love. And so to be given such a kind and generous acknowledgement in the middle of the Borders Book Festival is leaves me, well, dead chuffed’

Alistair Moffat MBE carrying a panel of the Tapestry by train.

Jan Rutherford, publicist to Alexander McCall Smith, and who worked as director of the Great Tapestry of Scotland during the making and touring phases, and is now a board member at Borders Book Festival, commented:

‘In all fields, Alistair’s work brings a certain and much-needed joy and depth to life – you know more about the world after a lively conversation, an evening in the company of one of his books, an hour in front of the panels of The Great Tapestry of Scotland, or a session at one of his festivals. This is a well-earned recognition for his work across literature and culture – in all its forms’.