Alexander McCall Smith

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Short story

November 2022

A Story for November: Distance and Imagination

The University of Glasgow had expected no more than twenty students to sign up for the course on Distance and Imagination but when the class first met, on an afternoon in late September, an afternoon of falling leaves and a clear, chilly sky, there were over sixty of them packed into the lecture room. It […]

November 2021

A Story for November: Australia Deprivation Syndrome

Some light-hearted writing in recognition of those who love Australia and have been unable to visit for some time.

Illustrated by… Andy Warhol

Date Published: 7th December 2020

Three months ago, the features editor at prestigious monthly magazine Harper’s Bazaar invited four of their favourite writers to contribute a short, uplifting story for their January edition (out now). The writers were Marina Lewycka, Tahmima Anam, Hannah Rothschild and our own, Alexander McCall Smith. The four stories are published under the umbrella title ‘Slices […]

Brexit Day – A Little Light Relief

Date Published: 31st January 2020

In 2007, Alexander McCall Smith wrote a short story, Brussels for Beginners, which was read on BBC Radio 4. We include it here as we mark Brexit Day – some light relief as we ponder what might lie ahead. Brussels for Beginners By Alexander McCall Smith Tommaso Rossi joined the Italian civil service at the age of […]

June 2019

A Story for June: At the Olive Pressing

  AT THE OLIVE PRESSING – “Your job!” people said to Robert. “How do you get something like that?” Robert always smiled at the question. He was used to people asking him this, and he invariably gave the same answer. “It just came my way, as it happens. They offered it to me.” Which was […]

Second Worst Restaurant in France

May 2019

A Story for May: The Second Worst Restaurant in France

A little taster of the soon-to-be-published The Second Worst Restaurant in France (publishing May 2019), sequel to My Italian Bulldozer.

March 2019

A Story for March: The Department of Sensitive Crimes

A sneak peek at the first chapter from the upcoming book, The Department of Sensitive Crimes (publishing March 2019)- the start of the new Detective Varg series.

February 2019

A Story for February: First Class

First Class A great airport, as everyone knows, is a city in itself, a microcosm of society. Within its confines almost every walk of life, every trade or profession, is represented. There are pilots, doctors, priests, engineers, electricians, negotiators, cooks and beauticians. Some of these jobs are glamorous – pilots inevitably attract admiring glances as […]

New Short Story Series Starts in The Sunday Times Online Today

Date Published: 13th January 2019

A picture can paint a thousand words, but what about a vintage photograph? New short stories inspired by The Sunday Times 20th Century photo archive start exclusively in The Sunday Times online and in the print edition of The Sunday Times Scotland today. Read them here.

New short stories to start exclusively in The Sunday Times online this weekend.

Date Published: 9th January 2019

A picture can paint a thousand words, but what about a vintage photograph? In 2015 Alexander McCall Smith wrote a book entitled Chance Developments: Unexpected Love Stories, in which he imagined the stories behind five chanced-upon black and white photographs. Who were those people, why were they smiling, what made them sad? He so enjoyed the experience that […]