A visit to Sweden Alexander has just returned from a visit to Sweden. A series of poems he wrote on the subject of trees has been used by a group of young composers as the basis for various compositions. The composers were all senior students of the Lilla Academien, Sweden’s most distinguished school for musically […]

Alexander McCall Smith is back out on the road. He has been in America and Canada over the last ten days or so, meeting readers and promoting A Song of Comfortable Chairs. This was his first return to both countries since the start of the pandemic and he very much enjoyed being back doing what he […]

‘A Day in September’ is a poem, written by Alexander McCall Smith, to mark the the occasion of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. This poem was carried on the front page of the Sunday Times, London, on 11 September You can listen to Alexander read his poem at the link below: A Day in […]

The World is full of suffering: I am writing this on Sunday evening, after a day of sun here in Edinburgh. Spring is knocking on the door – just – although the air is still a bit cold. This afternoon at three o’clock, I wrote the final sentence of the new No 1 Ladies’ Detective […]

In celebration of World Book Day and recognition of those suffering in Eastern Europe, Alexander shares this new poem: In troubled times A poem for World Book Day, 2022 Somewhere as I write these lines Armies clash, the speechless innocent flee, The rumbling armour and the fire, And skies, once clear and optimistic, Darken with […]

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency author can turn out five novels a year – but there’s one piece of kit he needs, he tells the Penguin Podcast. Few authors are as prolific as Alexander McCall Smith. The creator of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, he has written dozens of novels across eight series, along with children’s […]

Best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith is joining forces with St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh to spearhead a major two-year music, literary and education project inspired by the city’s seven hills. Seven young composers will be creating new musical works inspired by words McCall Smith has penned in tribute to the much-loved landmarks and beauty […]

The Strand Magazine prints previously unpublished works by literary masters such as John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Joseph Heller, Mark Twain, Tennessee Williams, and H.G.Wells as well as new works of fiction by today’s bestselling authors such as Alexander McCall Smith, Michael Connelly, Joseph Finder and Jeffery Deaver. This year’s Strand Magazine Lifetime Achievement Awards go to […]

Last year, we reported on a tiny little elephant rescued by Elephant Havens. They gave the young calf the name ‘Sandy’ and started a dialogue with our own Alexander (‘Sandy’ for short) and with many of you, his readers. Alexander was moved by their wonderful work which found its way into the novel, How to […]

Alexander McCall Smith CBE has been getting ready to receive the prestigious Edinburgh Award 2020. Impressions of the internationally-admired author’s hands have been cast in clay, pictured, by Leigh Bradley of the Colin Braid Stone Workshop, ready to be carved into stone. The handprints will be gilded and laid outside the City Chambers next to the prints […]

This weekend we mark the Spring Equinox and International Day of Happiness on Saturday (20 March), and World Poetry Day on Sunday (21 March). It has been a tough year since these dates last came round with humanity united by the challenges of a global pandemic and the urgent need for rapid scientific advance that might bring release from […]

Alexander awoke recently with this poem almost fully formed in his mind, as if it came to him in his sleep. He shares it with you today as people across the world celebrate love.