Alexander McCall Smith

Story Calendar

Every month, a new piece of writing by Alexander will be posted here on this site making up a calendar of stories every year. Some will be short stories, some will be articles, and some will be sneak previews from books not yet released. Perfect to read with your morning coffee!

Check back to this page regularly to see what has been added or sign up below.

Latest Stories

April 2020

A Story for April: The Talented Mr Varg

An exclusive extract from the first chapter of The Talented Mr Varg, the second book in the Detective Varg series, publishing this month.

March 2020

A Story for March: Meeting Frank

In celebration of the new film adaption of Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’, Alexander presents an ‘Emma’ story.

February 2020

A Story for February: A Temporary Position

A heartwarming tale about returning to work and finding an unexpected bonus. This story first appeared several years ago in The Lady magazine. 

January 2020

A Poem for January: Holy River

Instead of his usual short story offering, today Alexander gifts you a new poem to celebrate the New Year. Best wishes for 2020 to one and all.

December 2019

A Story for December: The Lost Librarians of Las Vegas

This could be a Christmas story. Stories told at this time of year, in the middle of winter, are meant to be a little bit scary. And sometimes the story happens to be true, as this one is. This story first appeared in the Daily Mail.

November 2019

A Story for November: Sphinx

This story is published in the UK as part of a new book called Pianos & Flowers: Brief Encounters of the Romantic Kind, a collection of short stories inspired by photographs from the Sunday Times archive.

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