Alexander McCall Smith at The Edinburgh International Book Festival

24th August 2020

Alexander McCall Smith at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

The Edinburgh International Book Festival is in full swing, right until the 31st August 2020. It’s all virtual, you can sign up for free (but donations are welcome).

A couple of days ago, we were delighted to see Nicola Sturgeon interview Bernadine Evaristo, where she talked about her book “Girl, Woman, Other” and her writing life and her ethos.

Today we were delighted to see Ruth Davidson interviewing Alexander McCall Smith. He is a prolific writer and it is a joy to read his uplifting novels. To date he has written over 100 titles and he has 5 coming out this year. Yes, really! He started writing later in life and in his early years he wrote poetry and academic books.

He has several series on the go, all with very different settings – Edinburgh, Botswana and Malmö and every year he spends time with the characters in each series, regrouping with them and seeing where their stories take him. The narrative just flows, it is there pretty much in his head, no planning, just writing – the plot descends and he writes accordingly.

In many of his books, he says the setting is probably the most important thing, often more so than his characters. The setting dictates the feel of the books – Botswana (No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series) provides colour and wide open spaces. He is indeed a foreigner looking in on the country and that is fascinating. He perhaps perceived idiosyncrasies in the country that he can bring to his reader, just as someone looking in on one’s own country will perhaps see things with a very different filter. They can see things that many simply take for granted in their own country. Botswana in his novels is a very positive country.

Isabel Dalhousie (Isabel Dalhousie novels) lives very near to where the author lives, so he sends her shopping in and around his locality and New Town features in the 44 Scotland Street series. Pettiness is one thing in characters that offers so mileage, he says. Wee Bertie in the Isabel Dalhousie series (who has been 6 for 8 years and who has now grown to be 7 years old) is the character that people like most.

In his novels he celebrates the virtues of understanding, love and friendship. He is disheartened by the current focus of seeking confrontation and division – an utterly dead-end street – and it seems ever harder to have a courteous exchange of views. But he remains positive. And all I can say is that the exchange between Alexander McCall Smith and Ruth Davidson was utterly entertaining and uplifting.

There are still many events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, so do think of joining in and consider donating.

Catch Alexander McCall Smith on Twitter  Ruth, also on Twitter 

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