Alexander McCall Smith: Difference between revisions
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==Personal life== |
==Personal life== |
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He settled in [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]] in 1984. He and his wife Elizabeth, a physician, bought a Victorian mansion that they renovated and restored, raising their two daughters Lucy and Emily. They lived in the same home in 2010.<ref name=Philby /> In the Merchiston area of Edinburgh, he lives close to the authors [[J. K. Rowling]], [[Ian Rankin]] and [[Kate Atkinson]].<ref name=Philby /><ref>{{cite news |
He settled in [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]] in 1984. He and his wife Elizabeth, a physician, bought a Victorian mansion that they renovated and restored, raising their two daughters Lucy and Emily. They lived in the same home in 2010.<ref name=Philby /> In the Merchiston area of Edinburgh, he lives close to the authors [[J. K. Rowling]], [[Ian Rankin]] and [[Kate Atkinson]].<ref name=Philby /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.no1magazine.co.uk/interviews/ianrankin50.html |author=Rankin, Ian |title=Alexander McCall Smith <!-- guess at title as link is dead June 28 2016 --> |newspaper=No. 1 Magazine, Scotland's Glamorous Glossy |accessdate=24 February 2014 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20140301154818/http://www.no1magazine.co.uk/interviews/ianrankin50.html |archivedate=1 March 2014 }}</ref> |
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He is an amateur [[bassoon]]ist, and co-founder of [[The Really Terrible Orchestra]]. He has helped to found Botswana's first centre for opera training, the Number 1 Ladies' Opera House,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3599384.ece |newspaper=Times |subscription=yes |title=Unknown}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1028226/How-dusty-Botswana-garage-No-1-Ladies-Opera-House-author-McCall-Smith.html |title=How a dusty Botswana garage became the No 1 Ladies' Opera House, by author McCall Smith |author=McCall Smith, Alexander |date=21 June 2008 |accessdate=28 June 2016 |newspaper=Daily Mail}}</ref> for whom he wrote the [[libretto]] of their first production, a version of ''[[Macbeth]]'' set among a troop of [[baboon]]s in the [[Okavango Delta]].<ref>{{YouTube|G9WwcmRBOzs|AFP news report on the "Okavango Macbeth"}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.okavangomacbeth.com/ |title=The Okavango Macbeth |accessdate=28 June 2016 |publisher=Goodmusic |year=2011}}</ref> |
He is an amateur [[bassoon]]ist, and co-founder of [[The Really Terrible Orchestra]]. He has helped to found Botswana's first centre for opera training, the Number 1 Ladies' Opera House,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3599384.ece |newspaper=Times |subscription=yes |title=Unknown}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1028226/How-dusty-Botswana-garage-No-1-Ladies-Opera-House-author-McCall-Smith.html |title=How a dusty Botswana garage became the No 1 Ladies' Opera House, by author McCall Smith |author=McCall Smith, Alexander |date=21 June 2008 |accessdate=28 June 2016 |newspaper=Daily Mail}}</ref> for whom he wrote the [[libretto]] of their first production, a version of ''[[Macbeth]]'' set among a troop of [[baboon]]s in the [[Okavango Delta]].<ref>{{YouTube|G9WwcmRBOzs|AFP news report on the "Okavango Macbeth"}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.okavangomacbeth.com/ |title=The Okavango Macbeth |accessdate=28 June 2016 |publisher=Goodmusic |year=2011}}</ref> |
Revision as of 16:50, 28 June 2016
Alexander McCall Smith | |
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Born | R. Alexander McCall Smith 24 August 1948 Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia |
Occupation | Writer, professor |
Nationality | British |
Citizenship | United Kingdom |
Genre | Fiction, Crime fiction, Children's books, Academic non-fiction |
Website | |
www |
R. Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE (born 24 August 1948), is a British writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees concerned with these issues.
He has since become internationally known as a writer of fiction, with sales of English language versions exceeding 40 million by 2010 and translations into 46 languages.[1] He is most widely known as the creator of the The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.[1][2] "McCall" is not a middle name: his surname is "McCall Smith".[3][4]
Early life
Alexander McCall Smith was born in Bulawayo in 1948 in the British colony of Southern Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe), where his father worked as a public prosecutor.[5] He was educated at the Christian Brothers College before moving to Scotland to study law at the University of Edinburgh, where he earned his PhD in law.[6] He soon taught at Queen's University Belfast, and while teaching there he entered a literary competition: one a children's book and the other a novel for adults. He won in the children's category.[5]
Personal life
He settled in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1984. He and his wife Elizabeth, a physician, bought a Victorian mansion that they renovated and restored, raising their two daughters Lucy and Emily. They lived in the same home in 2010.[1] In the Merchiston area of Edinburgh, he lives close to the authors J. K. Rowling, Ian Rankin and Kate Atkinson.[1][7]
He is an amateur bassoonist, and co-founder of The Really Terrible Orchestra. He has helped to found Botswana's first centre for opera training, the Number 1 Ladies' Opera House,[8][9] for whom he wrote the libretto of their first production, a version of Macbeth set among a troop of baboons in the Okavango Delta.[10][11]
He is the author of a testimonial in The Future of the NHS (2006).[12]
Professional career
He returned to southern Africa in 1981 to help co-found and teach law at the University of Botswana. While there, he co-wrote what remains the only book on the country's legal system, The Criminal Law of Botswana (1992).[13]
He was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and is now Emeritus Professor at its School of Law. He retains a further involvement with the University in relation to the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
He is the former chairman of the British Medical Journal Ethics Committee (until 2002), the former vice-chairman of the Human Genetics Commission of the United Kingdom, and a former member of the International Bioethics Committee of UNESCO. After achieving success as a writer, he gave up these commitments. He was appointed a CBE in the December 2006 New Year's Honours List for services to literature.[14] In June 2007, he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws at a ceremony celebrating the tercentenary of the University of Edinburgh School of Law. In June 2015, he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters at a graduation ceremony at the University of St Andrews.
Author
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Alexander_Mccall_Smith.jpg/220px-Alexander_Mccall_Smith.jpg)
McCall Smith is a prolific author of fiction, with several series to his credit. He writes at a prodigious rate: "Even when travelling, he never loses a day, turning out between 2,000 and 3,000 words [a day] – but more like 5,000 words when at home in Edinburgh. His usual rate is 1,000 words an hour."[2] He has gained the most fame for his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, featuring Mma Precious Ramotswe and Gabarone, Botswana. The first novel was published in 1998. In 2009, the success of that series was described in The Telegraph: "the staggering success of his Botswanan novels in the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series – they have sold more than 20 million copies in English editions alone and been translated into 40 languages".[2] A further description of his readers, his fans is in strong words: "To say McCall Smith is a literary phenomenon doesn’t quite describe what has happened. He has become more of a movement, a worldwide club for the dissemination of gentle wisdom and good cheer."[2]
According to his publisher in Edinburgh, Polygon (an imprint of Birlinn Books), "He was, until 2005, a professor of medical law at the University of Edinburgh, but gave up the position to concentrate on his writing and now writes full time."[15]
He published 30 books in the 1980s and 1990s before he began the series that has brought him the world's notice.[1] In 2008 he wrote a serialized online novel Corduroy Mansions, with the audio edition read by Andrew Sachs made available at the same pace as the daily publication. He wrote more than ten chapters ahead of publication, finding the experience of serialized publication to be " a frightening thing to create a novel while his readers watched. “I am like a man on a tightrope.”"[2]
In 2009, he donated the short story Still Life to Oxfam's "Ox-Tales" project—four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. McCall Smith's story was published in the "Air" collection.[16] Former First Lady of the United States Laura Bush is a fan of McCall Smith.[17]
Bibliography
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series
- 1999: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
- 2000: Tears of the Giraffe
- 2001: Morality for Beautiful Girls
- 2002: The Kalahari Typing School for Men
- 2003: The Full Cupboard of Life
- 2004: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (also known as: The Night-Time Dancer)
- 2006: Blue Shoes and Happiness
- 2007: The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
- 2008: The Miracle at Speedy Motors
- 2009: Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
- 2010: The Double Comfort Safari Club
- 2011: The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party
- 2012: The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection
- 2013: The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon
- 2014: The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café
- 2015: The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine
- 2016: Precious and Grace
44 Scotland Street series
- 2005: 44 Scotland Street
- 2005: Espresso Tales
- 2006: Love Over Scotland
- 2007: The World According to Bertie
- 2008: The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
- 2010: The Importance of Being Seven
- 2011: Bertie Plays The Blues
- 2012: Sunshine on Scotland Street
- 2013: Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers
- 2015: The Revolving Door of Life
- 2016: The Bertie Project
The Sunday Philosophy Club series
also known as Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries
- 2004: The Sunday Philosophy Club
- 2005: Friends, Lovers, Chocolate
- 2006: The Right Attitude to Rain
- 2007: The Careful Use of Compliments
- 2008: The Comfort of Saturdays (UK title) or: The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday (American title)
- 2009: The Lost Art of Gratitude
- 2010: The Charming Quirks of Others
- 2011: The Forgotten Affairs of Youth
- 2012: The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds (published 23 Oct 2012 in UK)
- 2015: The Novel Habits of Happiness
Corduroy Mansions
- 2009: Corduroy Mansions
- 2009: The Dog Who Came in from the Cold (published online daily in serial form; also published as a hardcover book on 1 May 2010)
- 2011: A Conspiracy of Friends
Professor Dr von Igelfeld Entertainments
- 1997: Portuguese Irregular Verbs [18]
- 2003: The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
- 2003: At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
- 2004: The 2½ Pillars of Wisdom – An omnibus edition of the first three von Igelfeld titles
- 2011: Unusual Uses for Olive Oil
Other novels
- 2008: La's Orchestra Saves the World
- 2012: Trains and Lovers
- 2014: The Forever Girl
- 2014: Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party
- 2015: Emma: A Modern Retelling
- 2016: My Italian Bulldozer
Short stories
- 2011: "The Strange Story of Bobby Box" (published in the young adult anthology: What You Wish For)
Anthologies
- 1991: Children of Wax: African Folk Tales
- 1995: Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations
- 2004: The Girl Who Married a Lion and Other Tales from Africa
- 2016: Chance Developments: Stories
Children's novels
- 1980: The White Hippo
- 1984: The Perfect Hamburger
- 1988: Alix and the Tigers
- 1990: The Tin Dog
- 1991: Calculator Annie
- 1991: The Popcorn Pirates
- 1992: The Doughnut Ring
- 1994: Paddy and the Ratcatcher
- 1995: The Muscle Machine
- 1996: The Bubblegum Tree
- 1997: The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean
- 2000: Teacher Trouble
- 2006: Dream Angus
Akimbo
- 1992: Akimbo and the Lions
- 1993: Akimbo and the Crocodile Man
- 2005: Akimbo and the Elephants
- 2006: Akimbo and the Snakes
- 2008: Akimbo and the Baboons
Harriet Bean
- 1993: The Cowgirl Aunt of Harriet Bean
- 1990: The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean
- 1991: Harriet Bean and the League of Cheats
Max & Maddy
- 1997: Max & Maddy and the Bursting Balloons Mystery
- 1999: Max & Maddy and the Chocolate Money Mystery
Young Precious Ramotswe
- 2010: Precious and the Puggies[19] (republished in 2011 as: Precious and the Monkeys)
- 2012: Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill
- 2012: The Great Cake Mystery
- 2013: Precious and the Missing Lion
Academic texts
- 1978: Power and Manoeuvrability (with Tony Carty)
- 1983: Law and Medical Ethics (with J. Kenyon Mason) (this text has gone through several editions: an eighth, by Mason and Graeme Laurie, was published in 2010; McCall Smith contributed to the first six editions)
- 1987: Butterworths Medico-Legal Encyclopaedia (with J. Kenyon Mason)
- 1990: Family Rights: Family Law and Medical Advances (with Elaine Sutherland)
- 1991: All About Drink and Drug Abuse (educational text)
- 1992: The Criminal Law of Botswana (with Kwame Frimpong)
- 1993: The Duty to Rescue (with Michael Menlowe, 1993)
- 1992: Scots Criminal Law (with David H Sheldon, second edition published 1997)
- 1997: Forensic Aspects of Sleep (with Colin Shapiro)
- 2000: Justice and the Prosecution of Old Crimes (with Daniel W. Shuman)
- 2001: Errors, Medicine and the Law (with Alan Merry)
- 2003: A Draft Criminal Code for Scotland (with Eric Clive, Pamela Ferguson and Christopher Gane)
- 2004: Creating Humans: Ethical Questions where Reproduction and Science Collide (collected lectures, audio recordings)
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Philby, Charlotte (19 June 2010). "Alexander McCall Smith: The No1 novelist's guide to Edinburgh". The Independent. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Grice, Elizabeth (13 March 2009). "Alexander McCall Smith talks about 'Corduroy Mansions' – interview". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
To say McCall Smith is a literary phenomenon doesn't quite describe what has happened.
- ^ McCall Smith, Alexander. "A. McCall Smith (McCallSmith) on Twitter". Twitter.com. Twitter.com. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- ^ "McCall Smith praises inspiration of islands". The Herald Scotland. 13 October 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- ^ a b Hunter, Jeffrey W. (2009). Contemporary Literary Criticism. Detroit, Michigan: Gale. ISBN 978-1-4144-1944-2.
- ^ Nicoll, Ruaridh (2 May 2004). "Handy Sandy". The Observer. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
- ^ Rankin, Ian. "Alexander McCall Smith". No. 1 Magazine, Scotland's Glamorous Glossy. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
{{cite news}}
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{{cite news}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ McCall Smith, Alexander (21 June 2008). "How a dusty Botswana garage became the No 1 Ladies' Opera House, by author McCall Smith". Daily Mail. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ^ AFP news report on the "Okavango Macbeth" on YouTube
- ^ "The Okavango Macbeth". Goodmusic. 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ^ Tempest, Michelle (2006). The Future of the NHS. ISBN 1-85811-369-5. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- ^ Frimpong, Kwame; McCall Smith, Alexander (1992). The Criminal Law of Botswana. South Africa: Juta Publishers. ISBN 978-0702126703. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ^ "New Year Honours—United Kingdom". The London Gazette. 29 December 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "Alexander McCall Smith". Birlinn. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ^ Oxfam: Ox-Tales
- ^ Kirkus Reviews (1 June 2005). "Q&A: Alexander McCall Smith.(Interview)". High Beam Business. Chicago.
{{cite news}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ Maclean Dubois; 1st Edition (1997) Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ Scots language translation by James Robertson
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- Prof. Alexander McCall Smith's homepage at the Law School, University of Edinburgh
- Author's homepage at Random House
- Author's homepage at Polygon & Birlinn Limited
- Author's homepage at Little, Brown
- Alexander McCall Smith at IMDb
- Alexander McCall Smith at British Council: Literature
- Alexander McCall Smith interviewed on Conversations from Penn State
- Write TV Public Television Interview with Alexander McCall Smith
- Interview with the author at Powells.com.
- 1948 births
- Living people
- Zimbabwean people of British descent
- White Zimbabwean people
- People from Bulawayo
- People from Edinburgh
- Alumni of Christian Brothers College, Bulawayo
- Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
- Academics of the University of Edinburgh
- Bioethics
- British Book Award winners
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
- Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
- Medical law
- People associated with Edinburgh
- Rhodesian novelists
- Scottish children's writers
- Scottish crime fiction writers
- Scottish legal scholars
- Scottish novelists
- Scottish short story writers
- Zimbabwean children's writers
- Zimbabwean novelists
- Zimbabwean short story writers
- Zimbabwean people of Scottish descent
- British people of Zimbabwean descent
- Audio book narrators
- Zimbabwean emigrants to the United Kingdom
- University of Botswana faculty