Alexander McCall Smith at literary festivals
Last checked: 28 October 2026
If Precious Ramotswe or the residents of Scotland Street already feel like familiar company, a festival conversation with Alexander McCall Smith can make an enjoyable centrepiece for a reading break. His work moves between Botswana, Edinburgh and other settings, with moral questions woven into ordinary encounters. The 2026 programme took him to Edinburgh and Cheltenham, giving readers of his continuing series two different festival settings to explore.
Quick facts
- Best known for
- The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and 44 Scotland Street
- Genre or subject
- Fiction, gentle mysteries and stories of everyday life
- Latest book
- The Isle of Good Karma (2026)
About Alexander McCall Smith
McCall Smith writes the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels, 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie series, alongside Professor Dr von Igelfeld, Corduroy Mansions and Detective Varg. Stand-alone fiction and books for younger readers extend that range. The publisher describes translations into more than forty languages. For a fan, the continuing characters can be the attraction; for someone choosing a first book, there is no need to approach the whole bibliography at once.
His publisher’s interview describes writing alongside a university career before the move to full-time authorship. It also discusses the tighter form of a short story and the possibilities of imagining stories from anonymous old photographs. These interests offer another way to think about his fiction: not only the next instalment of a series, but the shape and starting point of a story.
44 Scotland Street began as serial fiction in The Scotsman and runs daily there for three months of the year. The author’s website says its volumes can be read independently. That makes an individual book a manageable choice for a train journey or a first encounter with the neighbours, even if a fellow traveller has followed them for years.
The Isle of Good Karma, published by Polygon on 1 October 2026, is the latest book here. It follows a teacher and crofter whose windfall opens the possibility of travelling from the Hebrides to Nepal. It provides a stand-alone alternative to returning to a detective or a familiar Edinburgh address. A reader can choose between the comfort of a continuing fictional community and meeting a new story on its own terms.
Where to start with their books
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Precious Ramotswe opens Botswana’s first female-run detective agency, facing cases involving a missing husband, a con man, a wayward daughter and a missing boy. This is the starting point for her series. Choose it if the appeal lies in a detective’s judgement and encounters with people, as well as in finding an answer to a case.
44 Scotland Street
Pat Macgregor moves into an Edinburgh building with vain Bruce Anderson, while neighbours include Irene Pollock and her talented young son Bertie. The street is real and the building fictional. Begin here for the community whose ordinary lives create moral dilemmas, with the pleasure of watching neighbours’ stories unfold alongside one another.
The Sunday Philosophy Club
Isabel Dalhousie edits a journal of applied ethics and becomes involved after a young man falls to his death at Usher Hall. She suspects he was pushed. This introduces the philosopher and amateur detective, making it a choice for a reader drawn to questions about what someone ought to do when an unsettling event demands a response.
The Isle of Good Karma
A teacher and crofter receives a windfall and takes the chance to travel from a Hebridean island to Nepal. Try this for a stand-alone story when you do not want to begin a long sequence. The journey gives a reader a different setting from the continuing series and a new person to follow through a change in circumstances.
Festival appearances
For tickets, use the host festival’s official box office. Confirm the date, venue and access details before paying.
2026
| Festival | Date | Event and venue | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edinburgh International Book Festival | Alexander McCall Smith: Perfectly Prolific Venue T | Official programme | |
| Cheltenham Literature Festival | Alexander McCall Smith in the 2026 programme | Official programme |
What their events are like
Alexander McCall Smith was part of Cheltenham Literature Festival’s 2026 programme.
Where to see them next
No 2027 appearances announced yet. Check the festival guides for programme dates.
Plan your trip
For an Edinburgh reading break, a Scotland Street book can give the journey its theme without requiring you to trace every fictional address. Let the festival session be the booked part of the day and leave some room around it for a browse or lunch. Use the guide’s venue and rail information when choosing your base.
If you and a companion favour different series, pick one book each to talk about on the way. You can compare what draws you to the characters without giving away a mystery’s answer. A question about how a small everyday dilemma becomes a story may travel across several series. Before taking a stack of books, ask the organiser about signing and any limits; the chance to listen is a complete reason to attend even without a signature.
- Cheltenham Literature Festival: festival guide · Where to stay · 2027 programme
- Edinburgh International Book Festival: festival guide · Where to stay · 2027 programme
Read more
Explore Alexander McCall Smith’s official writing information and the publisher’s author page.
Authors you might also like
Richard Coles
For another mystery series in which a continuing character is part of the reading pleasure.
Patrick Gale
An Edinburgh programme companion for readers drawn to character and relationships.
Maggie O’Farrell
For another Cheltenham novelist to explore when the trip is centred on fiction.
Your questions about Alexander McCall Smith
Which Alexander McCall Smith book should I start with?
Choose the first Botswana detective novel for Precious Ramotswe, Scotland Street for an Edinburgh community or The Sunday Philosophy Club for Isabel Dalhousie. The stand-alone suggestion offers a journey elsewhere. Pick the setting and kind of story you most want to spend time with.
Do I need to read every Scotland Street book in order?
The official website says individual volumes can be read independently. That gives a new reader room to choose one before a festival conversation. If you enjoy beginning a community’s story at its first meeting, the opening volume is among the suggestions above.
Which festivals featured him in 2026?
The 2026 programmes featured Alexander McCall Smith at Cheltenham Literature Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival; follow those guides for event information and practical visit details.
Can I ask about a favourite character?
If the session has audience questions, choose one clear point about the writing or the character’s dilemmas. Keep a plot resolution out of the question for readers who have not reached it. Check the event format first; an audience discussion is not part of every festival conversation.
Should I book a whole weekend around one talk?
You can make the writer your reason to travel and still keep the rest of the visit simple. Choose the event ticket first, then decide whether a day return or an overnight room makes the journey comfortable. A few unbooked hours can leave room for discoveries elsewhere in the programme.
Sources
- Edinburgh International Book Festival: Alexander McCall Smith: Perfectly Prolific
- Cheltenham Literature Festival: Alexander McCall Smith in the 2026 programme
- Alexander McCall Smith: official website
- Alexander McCall Smith: official publisher information
- Alexander McCall Smith: official book and event information
- Alexander McCall Smith: official book and event information
- Alexander McCall Smith: official book and event information
- Alexander McCall Smith: official book and event information
- Alexander McCall Smith: official book and event information
- Alexander McCall Smith: official book and event information
- Alexander McCall Smith: official book and event information