Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith was born in Zimbabwe in 1948 and was educated there and in Scotland. He worked as a Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, and it was in this role that he first returned to Africa to work in Botswana, where he helped to set up a new law school at the University of Botswana. He has been a visiting Professor at various other universities including in Italy and the USA and is an international authority on genetics and advisor to UNESCO and to the British government on bioethics. He took unpaid leave from the University of Edinburgh in 2004 to allow him to concentrate on his writing. 'Sandy' has written more than sixty books ranging from reference works such as 'The Forensic Aspects of Sleep' to his immensely popular children's titles including 'The Perfect Hamburger' and 'The Bubblegum Tree' and his much loved series of gentle detective novels, set in Botswana: 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' series. 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' series was first published in 1998 by Polygon, a small Edinburgh-based publishing house. Word-of-mouth promotion led to a quiet growth of sales which exploded in 2001. Today throughout the world readers are devouring the books by this Edinburgh based author. Sales of 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' series now stand at almost ten million copies in the English language and the series is in the process of being translated into 34 languages worldwide, from Korean to Croatian. Alexander McCall is married with two daughters and lives with his wife in Edinburgh. He is patron to a number of charities including Waverley Care and Scottish Book Trust, BRAW's umbrella organisation.