Alexander McCall Smith is a prolific author of fiction, best-known for The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series set in Botswana and featuring Precious Ramotswe. In an interview with the Sunday Times earlier this year he revealed his busy life which sees him wake between 4am and 6am with an “aim to write 1,500 words before breakfast.”
McCall Smith was born in Zimbabwe to British parents. He lived in Botswana for a time, teaching law at the University.
A position as Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh saw McCall Smith settle in Scotland, where he has lived with his family for over 30 years in a quiet neighbourhood also home to J.K Rowling and Ian Rankin at one time.
He splits his time between Edinburgh, travelling and at his summer house in Argyll.
A few years ago McCall Smith purchased the uninhabited Cairns of Coll in the Hebrides – a string of wild islets. He hopes to leave them just as they are, as a sanctuary for wildlife.
We are delighted to have his support this year, and thank long-time Sketch for Survival supporter, Edinburgh-based artist Carol Barrett, for approaching him for a sketch. Thank you Carol.
This lovely signed original artwork includes hand-written verse:
Mountain Gorilla
Small dark eyes in such a head,
Features without much recess,
Muscular, a large genetic cousin,
For that is what he is to us, this relative,
Who lives in a fortress of vines
And towering trees, who finds fruit
On high branches, whose ceiling
Is the African Sky, who is close
To clouds, who finds shelter in mists,
Who wants only to live in his wandering band,
His family; not much different from us;
In his eyes can be seen our own yearning,
Our experience of our mutual world.
You will be able to see this artwork, along with many others, during our autumn exhibitions. We will be in Edinburgh between 26th and 29th October, and in London between the 8th and 12th of November.
The exhibition collection will be sold via online auction – opening in October and concluding Sunday 12 November with the proceeds supporting nominated projects.
