LITERATURE + LECTURES

Thanks to the Icelandic volcano no one can pronounce, Alexander McCall Smith's entire American and Canadian tour has been cancelled. Needless to say, we are terribly disappointed that he will not appear at Brazos on April 27 as originally scheduled.

Brazos Bookstore presents a book signing and discussion with Alexander McCall Smith, Tuesday, April 27 at 7pm. ADMISSION: The purchase of a book.

To say we are excited to host Alexander McCall Smith for a reading and signing would be a gross understatement. His opus is staggering, his popularity nearly unmatched. The Zimbabwe-born, Scotland-raised author has written more than sixty books, including specialist academic titles, short story collections, and a number of popular children's books. He is best known for his internationally acclaimed No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, which has been translated into forty-five languages and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. The first episode of a film adaptation premiered on HBO in March 2009. His other series are the Isabel Dalhousie series (which began with The Sunday Philosophy Club), the 44 Scotland Street series, and the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, which introduced the eccentric and "ever-likeable" Professor Dr von Igelfeld.

In addition, McCall Smith has written the serial novel Corduroy Mansions, which was published and podcasted in 100 daily web episodes by the UK's Daily Telegraph prior to its hardcover release in 2009. A solo novel La's Orchestra Saves the World was published in December 2009. His children's series include the Akimbo series, the Harriet Bean series, and the Max & Maddy series.

McCall Smith was born in what is now Zimbabwe and was educated there and in Scotland. He became a law professor in Scotland, 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. For many years he was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, and has been a visiting professor at a number of other universities elsewhere, including ones in Italy and the United States. He is now a Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh.

In addition to his university work, McCall Smith was for four years the vice-chairman of the Human Genetics Commission of the UK, the chairman of the British Medical Journal Ethics Committee, and a member of the International Bioethics Commission of UNESCO. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Crime Writers' Association's Dagger in the Library Award, the United Kingdom's Author of The Year Award in 2004 and Sweden's Martin Beck Award. In 2007 he was made a CBE for his services to literature in the Queen's New Year's Honor List. He holds honorary doctorates from 10 universities, most recently from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.