Another new event to tell you about: Alexander will be calling in on Chepstow on Saturday October 9th, as a guest of the Chepstow Bookshop, en-route to his Cheltenham Literature Festival appearance later on the same day.

Details, as always, on the Forthcoming Events page of the website.

We’ve added details of a couple more public appearances to the Forthcoming Events page of the site:

October 7th 2010 – Alexander will be appearing in Stratford Upon Avon to discuss his brand new Isabel Dalhousie novel, The Charming Quirks of Others.

October 9th & 10th – Alexander will be a guest of the Cheltenham Literature Festival for two events (the second of which is already sold out, alas…)

As always, please check the the Forthcoming Events page for more details of these events (and more) and links to the relevant websites.

We’ve just added details of a number of public appearances to the Forthcoming Events page of the site.

Alexander will be appearing at the following events later in the year:

16th August : Vancouver Writers Festival

20th & 21st August : Woody Point (Newfoundland) Writers’ Festival

24th – 28th August : Edinburgh International Book Festival 2010

See the Forthcoming Events page for a quick summary of each appearance and links to the event organisers’ websites.

Alexander McCall Smith will take part in five events at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, which runs from 14th-30th August.

Times, dates and ticket prices are yet to be confirmed – we’ll bring you the details as soon as we know them – but you can sign up to receive information as it’s announced at the EIBF website: www.edbookfest.co.uk.

We asked Alexander to tell us about the oddest book signing that he’d attended, and he told us about the time he visited the Wivenhoe Bookshop.

Here Alexander entertained (and was entertained by) 20 ladies who meet to knit and discuss the world. He took tea and scones with them in the garden hut at the back of the Wivenhoe Bookshop, and he talked to them about The Double Comfort Safari Club while they continued with their knitting.

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The first UK performance of Alexander McCall Smith’s opera based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth took place in Edinburgh earlier this month, at the Dovecot Studios.

The performance featured students from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow with members of the Edinburgh Studio Opera.

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This book, written specially by Alexander McCall Smith for young readers, is unique for two reasons. First, it is a completely new story about how Precious Ramotswe, aged eight, solves a mystery at her school. Second, it has been translated into Scots by James Robertson, and will not be available in any other language, including English, during 2010.

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Alexander McCall Smith is the patron of the Alliance for Rabies Control – a charity that works to control rabies in Africa by means of providing vaccinations and educating people to help prevent the spread of the disease – and has recorded the following appeal on their behalf.

Visit www.rabiescontrol.net for more information on the vital work carried out by this charity in Africa.