Alexander McCall Smith is as charming as his books–and very, very funny. On Tuesday, November 12, he kept a large room full of fans chuckling while he spent an hour in conversation with Peter Robinson.
They began by discussing travel. It seems that when you write 4 or 5 books a year, as A. M. S. consistently does, distance is not measured in kilometres, or time spent en route, but in the number of paragraphs or pages written. Chicago to Toronto was half a chapter. A. M. S. confided that he is not a pre-planner when it comes writing. He has an idea of where the book will go, but things keep happening as he writes. He believes that fiction is the result of accessing one’s creative sub-conscious. He does this on a laptop rather than longhand. He finds freedom in leaving pencil and paper behind and has a sense that each of these kinds of writing creates different pathways in the brain. He observed, also, that when he dictates he has a different voice. So he writes instead.
Conversation moved to W. H. Auden of whom A. M. S. has been an admirer since the 1970s. He has recently completed a biography of this poet. It happens, not-so-coincidentally, that Isabel Dalhousie of the Sunday Philosophy Club series sometimes quotes Auden’s poetry and incorporates his words, images and concepts into her internal dialogue about issues. A. M. S. observes that Auden was well ahead of his time when he placed high value on the natural world and promoted responsibility and choice as opposed to determinism. A. M. S. extended this thesis to his observation of the southern African focus on forgiveness, rather than blame and punishment.
A. M. S. was born in southern Rhodesia, close to the border of Botswana. He has a strong sense of place for this part of the world, although his books do not provide detailed descriptions. He says his practice is to note large aspects of place, such as wind or sky, to which readers can bring their own experience and imagination. However, two members of the audience spoke of their visits to there and affirmed his presentation of a specific place and the nature of the people there.
A. M. S.’s current project is a re-write of Emma by Jane Austin. “This is not because Jane Austen needs re-writing,” he explained, “But to bring the characters into the twenty-first century.” “And,” he adds, “I’m having more fun writing this book than any other.”
So he says…however, as I observe this jovial, somewhat rotund man, relaxed and chatty, I wonder if he’s stage-dressing that last comment. I suspect that every book he writes is his favourite.
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