Writers

Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith is best known for his internationally acclaimed No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Born in Zimbabwe, he currently lives in Edinburgh and is Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He 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.

Ian Rankin

Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh and has since been employed as grape-picker, swineherd, taxman, alcohol researcher, hi-fi journalist and punk musician. His first Rebus novel, Knots & Crosses, was published in 1987 and the Rebus books have now been translated into 22 languages and are increasingly popular in the USA.

J K Rowling

J K Rowling leapt to fame in 1996 with the publication of the first in the series of Harry Potter Books. Having dreamt up the story of the young musician while stuck on a delayed train between Manchester and London, she finally wrote the book while living in Edinburgh six year later. Now about to publish the sixth book of the series, and see the release of the third film, the magic of Harry Potter continues to captivate audiences, both young and old.

Mary Shelley

The story of Frankenstein started in 1816, when Mary Shelley took a challenge, set by Lord Byron, to write a ghost story. With her husband's encouragement, she completed the novel within a year. In her 'Introduction' to the 1831 edition Mary revealed that she got the story from a dream, in which she saw "the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with a uneasy, half vital motion."

Robert Burns

Born in Ayrshire in 1759, Robert Burns spent his youth working his father's farm. At 15 Burns penned his first verse, "My Handsome Nell", an ode to his favourite subjects, namely scotch and women. His first collection "Poems- Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect - Kilmarnock Edition" was published and received much critical acclaim and he was dubbed the "Ploughman Poet". He was soon transformed from local hero to a national celebrity.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Scottish essayist, poet, and author of fiction and travel books, known especially for his novels of adventure. Stevenson's characters often prefer unknown hazards to everyday life of the Victorian society. His most famous study of the abysmal depths of personality is THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1886). Many of Stevenson's stories are set in colorful locations, they have also horror and supernatural elements.

Sir Walter Scott

In 1786, after two years at Edinburgh University, Scott entered his father's office to begin his apprenticeship to the profession of Writer to the Signet but quickly found success as a writer of dramatic novels, including the ‘Waverley’ novels, ‘Rob Roy’ and ‘Ivanhoe’. An early visitor to the healing spa at what is now called St Ronan’s Well, he helped to popularise the benefits to Victorian Britain.