THE fifth annual Dorchester Literary Festival got underway on Saturday as Alexander McCall Smith CBE took to the stage.

The British-Zimbabwean writer has published more than 80 books which have sold 25 million copies worldwide, including The Land of Long Lost Friends and The Peppermint Tea Chronicles. He is best known for his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series featuring the character Precious Ramotswe, set in Botswana.

With so many novels to his name, McCall Smith joked that he suffers from a condition called serial novelism: “You write serial novels, then you die,” he told the Dorchester audience. “There’s no cure for it.”

Now in his 70s, McCall Smith continues to write for two or three hours each day to keep up with his publishing schedule, and favours more uplifting subjects. “There’s a real call for books that contemplate the bleak,” he said, “but I don’t write them. There’s a strong philosophical argument for being positive.”

McCall Smith is also Professor Emeritus of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and holds honorary doctorates from 13 universities.

The Dorchester Literary Festival continues until Sunday, October 20. Best-selling author Victoria Hislop will entertain audiences on Friday, October 18, discussing her new novel, Those Who Are Loved, which explores the complexity and trauma of Greece’s past. Hislop will be in conversation with Alexandra Heminsley, author of Running Like a Girl and Leap In.

Taking to the stage on Sunday will be Sir Tim Waterstone, one of Britain’s most celebrated business leaders, who has built the empire that started with one small bookshop in 1982. He will be discussing his memoir, The Face Pressed Against the Window, which recalls the childhood experiences that led him to became an entrepreneur and outlines his business philosophy.

Closing the show on Sunday afternoon will be Tracy Chevalier discussing her latest novel, A Single Thread, which follows a woman in mourning for her fiancé and brother who becomes enthralled by a group of women charged with embroidering kneelers for Winchester Cathedral.

Tickets and information for all these events, and many more, are available from Dorchester Library or via www.dorchesterliteraryfestival.com.