Glasgow-born author Alan Spence has been a much-admired and popular fixture of the Scottish literary scene since the publication of his first collection of short stories Its Colours They Are Fine. An all-rounder, Spence’s work ranges from the novels The Magic Flute and Scottish Writer of the Year-winner Stone Garden, which lyrically chart characters’ lives in transition with humour and insight. He has continued to startle and enlighten with his short stories, including the Macallan winner Nessun Dorman, which deals with life, the universe and everything in a few short pages. Spence also publishes fine poetry, making the Haiku form his own in such collections as Plop! and Seasons of the Heart.

Wisely sticking to that well-worn advice offered to all authors - ‘don’t give up the day job’ - Spence runs Edinburgh’s Sri Chinmoy Meditation Centre with his wife and is director of the Aberdeen Word festival. Here, he will be previewing his new novel, a fictionalised account of real life Scottish Samurai, Thomas Blake Glover, the Aberdonian who helped create modern Japan. (Allan Radcliffe)

18 Aug, 8.30pm, £8 (£6).