Evelyn Glennie; Milton Jones; Xiaolu Guo; Arno Geiger.

Midweek

Percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie; comedian Milton Jones; writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo and novelist Arno Geiger meet Libby Purves.

Evelyn Glennie is an award-winning percussionist. She played the first percussion concerto in the history of The Proms at the Albert Hall in 1992, which paved the way for orchestras around the world to feature percussion concerti. She also played a leading role role in the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Profoundly deaf since childhood, she set out to use her body as a resonating chamber, 'hearing' partly through her bare feet on the floor. As part of the Celtic Connections Festival she is playing a new piece marking the 70th anniversary of the partition of India alongside fellow percussionist Trilok Gurtu. The Rhythm in Me premieres at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

Xiaolu Guo is a Chinese born writer and film-maker. In her memoir, Once Upon a Time in the East, she recounts her tumultuous life from meeting her parents for the first time at six and living in grinding poverty with her illiterate grandparents in a fishing village on the East China Sea. Her story takes her from a run-down shack to film school in a rapidly changing Beijing, navigating the complexities of modern China - censorship, underground art and Western boyfriends. Once Upon a Time in the East: A story of Growing Up is published by Chatto & Windus.

Arno Geiger is an Austrian novelist. In The Old King in his Exile he tells the story of his late father August's struggle with Alzheimer's disease. The book is a deeply moving account of his father's illness but also stresses how it brought the two closer together. A remote figure, August didn't talk to his family much about his past - a frugal childhood and wartime experiences as a child soldier - but as his dementia took hold his son discovered more about the man and his character. The Old King in his Exile is published by And Other Stories.

Milton Jones is a stand-up comedian, known by many as the king of the one-liners. He's a regular panellist on BBC Two's Mock the Week and Live at the Apollo and , Thanks a Lot Milton Jones! on Radio 4. Later this year he embarks on a new tour, Milton Jones is Out There, taking a philosophical look at his life so far with his 'manifesto of nonsense'. Milton Jones is Out There 2017 tour begins in September at the Richmond Theatre.

Producer: Paula McGinley.