Play On Words, Tristan Bates Theatre, London
Until 23 Jan, daily except Sunday, 7:30pm.  Theatre website.

I've had a nagging sense of guilt for the last few weeks... with all the attention we've lavished on Edinburgh's winter festivals, we've left our London-based readers in the Christmas cold.  But never fear: the link between our two capitals is stronger than ever this month, as three undoubted hits from last year's Edinburgh Fringe open for runs in London.

I logged into Twitter for the first time in ages this week, and among the overwhelming backlog of breathless announcements, I found one intriguing highlight.  Right now at the Southwark Playhouse, you can see the young theatre group which - almost everyone agrees - laid on the most exciting and innovative programme to grace the Edinburgh Fringe for years.  They're the York-based Belt Up (Nothing To See/Hear).

This year I've been privileged to hear from some excellent writers, some well-known and some obscure.

There's a balance to be struck when choosing events at the book festival. While a popular author is speaking to a huge crowd in the RBS Main Theatre, a couple of obscure travel writers or poets are quietly presenting their work on the other side of Charlotte Square, which might be the book that alters your life this year.

I'll admit, giving an unbiased review of Margaret Atwood isn't an easy task for me. This is the author I credit with changing my entire concept of literature, back in my impressionable early teens. The author is part of the Canadian national psyche, and as an ex-pat I've often returned to the familiar landscape of her work, as well as that early realisation of the possibilities of fiction.

As with the readings from yesterday's poets, John Hartley Williams and Brian McCabe divide the hour long session into reading time, with no time allocated for questions. Again, I feel this is a lost opportunity for the audience to gain some insight into the methodology of the poets.