All this week and next, the London Literature Festival is taking place on the South Bank. Whereas festivals held in smaller places such as Hay or Cheltenham generate a sense of excitement because they take over the whole town, London’s festival tends to get a bit lost amid the cultural cornucopia of the capital. Which is a shame because, as literary festivals go, it’s up there with the best of them.

One highlight was this week’s performances by Lisa Dwan of Samuel Beckett's Not I. The intense, 20-minute monologue is performed on a pitch-black stage, with only the performer’s mouth visible, lit by a single beam of light. The post-performance discussion brought the performer together with its director Jude Kelly and the actress Billie Whitelaw, who gave the first performance of the work back in the 1970s – one that I was privileged to see at the Royal Court

On Monday night, Sarah Waters told a packed Purcell Room about her chilling new novel The Little Stranger, an eerie tale of things that go bump in the night in a country house. She was talking to Suzi Feay, until recently of this parish, who is one of the Festival’s official bloggers.

Other guests include Arundhati Roy, Benjamin Zephaniah, Lemn Sissay, Amartya Sen, Peter Ackroyd and Vikram Seth. And, next Wednesday, Susie Orbach will be in discussion with Andrew O'Hagan and Will Self at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, bringing a psychiatrist’s insights to bear on the creation of fictional characters.