The first winner of the Edinburgh International Festival Award was New York-based John Clancy Productions who presented a workshop performance of Captain Overlord's Folly or the Fool's Revenge at EIF 08.

BBC: red room

Their popularity is rivalled by western writers of pulp fiction whose books have been translated into Polish: John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Danielle Steel, Erich Segal and, above all, William Wharton, an American writer who is far more widely read in Poland than in his own country.

ECONOMIST: Mass distraction in Poland

Perhaps authors think that the field is crowded, with tomes by Tom Clancy and the more elegant products of John le Carre.

CNN: Hot Buttons