SCHOOLCHILDREN from all over Oxfordshire will be pitting their wits in Abingdon today in the regional heat of the The Kids Lit Quiz an annual competition focused on literature.

There are 32 teams of four contestants, aged between 11 and 12, representing 19 schools who will be competing at the White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Dr Evan Harris will be present, along with several authors and illustrators, including Mark Robson, Helena Pielichaty, Joanna Harrison and Stephen Cole.

This is the fourth year that the quiz has been staged in the UK by quizmaster Professor Wayne Mills, a senior lecturer at Auckland University, New Zealand.

Organiser Jacky Atkinson said: "This is a very popular quiz that attracts a lot of interest from children and famous authors. It is entirely self-financing and we need help to ensure the competition continues. It would be a great loss if it was forced to fold."

The Abingdon event has been sponsored by Serco Aerospace from Benson. Oxford University Press has provided book prizes and Oxford author Philip Pullman has paid for the cost of the UK final in Newcastle-upon-Tyne next month, when 16 teams will be competing to represent the UK in the world finals in New Zealand next year.

In 2004, Cherwell School, Oxford, won the UK final and visited New Zealand last year. A school from New Zealand won the title.