TEAMS of pupils from 11 secondary schools competed in a fun and fiendish literature quiz at Dorcan Academy yesterday.

The book-based battle began a week of exciting events for the 10th Swindon Youth Festival of Literature.

Two avid readers from the Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 of each school faced tough questions from the quiz's host, acclaimed author Joffre White.

Dorcan headteacher Sherryl Bareham announced the winning team and runner-up.

The St Joseph's Catholic College team celebrated their victory while the team from Ridgeway School were delighted with their second-place finish.

Both teams will receive book tokens as prizes, sponsored by Bower and Bailey Solicitors, the team from St Joseph's will also get a trophy and everyone who took part will get a certificate.

Fiona Hardcastle is the festival co-ordinator and head of the Learning Resource Centre at Dorcan Academy.

She said: "There's a real buzz in the air today, it's been great.

"They were a bit nervous when they came into the room but when they heard the questions and realised they knew the answers, their faces lit up and they were really excited.

"We had a mix of fun and serious questions, with rounds about opening lines, the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter, and books from 2008, which is when we held the first Swindon Youth Festival of Literature.

"They surprise themselves with how much they know and they're eager to see how many questions they can get right."

Joffre White tours schools around the country as a UK Patron of Reading to talk about the importance of literacy and creative writing to youngsters.

His two appearances at this year's youth literature festival will bookend the week's event schedule.

He hosted the inter-school quiz yesterday and will give an inspirational talk on Friday at Lawn Manor Academy in front of an audience of pupils from every Swindon school.

He said: "It's great to see the excitement that can be generated just from reading and talking about books.

"I do anything I can to promote reading and writing and get kids to pick up a book.

"Supporting schools and libraries is especially important, they need all the help they can get."

Fiona added: "It was quite a close result.

"Hopefully, the pupils will go back to their friends and peers and talk about how fun it was and encourage more people to read.

"I'm really looking forward to the week ahead, especially the headline event with Jonathan Stroud at the Wyvern Theatre on Tuesday."