Philip Pullman plans to visit volunteers at the Oxfam bookshop in St Giles, Oxford, as part of the Ox-Tales event in which well-known authors will read their latest stories at an Oxford theatre to raise money for the charity.

Pullman said, “As someone who has shopped in Oxfam bookshops and supported Oxfam’s work for years, I was delighted to hear about Bookfest, which is a brilliant idea. It will give book lovers all over the country the chance to indulge their deepest passion, while helping to change lives for the better.”

Nihal Alahendra, manager of the shop, said: “Bookfest will be a sustained effort to promote books, literacy and Oxfam throughout the year. I hope this will be a springboard to make Bookfest an annual event, and we’re looking forward to Philip Pullman coming to the store. He will meet our volunteers, who will show him what happens behind the scenes in the shop.” Thanks to blacksatindancer.