Ox-Talesrefers to four anthologies of short stories written by 38 of the UK's best-known authors. All donated their stories toOxfam.The books and stories are loosely based on the four elements:Earth,Fire,AirandWater.
TheOx-Talesbooks were published in partnership with Green Profile[1][2]to raise revenue forOxfamprojects tacklingpovertyaround the world.[3]Oxfam receives a percentage of the cover price of each book sold (£3.50 per book if bought directly from an Oxfam shop or Oxfam's website[4]and 50p if the books are purchased through other retailers).
Themes
editThe themes of the collections are intended to represent four aspects ofOxfam's work:
- Earth— land rights and farming[5]
- Air—combating climate change[6]
- Fire— campaigning for arms control[7]
- Water— safe water and sanitation[8]
Each book contains a poem byVikram Sethand an afterword written by Oxfam, detailing their work in that area.
Authors
edit38 British and Irish based authors contributed to this project.
- Earth:Rose Tremain,Jonathan Coe,Marti Leimbach,Kate Atkinson,Ian Rankin,Marina Lewycka,Hanif Kureishi,Jonathan Buckley,Nicholas Shakespeare,Vikram Seth.
- Air:Alexander McCall Smith,Helen Simpson,DBC Pierre,AL Kennedy,Kamila Shamsie,Beryl Bainbridge,Louise Welsh,Diran Adebayo,Helen Fielding,Vikram Seth.
- Water:Esther Freud,David Park,Hari Kunzru,Zoë Heller,Michel Faber,William Boyd,Giles Foden,Joanna Trollope,Michael Morpurgo,Vikram Seth.
- Fire:Mark Haddon,Geoff Dyer,Victoria Hislop,Sebastian Faulks,John Le Carré,Xiaolu Guo,William Sutcliffe,Ali Smith,Lionel Shriver,Jeanette Winterson,Vikram Seth.
Publication details
editOx-Taleswere published by Green Profile[2](a section ofProfile Books[9]) on 2 July 2009. They were originally published to mark the start of Oxfam's first annual book festival - "Bookfest"[10](4–18 July 2009).
Reception
editIn Autumn 2009, theNational Association for the Teaching of English(NATE) recommended Ox-Tales to its readers as "enjoyable, thought-provoking reading for you and also for older students — well worth a place in the secondary school stock cupboard for KS4 of KS5."[11]
NATE reprintedMarina Lewycka's story "The Importance of Having Warm Feet" from theOx-Tales: Earthcollection in the October 2009 edition of their magazine,Classroom.[11][12]
References
edit- ^"Green Books Campaign: Ox-Tales Earth"Archived4 March 2016 at theWayback Machine,Iris on Books, 10 November 2010.
- ^ab"Green Profile".Archived fromthe originalon 17 May 2009.
- ^"Oxfam GB | leading UK charity fighting global poverty".Oxfam GB.Archivedfrom the original on 5 June 2019.Retrieved5 June2019.
- ^"Oxfam's Online Store".Archived fromthe originalon 6 April 2010.Retrieved2 November2009.
- ^"Oxfam GB: Land Rights in Africa".Archivedfrom the original on 30 August 2009.Retrieved27 October2009.
- ^"Oxfam GB | Climate Action".Oxfam GB.Archivedfrom the original on 7 October 2024.Retrieved7 October2024.
- ^"Oxfam GB | Campaign with us".Oxfam GB.Archivedfrom the original on 7 October 2024.Retrieved7 October2024.
- ^"Oxfam GB | Emergencies".Oxfam GB.Archivedfrom the original on 30 September 2017.Retrieved7 October2024.
- ^"Stimulating non-fiction from one of the UK's top independent publishers - Profile Books".profilebooks.com.Archivedfrom the original on 19 June 2019.Retrieved5 June2019.
- ^"Oxfam GB: Bookfest".Archived fromthe originalon 10 July 2009.Retrieved27 October2009.
- ^ab"Oxfam GB | Oxfam blog".Oxfam GB.Archivedfrom the original on 7 October 2024.Retrieved7 October2024.
- ^ClassroommagazineArchived7 October 2024 at theWayback Machine,Issue #9, October 2009.
External links
edit- William Skidelsky, "Charity aids the art of storytelling",The Guardian,14 June 2009.
- The Times Online review[dead link]
- Boyd Tonkin, "Boyd Tonkin: A feast of stories for a planet in want",The Independent,3 July 2009.
- Katy Guest, "Ox-Tales: Earth, Air, Fire and Water, various authors" (review),Independent on Sunday,5 July 2009.
- Sam Leith, "Telling tales" (review),The Spectator,1 July 2009.