British Writers - The Spoken Word

February audio of the month - buy this and American Writers - The Spoken Word for £30

This three CD compilation forms part of the British Library’s series of documentary recordings by English-language authors and playwrights. 30 writers are represented, talking about their lives and work. The recordings derive primarily from BBC broadcasts, the earliest of them dating from the 1930s, and include historic recordings of the first generation of writers whose voices survive through to senior figures of the present day. The majority of the recordings have not been published before. Tracks include the sole remaining recordings of Virginia Woolf and Arthur Conan Doyle, P G Wodehouse talking about ‘Jeeves and Wooster’, Ian Fleming’s ‘Desert Island Discs’ appearance and Harold Pinter in conversation with Kenneth Tynan.

Listen to sample tracks using Windows Media Player:
Arthur Conan Doyle talks about the creation of Sherlock Holmes, recorded on 14 May 1930
Virginia Woolf talks about 'Craftsmanship' in the series 'Words Fail Me', broadcast on 29 April 1937

Track listing

Disc One

1. Arthur Conan Doyle [1859 –1930]
Conan Doyle Speaking

2. Arthur Machen [1863 –1947]
Points of View

3. Baroness Emmuska (‘Emma’) Orczy [1865 –1947]
Talk on the original conception of the Scarlet Pimpernel

4. Rudyard Kipling [1865 –1936]
Speech at the luncheon of the Canadian Authors’ Association

5. Algernon Blackwood [1869 –1951]
Pistol against a Ghost

6. W. Somerset Maugham [1874 –1965]
An extract from his book A Writer’s Notebook

7. G K Chesterton [1874 –1936]
No. 6 in series of talks The Spice of Life

8. E M Forster [1879 –1970]
The Challenge of our Time

9. P G Wodehouse [1881 –1975]
The World of Books

10. Virginia Woolf [1882 –1941]
Craftsmanship

Disc Two
1. J R R Tolkien [1892 –1973]
The Fellowship of the Ring

2. Rebecca West [1892 –1983]
Discussion about modern literature and criticism

3. Aldous Huxley [1894 –1963]
Monitor

4. J B Priestley [1894 –1984]
The Look of the Week

5. Noel Coward [1899 –1973]
Today

6. Evelyn Waugh [1903 –1966]
Face to Face

7. Graham Greene [1904 – 1991]
A Writer at Work

8. Nancy Mitford [1904 –1973]
The World of Nancy Mitford

9. C P Snow [1905 –1980]
People Today

Disc Three
1. Daphne du Maurier [1907 –1989]
Interview with Daphne du Maurier

2. Ian Fleming [1908 –1964]
Desert Island Discs

3. William Golding [1911 –1993]
William Golding: The author talks about his novels

4. Angus Wilson [1913 –1991]
Asian Club: The Writer and his Times

5. Anthony Burgess [1917 –1993]
PM Reports

6. Muriel Spark [1918 –2006]
Third Ear

7. Doris Lessing [born 1919]
Life and Letters

8. Harold Pinter [born 1930]
People Today

9. J G Ballard [born 1930]
The Living Novelist

10. John le Carré [born 1931]
An interview with John le Carré

11. Joe Orton [1933 –1967]
Regional Extra