Libraries of the world: Rare audio recordings published for the first time by the British Library

The British Library has released a 3-CD set, The Spoken Word: Short Stories, including a wide range of stories, from the elegantly-turned miniatures of Somerset Maugham to the eerie supernatural tales of Algernon Blackwood.

Featuring authors including Kingsley Amis and Harold Pinter reading their own work, this selection from an unrivalled archive of recordings stretches back to BBC broadcasts made in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

The set offers a unique opportunity to hear some of the most highly-regarded practitioners of the craft in their own voices. All the recordings, including a rare live recording of William Trevor made by the British Library, are being published for the first time.

The complete list of writers featured on the CD is below: Kingsley Amis, Phyllis Bentley, Algernon Blackwood, Angela Carter, Edna O’Brien, Harold Pinter, Victor Pritchett, William Trevor, Alfred Coppard, Lord Dunsany, Frank O’Connor, Seán Ó’Faoláin, Somerset Maugham.

Steve Cleary, Curator of Drama and Literature at the British Library, said: “Although the audiobook sector has gone from strength to strength in recent years, relatively few products feature a contemporary author reading his or her own prose. Historical recordings of authors reading their own prose works are even more rare. The pleasure of this set lies both in its literary-historical importance and in the differing sensibilities of the authors present, resulting in a varied programme that includes examples of the classic literary short story form alongside ghost stories, tall tales and fantastic fables.”