The Spoken Word: Graham Greene

Historic BBC recordings published for the first time

Rare BBC radio broadcasts and previously unheard interview extracts with celebrated novelist, Graham Greene, are published by the British Library on 2nd October 2007 - the author’s birthday - as part of its highly acclaimed series devoted to historic literary recordings.

Novelist, essayist, critic and playwright, Graham Greene (1904 – 1991), is widely regarded as one of the leading English literary figures of the twentieth century.

The Spoken Word: Graham Greene provides a unique overview of Greene’s life and achievements in his own words. The recordings are drawn from rarely heard BBC broadcasts together with extracts from the longest private interview that he gave. Greene reads passages from several of his autobiographical works – notably In Search of a Character and Ways of Escape – and discusses in depth how his travels to far corners of the world and constant search for excitement informed his writing.

The collection includes the complete 23 minute original BBC broadcast of Greene reading ‘A Small Affair’, broadcast 1953. The piece is an extract from a novel then in progress, based on a real-life incident in the Northern Indo-Chinese war, at Phat Diem in December 1951. This material was published in 1955 in slightly altered form as part of his novel The Quiet American. Further highlights include Greene reading from his 1942 African notebook and his 1959 Congo journal. Listeners can also hear previously unbroadcast extracts from Nigel Lewis’s long interview with Greene conducted at his home in Antibes in 1982.

Steve Cleary, Curator of Drama and Literature at the British Library Sound Archive and compiler of the CD, said: “These fascinating recordings bring to life one of the most highly acclaimed British writers of the twentieth century. In rare BBC broadcasts and previously unheard interview extracts Greene reads from his work and reflects on a life full of travel and incident. The collection offers a fascinating insight into the life and work of a great writer.”

The recordings are distributed under licence from the BBC.

For further information, images or review copies, contact: Ruth Howlett at the British Library Press Office: 020 7412 7112 or ruth.howlett@bl.uk

An exclusive extract from the CD is available to listen to now or as a podcast.

Links:

Notes for Editors

The Spoken Word: Graham Greene is published by the British Library on 2nd October 2007. CD with booklet including introductory essay, £9.95 inc. VAT. Running time 67 minutes. ISBN 0 7123 0539 6. Available from the British Library Shop (tel: 020 7412 7735 / e-mail:  bl-bookshop@bl.uk ) and online at www.bl.uk/shop as well as other bookshops throughout the UK.

The British Library Sound Archive is one of the largest sound archives in the world. It holds over a million discs, 200,000 tapes, and many other sound and video recordings. The collections come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound from music, drama and literature, to oral history and wildlife sounds. Collection material comes in every conceivable format, from wax cylinder and wire recordings to CD and DVD, and from a wide variety of private, commercial and broadcast sources. The British Library Sound Archive also operates a wide-ranging recording programme of its own.

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world’s greatest research libraries. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library’s collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation. It includes: books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages. Further information is available on the British Library’s website at www.bl.uk.

Track listing

1. 'Our interest's on the dangerous edge of things'
Date of recording: 04.1982
Duration 0.23 [extract]
Recorded interview with Nigel Lewis

2. 'Sonnet'
Date of recording: 04.1982
Duration 2.42 [extract]
Recorded interview with Nigel Lewis

3. Divided loyalties
Date of recording: 04.1982
Duration 6.30 [extract]
Recorded interview with Nigel Lewis

4. Shirley Temple
Date of broadcast: 03.12.1975
Duration 2.39 [extract]
From the BBC Radio 4 programme 'Kaleidoscope'.

5. Novels and entertainments
Date of broadcast 14.08.1969
Duration 1.20 [extract]
From the BBC Radio 4 programme 'A Writer at Work'.

6. On Brighton Rock
Date of recording 08.04.1970
Duration 3.00
From the BBC Radio 4 programme 'Now Read On'.

7. Convoy to West Africa [extract]
Date of recording 26.10.1961
Duration 1.13
From the BBC Radio programme 'Life and Letters: Raw Material'.

8. In Search of a Character [extracts]
Date of recording 26.10.1961
Duration 11.18
From the BBC Radio programme 'Life and Letters: Raw Material'.

9. Indo-China
Date of broadcast 14.08.1969
Duration: 2.49 [extract]
From the BBC Radio 4 programme 'A Writer at Work'.

10. 'A Small Affair'
Date of broadcast 10.08.1953
Duration 23.40
Broadcast by BBC Radio on the Third Programme.

11. Greeneland
Date of recording: 04.1982
Duration 2.30 [extract]
Recorded interview with Nigel Lewis

12. On films of his books
Date of recording: 04.1982
Duration 4.01 [extract]
Recorded interview with Nigel Lewis

13. Address at PEN International meeting
Date of recording: 29.03.1968
Duration 4.39
Recorded by the BBC in London.

14. Questionnaire
Date of broadcast 03.12.1975
Duration 1.09 [extract]
From the BBC Radio 4 programme 'Kaleidoscope'.