Public Servant Lifestyle

British Library releases rare spoken word recordings of celebrated British novelist and dramatist Graham Greene.

Rare BBC radio broadcasts and previously unheard interview extracts with celebrated novelist, Graham Greene (Brighton Rock, The End of The Affair, The Heart of The Matter, Our Man In Havana) published by the British Library to celebrate the author’s birthday - as part of its already 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.

Spoken Word

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 appearances on BBC Radio 4 programmes and the complete twenty-three minute original BBC broadcast of Greene reading A Small Affair, first broadcast in 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.

The full track listing for Greeneland: The World of Grahame Greene

1. 'Our interest's on the dangerous edge of things'
2. Sonnet
3. Divided Loyalties
4. Shirley Temple
5. Novels & Entertainments
6. On Brighton Rock
7. Convoy to West Africa
8. In Search of a Character
9. Indo-China
10. A Small Affair
11. Greeneland
12. On films of his books
13. Address at PEN International meeting
14. Questionnaire

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.”

For more information on Graham Greene visit Greeneland: The World of Grahame Greene

British Library

The British Library at St Pancras is the national library of the United Kingdom - and one of the world's greatest libraries. The library currently includes 150 million items, in most known languages, with 3 million new items: including a copy of every publication produced in the UK and Ireland, as well as CD, DVD and mini-disc material - being incorporated into the collection every year. If you’re not in London readers can experience the British Library online at www.bl.uk and also help the British Library conserve the world's knowledge by visiting Adopt a Book.

Admission to all British Library displays is free. The Library's St Pancras site is fully WiFi – enabled.

The Spoken Word: Graham Greene CDs form part of a series of similar CDs culled from the British Library sound archives – with previous releases including authors George Bernard Shaw, H G Wells and W H Auden. More are planned for the future - keep an eye on Lifestyle for news of those as they come out.

The Spoken Word: Graham Greene recordings are distributed under licence from the BBC, on CD with a booklet that includes an introductory essay for £9.95 inc. Running time is 67 minutes. The CD set can be purchased online at www.bl.uk/shop or in the British Library Shop (tel: 020 7412 7735) email: bl-bookshop@bl.uk

PSP Ltd is not responsible for the contents of external websites.

More information available in TV & Radio, Books, Arts & Culture