Other British Readers on LibriVox
Latest update: 31 October 2015 Please let me know if I have missed anyone.
Here are some British (or British-sounding) readers at LibriVox. I am including myself, as I notice that quite a lot of people are happening on this page through Google searches for British LibriVox readers. I have made some attempt at alphabetical order of surname (if there is a surname).
A * indicates readers who have completed one or more solo recordings. You can select solo recordings only, if you wish, in the Project Type box on each reader page.
A # indicates readers who have also narrated for Legamus. Legamus is the site for audiobooks which are not public domain in the USA, but are public domain in countries which observe a copyright of up to 70 years after the author’s death i.e. just about everywhere else in the world including the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa.
English:
*Paul Adams
Tony Addison
*Anonymous English Quaker
* # ashleighjane
*Mary Bard
* David Barnes
Stuart Bell
* # Phil Benson
* Christine Blachford
Jack Blake
* Edmund Bloxam
* Rob Board
* # Carol Box
* Nigel Boydell
* Deborah Brabyn
* Justin Brett
* # Tim Bulkeley (now in NZ, but born and bred in Britain)
Garth Burton
Steve C
Carol (rosehip)
Chris Cartwright
* Clive Catterall
* Alan Chant
Hazel Chant
Anne Cheng
* David Clarke (amazing Count of Monte Cristo & Sherlock Holmes)
* Martin Clifton
* # Andrew Coleman
Sally Ann Cook
corina23
*Paul Curran
* Rebecca Dittman
* Robert Dixon
* Lizzie Driver
* Michele Eaton
* Patrick Eaton
* Simon Evers
Joseph Finkberg
Malcolm Fisher
* FNH
*Tony Foster
* Reynard T. Fox
* Sandra G
* # Martin Geeson
* # Ruth Golding
* Chris Goringe
*Steve Gough
* Kevin Green
* Phil Griffiths
John Hayward
* hefyd
Nick Hillier
Jonathan Horniblow
* icyjumbo (1964-2010)
* Jon Ingram
Peter Jones
* Peter John Keeble
* gkeeling
* Verity Kendall
Carol Eades King
Ian King
Edward Kirkby
* laineyben I cannot quite place the accent
Simon Larois
* Alex Lau
Anthony Lee
* Nicole Lee
Ben Lindsey-Clark
* Rachel Lintern
Mair
* Carl Manchester
Kenneth Thompson Marchesi
* Paul Mazumdar
* Jason Mills
* # Andy Minter
* MorganScorpion
Rod Moss
* Jim Mowatt
* Mil Nicholson
* Anthony Ogus
Lucy Perry
* Philippa
* Adrian Praetzellis (now in California but born and bred in Britain)
*SamR
Sean Randall
* ravenotation
* Graham Redman
* David Richardson
* # Cori Samuel
* Karen Savage (expat Brit – bilingual UK/US 😉 )
* Claire Schreuder
Arup Sen
* Christopher Smith
Christine Stevens
Helen Taylor
thebicyclethief
thechanneler
* Lynne Thompson
* TimSC
TRUEBRIT
Abigail W
* Patrick Wallace
Jack Watson Warr
* Elaine Webb
# Alan Weyman
Adrian Wheal
*Nick Whitley
Adam Whybray
Dave Wills
Jay Wills
* Peter Yearsley
Irish:
Barty Begley
DublinGothic
inkling
* iremonger
* Frank Lennon
Brendan MacKenzie
*Anthony Orr
Sebastian Stephenson
* Tadhg Hynes
Scottish:
Andy
James Callaghan
* RosslynCarlyle
Charlie Macdonald
Rachael Nowotny
Ian Skillen
Welsh:
* Charlotte Duckett
Brian Morgan
Other accents
* Elizabeth Klett (US, but does an amazing British English accent, when appropriate, of course 🙂 )
* tabithat (who might just whack me with her didgeridoo to be included in this list, but she is so very good)
* Joy Chan (ditto comment above)
* NoelBadrian Noel’s voice is just wonderful. I am not sure exactly where the influences come from – Southern Africa, I think, but I hope he will forgive me for including him on this list.
Any other British readers that I have missed? Let me know and I will add them to this list. 🙂
RuthieG's CataBlog 
October 30, 2010 at 12:59 am
Thanks for this. I’m combing through looking for British-sounding recordings, so you’ve saved me some time. 🙂
October 31, 2010 at 1:27 am
Glad it is useful, Thomas. 🙂 I have added some more.
November 30, 2010 at 1:54 pm
That’s great! But could you recomend me readers from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales from this list?
November 30, 2010 at 2:35 pm
There are none on that list. I have mostly included readers who have recorded solo works.
I can add Andy and Charlie Macdonald, who have magnificent Scots voices, but neither of whom has made many recordings. I cannot, however, think of any LibriVox readers with a distinct Welsh accent, more is the pity, as I am part Welsh myself and love all Welsh accents. I will ask on the forums if anyone knows of any. There is a new reader who has a Northern Irish accent, but he hasn’t recorded anything yet.
You may also find the International Dialects of English Archive useful. 🙂
November 30, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Thanks a lot, Ruth!
November 30, 2010 at 5:12 pm
You saved my life, really!!:)
June 28, 2011 at 10:43 pm
I LOVE to listen to you, Ruth Golding! I had already discovered a couple of the others and really but, now, thanks to you, I can spend less time searching and more time listening while I walk on the beach or do my housework. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Patricia from San Diego
June 29, 2011 at 12:20 am
I’m delighted that I can make the dreaded household chores more pleasurable. Thank you for taking the trouble to post. 🙂
August 31, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Hi,
I would like to know if it is possible to hire a reader for a specific book?
Also if I myself make an audio book, can I offer it to librivox or are there copywrite rules against me doing this?
Many thanks
August 31, 2011 at 4:47 pm
If you have a particular reader in mind, it is certainly possible to contact them to ask if they would be interested, yes. Some LibriVox readers do record professionally, others only record in their spare time and at their own pace.
If you do not have a particular reader in mind, there is no reason why you shouldn’t post on the Other Projects part of the LibriVox forum to see if anyone is willing. You would need to register on the forum first to do this.
Regarding making an audiobook yourself and offering it to LibriVox, it would depend on whether the book is out of copyright in the USA, where all our files are stored. It would also need to be in the format required by the Internet Archive, which hosts all our completed recordings, and include suitable disclaimers in the files releasing it into the Public Domain. We always recommend that new readers do a short test recording to ensure that all the settings, volume etc. are what we need. More information on the LibriVox Wiki in the Guide to Recording and Want to start a solo recording? in the forum which tells you how to go about setting things up.
Hope this helps – get back to me if I can help further.
Ruth
September 5, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Hi,
I am a success seeker and I listen to books almost all the time. It really helps me to do multi tasking and even the household chores becomes easy when I listen to the books. I have been asked by an Indian audio book company to produce audio books for their company. I am looking for a reader who can be partner in our new venture.
Thanks & Regards
Paul.
September 5, 2011 at 1:48 pm
I have to confess, Paul, that this old cynic thinks your comment sounds like spam, especially the success seeker bit. Convince me otherwise by giving me some more information. By email if you wish – my email address is on the Contact page. 😉
November 3, 2011 at 7:11 pm
You could add Tim Bulkeley there. I just listened to his recording of Stalky & Co and he’s definitely from these isles.
Not bad to get for nothing seeing as the only version at iTunes is read by a lady from the U.S. and not very well according to the comments.
At the moment I’m on your Walter Besant History of London. Lots of interesting stuff in there. Thanks.
November 3, 2011 at 7:57 pm
You are quite right, Michael. He did hail from these shores, though he has been away a long time, and has now a very pleasing hint of NZ mixed in. He will be added!
Ruth
November 3, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Dear Golden Voiced Ruth,
I am very grateful to Tim Bulkeley for recording the PG Wodehouse books that he has done so far. It would be SO VERY nice if more of the Wodehouse collection on Librivox were recorded by him or someone from your Brit List. I just LOVE Wodehouse, but it really ought to be done with a British accent in order to be properly enjoyed.
Do you suppose you might cajole some of your other British readers to make a clean sweep of P.G. Wodehouse?
Sincerely,
Patricia
November 3, 2011 at 11:54 pm
Would that we could, Patricia! P. G. Wodehouse died in 1975, and so none of his work enters the Public Domain in the UK until 2046, when some of us will be a grand old age indeed, if spared that long.
His early work (published pre1923) is out of copyright in the United States only. Virtually everywhere else in the world, it is still protected by copyright.
Ruth
December 24, 2011 at 5:52 am
Hi Ruth,
Our book club decided to read a classic for February 2011 and selected Wuthering Heights. I am enjoying your recording very much, indeed! You’re very talented. Thanks for volunteering for Librivox and providing people like me many hours of enjoyment.
January 16, 2012 at 11:57 am
Thank you for getting in touch, Deepa. I am glad you are enjoying it. 🙂
January 16, 2012 at 11:32 am
I have been away from the England for all too long, which no doubt has dulled my ability to recognize British accents. However, listening to the accent of peegee — Phil Griffiths — I tend to think that this surely must be a British one.
January 16, 2012 at 11:54 am
You are quite right, Daniel! He slipped through the net. I am sure there are others, too, so do let me know when you find them. I have added him to the list.
January 16, 2012 at 4:26 pm
Sure, I’ll keep it in mind and let you know.
BTW, I quite enjoyed your narration of Keith Temple’s “It’s Behind You,” you exercise extraordinary talent in your work (profession). Should you narrate more Iambik audiobooks in the crime and mystery genres then I’ll probably purchase them, too. Meanwhile you might consider narrating more Cleek mysteries for Librivox; also Sherlock Holmes mysteries and other Sir Arthur Conan Doyle works would be most welcome.
One question bothers me: why is the term “read by” used so often on Librivox? All books are “read by” someone, were it not so then there would be no point in publishing them. On the other hand, “narrated by” specifically implies reading out loud — hopefully to an audience. Well, now I’ve got that off my chest! 🙂
January 21, 2012 at 9:13 pm
As you now know, Daniel ;), we have had a lively discussion on the ‘read by’ subject. I often use ‘recorded by’ or ‘Recording by’ which seems an acceptable solution, I think.
The good news is that there is another Cleek on the stocks right now. I need to make a little more progress on a couple of non-fiction works (one particularly difficult one) before relaxing with my hero, Cleek, but I am greatly looking forward to it.
Also, the second recording I shall be making for legamus.eu will be The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. In case you haven’t read about Legamus here, it is a new venture where we Europeans record works that are in the Public Domain in Europe because the author has been dead over 70 years, but still in copyright in the USA (and hence not available to record for LibriVox) because they were published after 1922.
Now all I need is the time to record them… 😆
Ruth
February 20, 2012 at 1:38 am
hello all,
having started recently to listen to laineyben’s reading of sir henry rider haggard’s novels, i feel it my most pleasant duty to express here how pleasurable the experiance is. the understanding and feeling for the protagonists and differences between them, the pacing -all are of the finest quality, as fine as a bbc broadcast.
February 21, 2012 at 11:35 am
You listed: Elizabeth Klett (US, but amazing British English accent 🙂 ). FWIW, I beg to differ. I am listening to one of her solo narrations (Behind a Mask, or a Woman’s Power) and her accent is clearly american — perhaps even a southerner, or there about. However, she does a remarkably good job with her British voice characterizations, IMHO.
February 22, 2012 at 10:45 am
You should add Termin Dyan to your list, Ruth. Clearly British! 😉 He’s quite pleasant to listen to, in fact Zuleika Dobson http://librivox.org/zuleika-dobson-by-max-beerbohm/ might be to your taste (a funny satire).
November 29, 2013 at 4:08 pm
Termin Dyan is obviously the wonderful perfect Andy Minter!
Thank you to ALL british readers!
May 18, 2012 at 5:40 pm
my favorite is Peter Yearsley — another favorite I do not see is Algy Pug, who is believe is from Perth.
nrw – mpls, mn – USA
September 24, 2012 at 3:16 am
Thank you so much for your recordings, Ruth, the delight of many an hour, both on account of your voice and skills. An invaluable contribution to whoever, like me (I’m French and don’t get much opportunity theses days to practise with native speakers), needs to maintain and polish their English, ear, and accent. And also for this page, for I was getting tired of searching librivox for British English and European English-speaking readers… As an English teacher, I’ve been advising my students to visit librivox, to better their understanding and discover literature; but the point is also for them to learn to discriminate accents, and build their own speaking skills so as to make their accent consistent; so I will surely add this page to their weblist.
September 28, 2012 at 5:40 pm
thank you so much for this list.
we all have our little ‘personal favorites’ – mine are
Peter Yearsley and Andy Minter.
… and, Count Arthur Strong and Mel Gedroyc,
on BBC4x.
neal wakershauser – minneapolis, minnesota USA
January 29, 2013 at 1:17 am
Hi Ruth,
Firstly I wanted to thank you for making such lovely recordings!
I listened to Librivox for the first time about 2 years ago when I thought it would be interesting. Now I love it! I’ve been listening to children’s classics which I never read as a child and have enjoyed stories such as Frances Hodsgen Bennett’s and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s so much! Then I heard you reading Edith Nesbit(which I also didn’t read when young) and just adore the combination of the stories and you reading them. I can hear the joy in your voice and it takes me back to being young again!
Do you have the intention of recording any other children’s classics?
Thanks once again,
Naomi, Lugano, Switzerland
March 27, 2013 at 11:54 am
Hi Ruth,
I have recently started reading – you kindly checked my initial test.
I live in Purley, Surrey (Greater London really).
Regards
Nick
March 28, 2013 at 4:31 am
Thank you to all the British Readers ! I am grateful for your work . MT Viaro Soster
July 31, 2013 at 9:27 am
Adrian Praetzellis is clearly not English, listen to his vowels. Aussie or Kiwi I’d say.
July 31, 2013 at 9:36 am
Oops, found his biog, AP born in southern England! Well travelled in any case. Excellent reader, very charming and engaging website too.
August 27, 2013 at 6:06 am
Dear Ruth,
Sorry to be such a lag (as in laggard) and ignorance is no excuse but I did not know that you were a reader too. I used to go straight to Librivox and look for Andy Minters’ and Mil Nicholson’s voices (Nicholas Nickleby- read it when a teenager and am savouring it slowly again two decades later)- bless all you altruistic people out there- for my books.
Nevertheless, thanks to you and your list, I am now bookmarking your page and wonder why no one else appreciates your efforts more.
Also, I don’t know whether icyjumbo is an American or a Brit but I heard his Rewards and Fairies as well as Puck Of Pooks Hill yesterday- two librivox books a day keep me happay- grin- and I found the dramatic interpretation really good.
Also, I wonder who could do justice to Dornford Yates, Jeffery Farnol, Georgette Heyer, Margery Allingham,Ngaio Marsh and Maurice Walsh of whose books I have the full collection and wish that I could hear them while commuting,Ian Carmichael read Lord Peter Wimsey but if only someone would read Maurice Walsh- Trouble in the Glen, Castle Gillian… Hope spring eternal but the spring in Hope is rusting away!
Again, thanks so much for giving an insomniac such as I hours and hours of listening pleasure.
January 16, 2014 at 1:34 pm
Sorry for the immense delay in replying. I have been most remiss. Icyjumbo was British, and sadly died in 2010, when he was only in his 40s. He was a lovely man and we still miss him sorely. Most of the authors you mention are still unfortunately in copyright in the USA where all our audio files are hosted, so we cannot record them for LibriVox.
September 11, 2013 at 5:25 pm
Karen Savage – Highly recomended, I’ve downloaded her whole solo collection, and now since I just found this list, I’ll try others. But Karen Savage is really good, give it a shot, come and thank me later.
And I also want to say thank you to the guy who made this list, It really helps.
Best Regards
November 6, 2013 at 7:15 pm
I agree… I am very thankful for this list as I find the british sounding accents pleasant. I have a question… what has become of Joy Chan? Does she read anymore. I thought I read that she quit reading for Librivox. Is this true?
November 6, 2013 at 8:25 pm
Hi! I think that my last comment got deleted. I wanted to thank you for creating this list of readers because I find that the British accent pleasant when listening to audiobooks… so thank you!
Also, what happened to Joy Chan? Is she not reading for Librivox anymore? I really enjoy her voice but I see her last recording was in 2011. Did she “retire”?
Thanks again.
January 16, 2014 at 1:30 pm
She certainly stopped recording because of other commitments. We hope she will return one day :).
December 18, 2013 at 3:26 pm
thank you so much I’m studying on British accent and these infos very useful for me
January 16, 2014 at 1:18 pm
I also doubt that Adrian Praetzellis is a British Englishman. Ruthie, could you elaborate on that?
Note: Please approve this comment and delete my previous.
January 16, 2014 at 2:41 pm
I do assure you that he started life in England, though he has been in many places in the world, and in California for a long time now and although he has the occasional twang, he still sounds very British to me. His website says that his first archaeological experience (he is now a Professor of Anthropology) started with the dig at Mucking in Essex in 1969.
January 16, 2014 at 6:48 pm
Hi
Just to let you know you have omitted me – althoughh I haven’t recorded much yet. I am starting on my first solo at present.
Regards
Nick
(NKWhitley)
January 16, 2014 at 6:54 pm
Super! Thanks, Nick. I have added you. Enjoy Puck of Pook’s Hill!
January 16, 2014 at 7:20 pm
Thanks very much.
I was so sorry to read of Icyjumbo’s death; he had a lovely reading voice and style
Regards
Nick
January 16, 2014 at 8:26 pm
Yes, he was a lovely man altogether. I suppose I should have got used to life being unfair, but somehow I never have.
January 20, 2014 at 2:41 pm
[…] Here’s the page: https://golding.wordpress.com/home/other-british-readers-on-librivox/ […]
February 4, 2014 at 11:36 am
Ruth, please confirm if Algy Pug is a British narrator, despite the fact that he is now living at Perth, Western Australia.
February 4, 2014 at 12:54 pm
No, Valerian, he is Australian born and bred, though sometimes that is more apparent than at others.
February 19, 2014 at 1:01 pm
Ruth, as a much indebted listener of your postings – and all those on Librivox – I start with a Big Thank You. I wonder if you and your marvellous British/ Irish readers could offer more of the great, indeed the now classic works of English/ Scots/ Welsh/ Irish Catholic literature: Chesterton, Knox, Belloc, Faber, Newman, Marmion, R H Benson, Martindale etc even the hidden treasures of the 1910 Catholic encyclopaedia!
I realise ‘Catholic’ is not at all the chosen flavour of our era, but – perhaps – that is all the more reason to utilise its comparative freshness regardless of belief or taste or feeling (I believe many of these works are printed free on-line, and am sure many others lie dust-laden ready to have a fresh breath give them life).
The ability to pronounce ‘Gloucestershire’ et al naturally and without stumbling really does add to the joy of listening to the British/ Irish readers.
March 20, 2014 at 11:24 am
Thank you. Some of the Christian works of the later authors are not available to be recorded at LibriVox, as they were published after the 1922 US copyright cut-off date (e.g. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man and most of the English translations of Marmion).
In addition, Belloc is still protected by copyright in the EU, so would be unavailable for British and Irish readers to record. If there are any particular pre-1923 works that you would like to be recorded, I will suggest them in our Book Suggestions forum. It isn’t the done thing to specify particular accents there, though, and possible that if they are taken up it will not necessarily be in the way that you wish.
What I could also do, if you’d like, is make a page on this blog where listeners can suggest particular works or authors that they would like to hear read by our British and Irish readers. There is no guarantee that they will even read it, of course, one can but try. There are so many books to be recorded, and never enough time.
Keep on spreading the word – perhaps the number of British and Irish readers at LibriVox will increase. There are still relatively few of us at the moment.
Ruth
April 12, 2015 at 3:25 pm
Many apologies for the very long time before replying. Yes, there are a good number of pre-1923 published books that I can suggest .. some having become ‘popular’ once again .. even in the few month from my odd request.
RH Benson’s works, not least Lord Of The Worlds (1907) could do with a British English rendering (being able to pronounce many odd-sounfing English words or towns). Not a marevelous novel, but a dystopia more relevant than many others .. cofronting man as he actually is – neither all dark nor all light, but rather liking the security of the dark .. rather more than facing the glare of the intrusive light.
Chesterton’s Heretics (1905); among so many other works. Not an expose of Christian errors – but a forgetfulness the we do err – not least those who set themselves up to lead others a path to eugenic joy, or superman freedom of will (choice), or just the plain dullness of seeming always to have our cake even while monotonously eating it.
As for Hilaire Belloc, these pre-1922 texts are more than abundant, and in need of solidly ‘English’ English readings (even with a French tone) – and without reproaching the wonderfully kind and dedicated effort of the few American’s who have placed many of these online: The Servile State (1912), still rings out with warnings and simple yet clear ‘solutions’ to the dependence of citizens on state largesse, control, and occult economic ‘serfdom’ (to the far off rule of capital).
Father Faber’s All For Jesus: or The Easy Ways of Divine Love (1852), a startlingly ‘modern’ spiritual classic flowing from the simplicity of an ordinary-day-life – starting from us, where we are, in all our individual needs/ problems/ conflicts: ‘Jesus belongs to us’ – ideas not only filling Pope John XXIII’s spirit, but (liked or disliked) the root of so much that currently enthralls the worldly mind to Pope Francis.
I could go on, but they leap out at me – all requiring a British voice to give it a hearing by British ears (even now searching for a genuinely comfortable British spirituality – if only in the values that we take for granted .. even if we no longer know why).
September 23, 2015 at 10:29 am
Hilaire Belloc died in 1953, so readers in countries where copyright subsists until 70 years after the author’s death (like the UK and the rest of Europe) will not be able to record any of his works until 2024.
Father Faber, R. H. Benson and Chesterton are all OK for British readers to record. The trouble is, we cannot specify which readers record which books. It is the reader’s choice, and at present I do not see many British readers who are that interested in the genre, especially as there are already LibriVox recordings of some these works. In the meantime, David Barnes (click ‘solo’ at the left) has made some fine recordings of spiritual texts, and you may also appreciate the Anonymous English Quaker’s recording of Brother Lawrence’s Spiritual Maxims.
March 23, 2014 at 10:17 pm
The suggestions page would be great – it would help to know what people would like read.
Nick
April 13, 2014 at 4:37 am
I am gratefull to all the readers , Solo are great ! I am having no luck to get in the Forum not matter how I put in my infomations. How can I register again?
I was under the weather with a broken shoulder and you help me !
Forgive my English , I am Italian and love books and literature . Bless you all for your work. Mariateresa
June 19, 2014 at 8:50 pm
I am so sorry I haven’t replied before. I would need to know your user name, so that I could have a new password sent to you.
April 17, 2014 at 1:18 pm
Thank you so much for maintaining this list, Ruth. I wish I’d stumbled across it earlier as this is usually the second question people ask when I mention Librivox to them. Now I have something to point them to!
(The first question usually involves experiences with group works so the asterisks are very useful – in a fit of self-interest may I mention that I recently became entitled to one?)
June 19, 2014 at 8:49 pm
You shall have your asterisk! 😀
April 27, 2014 at 8:13 pm
I would like to thank all of the Readers who have given so generously of their time and talent. So nice to see that classics are still read in some corners of the world or ether whilst the drivel and claptrap fills the ever-larger electronic sewer laterals – a corollary to Moore’s Law. Lately been listening to Lizzie Driver reading George MacDonald, Jonathan Swift and British poets. Wonderful voice that draws the listener in immediately. Bless you all.
June 19, 2014 at 8:49 pm
Thank you for getting in touch. I’m sure Lizzie will be delighted to hear that.
May 6, 2014 at 9:04 pm
Hi Ruth
I have just joined Librivox as a volunteer reader. I am from Dorset, but have quite a standard English accent. Currently living in Brisbane, Australia.
Cheers
Rod (VladTheImpala)
June 19, 2014 at 8:48 pm
I’ll ad you to the list, Rod.
June 19, 2014 at 4:23 am
ashleighjane is not British and doesn’t sound British. Just fyi. Thank you so much for posting this list, though.
June 19, 2014 at 8:47 pm
How strange you should say so! Ashleighjane is just as British as I am! She comes from Northamptonshire.
July 8, 2016 at 2:40 pm
Lol. I think this may be one of the oddest (and funniest) comments I have ever seen. I am indeed British, born and bred. I can’t imagine what nationality I do sound like. I wonder if I was confused with someone else.
June 19, 2014 at 9:11 pm
For fans of True Detective (HBO in the USA) you can’t ask for a better reading of The King In Yellow by Peter Yearsley at librivoxx.org
June 19, 2014 at 9:28 pm
Thank you, Neal. For interested listeners, here it is: https://librivox.org/king-in-yellow-by-robert-w-chambers/
June 19, 2014 at 9:29 pm
May I have an asterisk too, please? My first solo book is now in the public domain.
May I also echo the other comments of appreciation for your site.
Regards
Nick
June 19, 2014 at 10:41 pm
Oooh, sorry! 😀
June 20, 2014 at 12:21 pm
Thanks very much.
All the best
Nick
September 15, 2014 at 3:01 pm
Oh, this is soooooo helpful! Thank you! I googled it because I’ve recently begun listening to audio recordings of my favorite novels (nearly all British) while I create my Staffordshire-inspired pottery pieces. It really puts my head in the just the right place! So course if the reader is (or sounds) British, then that just sweetens the experience!
October 1, 2014 at 10:53 pm
A very useful resource. Thanks so much!
March 3, 2015 at 6:18 am
I can hardly find words for my gratitude for this list. Found Librivox only recently, and was thunderstruck at H.H. Munro works read by a modern American voice — unlistenable. Worse was P. G. Wodehouse read by an American who seemingly hadn’t a clue it was meant to be humorous! I’m an American who attended a British-run international school during my formative years. Trust me; these are two very different cultures separated by a common language. Americans may speak the words but, unless they’re skilled actors, they cannot convey the sense, the rhythm, the music of British writing. So thank you again — I can’t wait to start exploring. Graham Redman I know, but the rest are new. Hope this finds you well.
September 22, 2015 at 8:50 pm
Ah, wouldn’t we all like to record Wodehouse! But he lived unconscionably long and will still be in copyright for British readers till 2046 :(.
June 27, 2015 at 4:20 pm
Thank you so much. Your recordings are excellent, and this list is very useful. I don’t know why you English are so much better at enunciation, but congratulations for it.
Best regards from Brazil,
September 22, 2015 at 8:52 pm
Thanks! Heh, must be something to do with the British “stiff upper lip”! 😉
August 7, 2015 at 10:51 am
Paul Adams is one British Reader in librivox
September 22, 2015 at 8:52 pm
Thank you. I don’t know how I missed him, but I have added him now.
September 22, 2015 at 9:10 pm
[…] which I shall reply to as soon as I can. The thing I was feeling most guilty about was updating the list of British readers. This I have now done, and it’s great to see so many British people getting involved with […]
October 1, 2015 at 8:59 pm
‘RuthieG Says:
September 23, 2015 at 10:29 am
Hilaire Belloc died in 1953, so readers in countries where copyright subsists until 70 years after the author’s death (like the UK and the rest of Europe) will not be able to record any of his works until 2024.
Father Faber, R. H. Benson and Chesterton are all OK for British readers to record. The trouble is, we cannot specify which readers record which books. It is the reader’s choice, and at present I do not see many British readers who are that interested in the genre, especially as there are already LibriVox recordings of some these works. In the meantime, David Barnes (click ‘solo’ at the left) has made some fine recordings of spiritual texts, and you may also appreciate the Anonymous English Quaker’s recording of Brother Lawrence’s Spiritual Maxims.’
Thank you Ruthie, and all the British and other contributors to the Librivox catalogues. You all provide a wonderful service to those of us no longer able to struggle with books with any sustained ease, and the pleasure you give freely for so many listeners, also, perhaps, with too little thanks. I realise not all would be interested in the niche genre of Catholic writers, only pointing out that it is still a much neglected area of our British culture, and if some readers might be – shall we say – encouraged to consider it .. with a little gentle and occasional sharing of the request among your friends and colleagues, faced as they are with a vast wealth awaiting to be discovered (and presented to an era supposedly free of biases that certainly faced our islands’ Catholics in the not so very distant past).
2024 is not, after all, so very far away, and you youngsters could do worse than rediscover the old curmudgeon Belloc, and his odd, humane, and even silly sense of humour .. ready for the challenge ahead of time ;o).
Once more, a page full of sincere thanks yous to all contributing to Librivox.
October 5, 2015 at 6:02 am
I’ll see if I can have any influence!
October 3, 2015 at 7:39 am
There is a reader whose name is something like Gezini. Do you know who I’m referring to. She has a very soothing voice
October 3, 2015 at 10:46 am
Gesine, I’m sure. Her voice is very soothing, I do agree. She is one of the earliest LibriVox members and she is German, but the accent is quite hard to detect as her English is so perfect. Her recordings are here.
October 5, 2015 at 5:55 am
Ruthie,
Anthony Lee is a British contributor:
https://librivox.org/poems-by-g-k-chesterton/
Noel (Natons).
October 5, 2015 at 6:00 am
Thank you, Noel. Added to list.
October 5, 2015 at 6:34 am
Oops! I am getting really old, I forgot to include Chris Goringe:
https://librivox.org/glugs-of-gosh-by-c-j-dennis/
(He reminds me of a regular reader on Children’s Hour .. which shows how old I am .. I used to sit wrapped in the unfolding stories coming over the wireless set; when the BBC allows us the pleasure, I still do).
Noel (Natons)
October 5, 2015 at 6:49 am
Gah! Not as old as me
. How could I have forgotten to include tis?
October 5, 2015 at 6:53 am
Uncle Mac! Toytown! Larry the Lamb! 😀 How I loved it.
October 5, 2015 at 4:48 pm
And don’t forget David Davis, with the wonderful velvety voice. The definitive Mole in Wind of the Willows
October 5, 2015 at 5:41 pm
Now that man knew how to read. It was just as a grandad or favourite uncle would read to you. And the pace was always just right. I can hear him yet…
October 6, 2015 at 12:13 pm
Sorry to post so many responses ..
I recalled some earlier chatter on one of the boards:
https://forum.librivox.org/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=30818&start=45
did he never “Listen With Mother”, or hear David Davies read on “Children’s Hour”?
and Uncle Mac.
Larry the Lamb “Mr. Ma-a-a-a-yor, sir!”
Oh, I remember, I remember.
Quote:
I’ve recently realised that I grew up with audiobooks – it’s just that they were called “The Wireless” in those days! 🙂 No wonder Librivox struck a chord with me.
I agree totally. And up in my loft are all the cassette story tapes I made for my own son when we ran out of commercial ones. It would be fun to get them out.
Ruth’
‘It would be fun to get them out’. Oh! Ruth, if possible, please do, and post them – if you have not done so already. You have a marvelous reading voice, which has been such a comfort to those of us no longer able to manage hefty books so well (or fiddle with audiobooks). Before I had my second stroke, I used to ‘do’ a David Davies ‘Toy Town’ sort of story for my children and grand-children and their friends (they all loved the records and begged for more); though I did throw in some Arthur Marshall ‘Gals! Gals! Monica .. Well, really!’ and Joyce Grenell-esque ‘George .. Don’t do that!’ .. they still recall my efforts fondly after all these years (which is sort of telling). The BBC has been so callous in its casual dislike for these treasures – not least the much underrated mini-dramas of Mrs Dales Diary, wonderfully written and beautifully performed, now forgotten.
Noel
October 6, 2015 at 12:45 pm
When I’m next up there (hopefully not to try and mend an overflow in the expansion tank like last time) I’ll look them out and have a listen. They’ll almost certainly all be copyrighted stories, though. Trouble is, I’ve shrunk and can’t reach the loft ladder myself any more! How sad is that?
There’s a David Davis reading of The Elephant’s Child on Youtube. Could anyone read “satiable curtiosity” any better? AND, some people who worry about breath sounds in audiobooks would do well to listen – he uses breathing like an art form.
October 29, 2015 at 7:48 am
Dear Ruth – I wondered about trying to claim an obelisk for my recording of Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust for Legamus but now I have no need because I can legitimately claim my asterisk. My first LibriVox solo has been published – Letters of Pliny by Pliny the Younger. Andrew Coleman (English Andrew).
October 29, 2015 at 7:10 pm
Most certainly, Andrew! You have your star. You gave me a good idea – I have now added †for those readers who have also narrated for Legamus.
October 31, 2015 at 8:09 pm
I’m curious to learn more about Deborah Braven who read Morris.
October 31, 2015 at 8:43 pm
So was I! Our paths never crossed, and I have put her on my list. Her name is Deborah Brabyn and she is good!
November 3, 2015 at 11:52 am
Mr. Ben Adams is the great reader. His voice is powerful and energetic,especially,the new Freedom.
Thank you from Cambodia, Mr. Ben Adams
Yours sincerely,
Phai Sambath
November 3, 2015 at 12:01 pm
He is a good reader, I agree. This list, though, is for British-sounding readers and Ben is American, so he won’t be going on the list, but I will pass on your thanks on the LibriVox forum.
December 4, 2015 at 9:01 am
Dear Ruth.
The letter †is bad for designation of the site legamus.eu .
Who is dead, the author or narrator?
Any other letter is good. For example # or ¤®◘▪♠♦▫℗•
Vladimir Perov
July 23, 2016 at 11:24 am
I will change it, Vladimir, when I next update the list. The obelisk or dagger †is commonly used in British English books if the asterisk has already been used (see Wikipedia) but I appreciate that it can have other meanings.
December 22, 2015 at 5:46 pm
Hi, I have recently been contributing to Librivox and am English with and authentic British accent. If you’d like to add my name to your list you can find my Librivox profile under JKellow or my full name, John Kellow. Thanks and best wishes.
February 18, 2016 at 10:18 pm
The list is a great help, as it saves my having to listen “in” to an audiobook. Because I grew up among mostly British people (in Swaziland), I prefer listening to British accents, and though there are some really good American ones, British sounds more like home. Thanks.
March 25, 2016 at 3:08 pm
Thank you for the list. Whom of these readers have a standard southern accent?
August 18, 2016 at 3:24 pm
I’ll try and go through them all some time, but it will take me some time. Off the top of my head: Martin Clifton, David Barnes, Andy Minter, Graham Redman would be fine examples.
July 8, 2016 at 7:59 pm
Yes I do prefer British Readers. Possibly because a lot of the Authors themselves are British.
August 17, 2016 at 10:26 pm
I absolutely loved Joseph, as done by the reader for Wuthering Heights. I think his name is Algy Pug.
August 18, 2016 at 3:21 pm
I’m glad you enjoyed Algy’s reading, but he usually reads with his native Australian accent, so isn’t really appropriate for this list.