Read On - The Audiobook Show from RNIB episodes
Showing episodes 31 to 40 of 614
Talking Books at 90 - Recording Pride and Prejudice with Ben Willbond, Phil Dunster, Lisa George and Shazia Mirza
An all-star ensemble comes together to celebrate RNIB Talking Books 9th decade of bringing the joy of reading to blind and partially sighted people. A special recording of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice features some of the UK’s best-known actors and today we chat to four of them. Ben Willbond, Phil Dunster, Lisa George and Shazia Mirza talk about narrating Jane Austen and give us some great book recommendations.
World Book Day Children's Writing Competition
The year 2026 is National Year of Reading and this along with World Book Day 2026 on March 5, is a great chance for every child, including those with reading impairments and vision impairments, to enjoy and celebrate their love of reading and storytelling. To mark the occasion, leading sight loss charity, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is running a creative writing competition so children with vision impairments can express their creativity and love of books. The competition is open to any child or young person between the ages of 5-12 years with a vision impairment in the UK. The last date to submit entries is Monday 23 February 2026. We can’t wait to read your submission and wish you the very best of luck! For full details of how to enter the competition, email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
Love Stories for Valentine
A love themed show for Valentine's Day featuring Fiona Lucas on Always and Only You, Joanna Toye on The Little Penguin Bookshop, Rachel Greenlaw on The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells, and audio describer Liz Gutman on writing spicy AD for Bridgerton. Plus we find a handful of books on all sorts of love in the RNIB Library.
Susan Choi - Flashlight
Today we continue our deep dive into last year's Booker shortlist as Robert Kirkwood has a long chat with Susan Choi on her novel Flashlight. They chat about the significance of the title, the importance of historical research and even end up chatting about ashtrays from McDonalds and smoking in the office!
Katie Kitamura - Audition
In today's episode Robert Kirkwood chats to Katie Kitamura about her novel Audition, an exhilarating, destabilising novel that asks whether we ever really know the people we love. They chat about dimension shifts, narration and why the book was almost called Performance. Plus we find some new books in the RNIB Library.
Andrew Miller - The Land in Winter
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller is an atmospheric novel set during a famously freezing 1960s winter, exploring the minutiae of married life through the interior lives of two couples. Robert Kirkwood talks to Andrew about his inspiration for the novel, why it's not based on his parents and about his first time narrating one of his novels.
Kiran Desai - The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
A book 19 years in the making, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai is a spellbinding story of two young people whose fates intersect and diverge across continents and years – an epic of love and family, India and America, tradition and modernity. Robert Kirkwood asks Kiran about her writing process, casting the audio version and where to get a good kebab in New York.
Best-selling author Joanna Trollope has died aged 82
Author of many favourites in the RNIB Library, Joanna herself was very aware of the importance of accessibility as she had an eye condition that made her partially sighted. Here she is on the importance of Talking Books
Best of the Fests
A listen back to the times I was set free at both Boswell and Wigtown Book Festivals featuring Rupert Everett, Louise Minchin, Wayne Sleep, Dom Joly and Andrew O'Hagan.
Review of 2025 - Part 2
A listen back to some 2025 highlights from later in last year including Percival Everett, Yael van der Wouden, Nate Lessore, Margaret McDonald, David Szalay and pay tribute to Frederick Forsythe and Dame Stella Rimington.