The following is the text work session taken from the full episode with Simon.
In this episode, Simon shares how he worked on a couple of different audiobook projects: first, dealing with a practically unreadable chapter in Alan Moore’s Jerusalem and then, a bit on The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth.
You’ll hear Simon discuss:
- The research and immense work that went into the audiobook of Jerusalem
- How he made sense of unusual spellings, and dialogue without punctuation in The Wake
- And what he believes is good narration
Plus we chat about building confidence, and how to approach audiobook projects you may not enjoy.
It’s a great session, and it was really wonderful to hear Simon’s process of both experiencing anxiety and putting in so much effort to make sure he does the book justice for both the author and the audience.
About the guest
Simon Vance was born in Brighton, England and as part of his early years, attended the local School of Music and Drama. He went to Leeds University, becoming part of the student TV/radio network, and afterward, worked at BBC Radio Brighton, which led to BBC London and Radio 4, the national speech-based network.
He found he had knack for audiobooks by working for the Talking Book Service of the Royal National Institute for the Blind. After moving to the Bay Area, he worked on stage and a bit on camera before finding audiobooks, which eventually really took off!
He currently has 16 Audie Awards, including for The Tao of Pooh, Great Expectations, The King’s Speech, The Complete Sherlock Holmes, and Alan Moore’s Jerusalem. He is also the recipient of 70 Earphone Awards, including for many of the books just mentioned along with The Wind in the Willows, The Prestige, and Dracula. He was chosen as Booklist Magazine’s inaugural “Voice of Choice”, is an AudioFile Magazine “Golden Voice”, and is in the Audible “Hall of Fame”.
Please enjoy the text work with Simon Vance!
Total Running Time: 15:43
- Stream by clicking here.
- Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as/save link as”.
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Want to hear more from Simon? Check out my full talk with him here!
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let us know in the comments.
Show Notes
Simon Vance around the web
His Site | Twitter | Facebook | Wikipedia | Film/TV | Additional Theatre
Simon’s Audiobook Items
Audible Hall of Fame | Audiofile Magazine “Golden Voice”
Simon’s “other” voices: as Richard Matthews | as Robert Whitfield | as Michael Gibbs (some of his earliest work!)
Selected People and Items Mentioned
- Jerusalem by Alan Moore
- Northampton
- Audio Publishers Association Conference
- Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
- The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth (narrated by Simon)
Listen to Simon
Alan Moore’s Jerusalem (courtesy of Audible—get the audiobook!)
Paul Kingsnorth’s The Wake (courtesy of Audible—get the audiobook!)
The beginning of “Around the Bend”—the “unreadable chapter” in Alan Moore’s Jerusalem
+ click to view/close the monologue
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