What does the rise of audiobooks mean for reading culture? With Celia De Wolff

Lucy Hindmarsh

In recent years, audiobooks have evolved from childhood memories of cassette tapes and educational material into a powerful force shaping the publishing industry. The popularity of digital platforms and improvement in audio technology, as well as the success of other audio media, like podcasts, have reshaped the way we consume our media. 

Celia De Wolff is an award-winning audio drama producer and director who has worked with Audible and the BBC to create immersive and dynamic reimaginings of English literary and theatre classics. De Wolff has worked in the industry for over 30 years and recently directed ‘Gatsby in Harlem’, a bold reimagining of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel for the BBC. As one of the pioneers in elevating literary listening experiences, I was eager to hear her expert opinion on why audiobooks are experiencing such a boom and how they have always been an undeniable force in reading culture. 

Celia de Wolff has produced radio drama both in-house for the BBC and as a freelancer for the past 25 years.

"I think that’s probably thanks to lockdown. The spoken word actually became very necessary, and it took on a new value because it became a friend. People who lived on their own could have voices around them. You can take it wherever you want. It follows you. And I think the podcast has actually aided the audiobook because it's taught people to have the ability to listen in a world where everything’s so fast. There's something very reflective about audio listening [when] we live in such a mad world. 

The beauty of a book is that it's your imagination. You're creating the voice of the narrator, the world in which those characters are living based on what you're being given with the actual text itself. And I think nothing really beats that. So it's very hard for me because I'm a book lover. When audiobooks first came about it felt very lovely to have the opportunity to be able to be in a car and put on a tape, and your children could listen to stories at an opportunity when you couldn't necessarily read to them. But what I felt very, very strongly about was that [an audiobook] should never replace the story itself. It should always work alongside the book. 

[But] if, for example, somebody is very dyslexic, or has problems with focusing, then obviously it's really important that they don't feel denied the right to access literature and wonderful stories. The RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind) has been doing audiobooks for years. It's a really important legacy and I really hope that with the rise of Audible, it's just proving the very point that actually, audio is in a boom."

An audiobook's ability to have this kind of impact on its listener is largely dependent on how immersive it feels. As a producer, there are many factors that go into creating a captivating experience for its audience. 

 

"The beauty of audio is its intimacy. You are at one with the listener. It's not like going to a cinema where everyone's sitting there together, you can hear this in your head and it should be immersive if it's done well. I sort of see it like a painting. The story is at the forefront of the painting but actually to make that painting as visually and audibly strong and powerful is to create the background. It's really important for me to make sure that detail is there in sound, so that you are enabling the listener to enter into whatever space the author wants them to be taken to. In order for an audiobook to be successful, it has to be read really well. It is a skill and a lot of audiobooks aren't read well [which] can really destroy the book for whoever's listening. So I feel a great responsibility to make sure that I am casting a voice that complements the tone and structure and style of the novel being read."

 

It is true that the narrator alone can influence a listener’s opinion of an audiobook. More and more authors have been opting to voice their own books in recent years. But the audio medium can also present new and unexpected opportunities impossible to achieve through visual mediums like film or television. 

"One thing I feel very strongly about in audio is that it's a non-visual medium, and therefore there is no excuse for non-diverse casting. I cast [an actor] because they've got the right voice and they've got the right depth of characterisation. [Audio] offers actors the opportunity to play characters that they might never get to play visually. For example, Robbie Coltrane, if he were still here, could play Romeo in audio but actually, never in a million years would he be cast [on stage] because physically, he's just not right. So radio offers actors the opportunity to play characters that they might never get to play visually. For ‘Gatsby in Harlem’, I cast Ncuti Gatwa. He'd always wanted to play Gatsby and he might not have got that opportunity in a visual medium. You can't see whether somebody's tall, thin, wide, whatever it is - those things become irrelevant."

Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa stars in Roy Williams' reimagining F Scott Fizgerald's The Great Gatsby, which is set in the 1920s Harlem Renaissance

Beyond casting, there is plenty of room for the audio genre to expand, with innovative approaches that can, and likely must, evolve to remain relevant. 

"We have a responsibility to keep stories exciting, and therefore the way in which we tell stories has to match the sonic ability of whatever technology is offering and be bolder with the dramatisations. In my work, I'm known for doing a lot of location recording. So I did ‘War and Peace’, broadcast on Radio 4 over 10 hours, all in one day. We recorded it entirely on location, we went out to Austerlitz to record a reenactment of the Battle. I did ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in 26 acres of woodland - I had Puck at midnight, jumping through trees and Titania and Oberon being mauled by mosquitoes. So, where I can, I love to record in real space and where possible in real time. "

As audiobooks continue to evolve they have clearly solidified their place within reading culture,— existing and thriving alongside traditional print books. They provide a unique literary experience. As an art form in its own right, audio has the power to leverage technological innovations and pave the way toward a future where stories are exciting and accessible to all. 

 

"Like with everything that's happening at the moment, it needs to open up and be more relevant culturally, intellectually, geographically. [We need] not to be afraid of finding new ways into old stories."