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Don SwaimFor many years, most of the best writers of the English language found their way to Don Swaim's CBS Radio studio in New York. The one-on-one interviews typically lasted 30 to 45 minutes and then had to be edited down to a two-minute radio show. Wired for Books is proud to make these important oral documents publicly available for the first time in their entirety. Listen to the voices of many of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.

Visit the Wired for Books Don Swaim Page

Select Don Swaim Interviews

American Book Award winners: Russell Banks | Sandra Cisneros | Henry Louis Gates, Jr. | William Kennedy | Paule Marshall | Toni Morrison | Gary Snyder | Art Spiegelman | John Edgar Wideman Booker Prize winners: Margaret Atwood | John Banville | Ian McEwan | Kazuo Ishiguro | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | Thomas Keneally | Bernice Rubens | Graham Swift | Barry Unsworth Edgar Award winners: Lawrence Block | Mary Higgins Clark | Dick Francis | Frederick Forsyth | Tony Hillerman | P. D. James | Stuart Kaminsky | Elmore Leonard | Ed McBain (Evan Hunter) | Robert B. Parker | T. Jefferson Parker | Ruth Rendell | Joseph Wambaugh | Donald Westlake Hugo Award winners: Isaac Asimov | Ray Bradbury Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science winner: Oliver Sacks National Book Award winners: James Carroll | E. L. Doctorow | Tracy Kidder | Maxine Hong Kingston | Paul Monette | Susan Sontag | John Updike | Gore Vidal National Book Critics Circle Award winners: E. L. Doctorow | Stanley Elkin | John C. Gardner | William Kennedy | Toni Morrison | Reynolds Price | Jane Smiley | John Updike Nobel Prize winners: Gunter Grass | Doris Lessing | Toni Morrison PEN / Faulkner Award for Fiction winners: T. Coraghessan Boyle | Michael Cunningham | E. L. Doctorow | John Updike | John Edgar Wideman | Richard Wiley | Tobias Wolff Pulitzer Prize winners: Carl Bernstein | Robert Olen Butler | Michael Cunningham | Richard Eberhart | Oscar Hijuelos | William Kennedy | Tracy Kidder | Alison Lurie | Norman Mailer | Toni Morrison | Jane Smiley | Gary Snyder | Studs Terkel | John Updike

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Margaret Atwood Tom Clancy Gloria Steinem John Updike Toni Morrison Allen Ginsberg Joyce Carol Oates Isaac Asimov Paul Theroux Amy Tan Martin Cruz Smith Maya Angelou

Kids' Corner: Featuring the Stories of Beatrix PotterKids' Corner: Featuring the stories of Beatrix Potter, including The Tale of Peter Rabbit with text, pictures, and audio.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, a dramatic audio performance of the classic book.

"Delightful,"says The Guardian of London.

A Christmas Carol by Charles DickensListen to Charles Dickens' classic tale, A Christmas Carol in audio. A dramatic audio performance by the Wired for Books Players.

"Critics' Choice" --The Guardian

Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth
by William Shakespeare, an audio performance.

More Shakespeare plays and poems at Wired for Books

Archer MayorListen to Archer Mayor, winner of the 2004 New England Book Award for Fiction, tell how he switched from writing history books to writing novels.

Rabindranath TagoreMartin Sheen reads  Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore's famous poem, My Country Awake, at a rally  for the people of Appalachia.

Robert Pinsky - photo courtesy of Associated PressRobert Pinsky, US Poet Laureate, reads three of his poems: ABC, Samurai Song, and The Want Bone. Interviews by Mark Halliday and John Ray are included.

Emily DickinsonLaura Lee Parrotti reads the poetry of Emily Dickinson including the Love series and the Life series.

Herbert Woodward MartinThe African American Oral Tradition, an exploration of sermon, song, and poetry, by Herbert Woodward Martin. Joan ConnorJoan Connor reads two of her short stories, The Joy of Being Comforted and Men in Brown.

J.Allyn RosserJ. Allyn Rosser reads her poetry, including Late Elvis, Sole Blessing, Password and Raven.

Walt WhitmanRichard Sater reads selections from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.

Susan GlaspellTrifles: A Play in One Act, written by Susan Glaspell and directed by Karen Chan.

Daniel KeyesDaniel Keyes, author of Flowers for Algernon, and the real-life drama, The Minds of Billy Milligan, talks about his life of writing.

Jack MatthewsThe " master of prose conversation and deadpan charm" Jack Matthews reads his short story, The Girl at the Window. Eloise Klein HealyEloise Klein Healy, poet, teacher, and winner of the Grand Prize of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival, reads her favorite poems.

Mark HallidayMark Halliday reads a few of his favorite poems, including Parkersburg, and Schnetzerday.

Sharmila VoorakkaraPrize-winning poet Sharmila Voorakkara reads her poems from Fire Wheel.

Lia PurpuraLia Purpura, author of Stone Sky Lifting, reads her poems for Wired for Books.

Wayne DoddListen to Wayne Dodd reading from his work, including On Any Given Afternoon and Naming the Winter.

Clea SimonClea Simon talks about her mystery novel, Mew is for Murder, and her nonfiction books, including Mad House.

Terry AndersonTaken hostage in the Lebanese civil war, Terry Anderson was imprisoned for nearly seven years. He reads the Den of Lions poems.

Dave SmithTwice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry, Dave Smith reads fifteen of his favorite poems.

Michelle HermanMichelle Herman reads and sings her essay, Performance

Darrell SpencerDarrell Spencer, winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, presents his short story, Song and Dance.

Bonnie ProudfootBonnie Proudfoot reads her poetry, including Coping with  Awe and News from the Edge of the World.

Caroline LeavittListen to an interview with Caroline Leavitt, author of Girls in Trouble.

Thomas LynchThomas Lynch is a poet and funeral director. He reads from The Undertaking and Grimalkin & Other Poems.

Rochelle ShapiroListen to an interview with novelist Rochelle Shapiro, author of Miriam the Medium.

A. E. HousmanRichard Compson Sater reads A. E. Housman's collection of poems, A Shropshire Lad, including To An Athlete Dying Young. Edgar Allen Poe Listen to The Fall of the House of Usher and The Tell-Tale Heart, written by the early master of gloom and horror, Edgar Allan Poe. Janis Butler HolmCindy Bonner: Romance and Rascals in the Wild, Wild West an essay by Janis Butler Holm.
Mark TwainListen to readings of The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Extracts from Adam's Diary,and Eve's Diary by Mark Twain. Barbara SamsonAuthor of On N'est Pas Serieux Quand On A Dix-sept Ans (Nobody Is Serious when They're Seventeen), Barbara Samson talks about her life and living with HIV. Robert KinsleyRobert Kinsley, author of Field Stones, offers poems from his book. Jeffry Allen TuckerRacial Realities  and Amazing  Alternatives: Studying the Works of Samuel R. Delany by Jeffrey Allen Tucker.
Michael BugejaPoems  by Michael Bugeja from his book, Talk. Richard StevensRichard Stevens reads a few of his favorite classic English poems.

William BlakeAethelred Eldridge reads Milton by William Blake.

Jamie TevisJamie Tevis talks about Walter Tevis, author of the novels The Hustler, The Color of Money, and The Man Who Fell to Earth.
Join Marilyn Atlas and Edgar Whan and special guests Daniel Born, Annette Oxindine, Peter Heidtmann and Vattel Rose as they discuss the stories of Raymond Carver, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Leo Tolstoy. The Iliad - Book I - The story of a raging anger and its human toll. The poem recounts "the rage of Achilles," the greatest of the Greek heroes fighting in the war against Troy. Listen to Stanley Lombardo read Homer's The Iliad - Book I in ancient Greek.

The Aeneid - Book IV - Driven by fate to seek a new land for himself, his family, and the survivors of Troy, Aeneas abandons Carthage and his lover Dido. Valahfridus (Wilfried) Stroh reads Virgil's The Aeneid in Latin.

Jack WrightJack Wright reads his short story, A Lost Wedding Ring: A Winter's Tale. You can also watch his short documentary film, Primitive Things.

 

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At Wired for Books, we are especially appreciative to the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections at Ohio University, the Ohio Humanities Council, the Ohio University Spring Literary Festival, the Ohioana Library, and the State Library of Ohio.

Created and produced by David Kurz. Web site built by Amber Adams, Eric Anderson, George Bain, Elle Bigner, Erica Blocher, Michael Blohm, Katie Callaghan, Sean Chess, Jean Cunningham, Ryan Dyson, Jeff Ferda, Brandon Flayler, Matt Gabel, Matthew Gambrill, Helen Gawthrop, Jess Goode, Allan Grim, Mark Hellenberg, Cara Herman, Kurt Holliday, Jim Jackson, Sarah Kessler, Marilyn Krupa, Sangchul Lee, Jeff Liggett, David Luce, Hope Maccani, Scott Martin, Denise McGill, Christine Mersch, Katie Miller, Yoko Mori, James Murray, Tim Myers, Randy Norris, Brian O'Keefe, Soozan Palsa, Wesley Potts, John Ray, Mandy Santeufemio, Ben Schneider, Ryan Scott, Jennifer Shope, Arian Smedley, Kurt Stalnaker, Amanda Stanfield, Harry Stephens, Connie Stevens, Andrew Stout, Sharon Teo, Megan Toth, Bill Warthman, Ryan Williams, and Ali Winberry.


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