Program worth checking out - In their own words: British Novelists

 In Their Own Words: British Novelists is an excellent series produced by the BBC worth checking out on You Tube. The DVD is available for purchase and shouldn't be too difficult to find. The Series incorporates rare footage of significant English Writers talking about their work and their beliefs, and takes us from a rare recording of Virginia Woolfe up to Salmon Rushdie talking about his earlier controversial work. 

Iris Murdoch says in the first episode Among the ruins 1919-1939   "As a novelist one is just the pupil of great novelists of the past."  We can read their works but this series provides an opportunity to hear some of the great novelists of the past 'in their own words.'

Here are a couple of links to get you started:

JRR Tolkien

Among the ruins 1919-1939