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Kimberly Farr

"I’ve learned to be like Sherlock Holmes, picking up the clues the writer gives you."

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Talking with Kimberly Farr

In June 2025, Kimberly Farr was inducted as a Golden Voice, AudioFile's lifetime achievement honor for audiobook narrators.

How did you get started with narrating?

I’ve been a professional actress since I was 19 years old. And in 2004, I had two young-ish kids, and I didn’t want to be doing theater (nights away from them) or films or TV (long hours on the set). But I didn’t want to give up my acting career completely. A couple of colleagues who I worked with at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., had narrated audiobooks for Recorded Books during the months that the theater was dark, and I thought, well, that looks like fun!

From earliest childhood, I’ve always loved reading. I was the kid who checked the maximum number of books out of the library every two weeks, then brought them back and checked out the maximum number again. I think if I hadn’t become an actress, I would have been a librarian.

So I had a friend, Jimmy Hite, one of the top audio engineers in Los Angeles, who volunteered to master a demo for me. I sent the demo off to Books on Tape, which at the time was the big audio publishing house in L.A. And I waited to be discovered.

Which didn’t happen. About 5 months went by and I heard nothing. I was just about to email them to make sure they’d gotten my recording when Dan Musselman called and asked me to come into their studio to audition in person. It must have gone pretty well, because within a couple of weeks I was assigned a book. I was going to get paid to read!

How do you approach narrating fiction and nonfiction differently?

To me, the biggest difference between fiction and nonfiction is the author’s voice. By that I mean, a nonfiction work is expressed entirely in the voice the author chooses to tell a true story. Up until relatively recently, there was zero characterization in nonfiction, no disparate voices at all, even if the author was writing about people who could be considered characters. That is still true, more often than not.

Fiction is the exact opposite. In a novel, my job is to give distinctive voices to all of the characters in the dialogue passages and read the narrative sections in the voice the author has chosen to weave their individual stories into the fabric of the book.

What is not different between fiction and nonfiction is that both tell stories, and a nonfiction story can, and ought to be, every bit as compelling as a fictional one. Both genres require the narrator to interpret the author’s meaning, to express the author’s intention as faithfully as possible, and to always be in the service of the writing.

What has surprised you the most about your work in audiobooks?

How much truly wonderful writing is being done. It’s quite astonishing, the depth and breadth of what is out there for all readers and listeners to enjoy, and to be taught by. And I was also surprised by how fascinating every project is as you explore the best way to approach it. The questions are always different and interesting, the search for the way into the material is always exciting and challenging. What an incredibly great job I have!

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�Interview with Kimberly Farr

“If I hadn’t been an actor, I bet I would have become a librarian,” says Kimberly Farr. “I was the kid who wanted to read every book in the library, and I got a pretty good start on it, too!”

About eight years ago, Farr says, she was in the library looking at the audiobook section. “And I thought ‘I’d really like to do that!’”After a long career in the theater, the idea of merging her love of reading with her acting skills appealed to her, as did shifting her focus to family--“and not worrying about going to the theater each night or being on location. I just had a feeling about audiobooks –that I could do that, and that I’d love it. ”

Flash forward “50 to 60 titles” later, and it’s clear that Farr’s hunch was right. “My audio work is characterized by variety,” she says happily. “I could never resign myself to just one thing. So I’ve read books about sharks; the male brain; Condoleezza Rice’s biography; and lots of historical, popular, and literary fiction. If I’ve been typed, I guess I’d have to say that, more often than not, I get to read very smart books written by enormously talented writers.”

Farr’s recent narration of DEARIE, a biography of Julia Child, ranks among her favorites and took a full two weeks to record. “It was the longest time I’ve been in the studio on one project.” She’d narrated Child’s autobiographical MY LIFE IN FRANCE a few years ago and fell in love with Julia then. Bringing DEARIE to life, she knew, would require just a suggestion of Julia’s distinctive voice. “But not an impersonation,” she says. “Just that flavoring of Julia. It was really a key element because she’s quoted a great deal. They wanted Julia’s spirit. This was maybe the most difficult book I’ve done because of the length and emotional range of the material. But when I got to the last sentence, I knew I was going to miss working on it the next day!”

Farr says her preparation for each performance is always guided by the author whose work she brings to life. “Good writing has its own cadence and its own life force, and all I have to do is get out of its way and listen to it. It tells me how to read it.” She resists rehearsing passages, which she feels “kills spontaneity,” but does make extensive notes on the material. “I’ve learned to be like Sherlock Holmes, picking up the clues the writer gives you about this person. Those things I do work on, what the characters will sound like. If the writing is good, it’s all there. You just have to listen to and trust the author. It’s fun to say, ‘I am the instrument, and I am going to make your people live.’”--Jessie C. Grearson

[OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012]

��Kimberly's Accolades

Poetry Handbook AudioFile Best of 2024 Nonfiction & Culture
Charlotte's Web Audie Award 2020 Middle Grade
Clock Dance AudioFile Best of 2018 Fiction