How do I cite the audio recording of a literary reading?

Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.

To cite a work that consists solely of a literary reading, follow the MLA format template. Treat the author of the work as the “Author” element. If there is a narrator other than the author, list that person as an “other contributor” in the optional-element slot after the title. In the example below, the placement of Cusac’s name after the title tells your reader that Cusac reads only “The Bees,” not every poem presented on Poem of the Day.

Sullivan, Anne O. “The Bees.” Read by Anne-Marie Cusac. Poem of the Day, Poetry Foundation, 27 Aug. 2017, www.poetryfoundation.org/ podcasts/76357/the-bees.

When the narrator is the same as the writer, list the full name in the “Author” slot and the last name only in the “Other contributors” slot:

Obama, Barack. Dreams of My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. Narrated by Obama, Random House, 2005. Audiobook.