Shakira Shute

What was the first audiobook you performed?

Kill or Cure by Pixie Britton

What title or series are you best known for?

Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff

If a listener wanted to get to know your work, which of your audiobooks would you point them to?

Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff
The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage
The Players Club by Rachel Mills
A Witch’s Guide to Modern Dating by Cecilia Edward
The Winged Game by Sophie Kim

Where else have we heard your voice?

The Sojourn — audio drama
Ship breakdown videos — narrator

What do you always have in the booth?

Handmade snowman made by my daughter, an origami heart made by my husband, a Lego vocal booth complete with me inside with a mic made by my husband as a hint at my real gift (my studiobricks booth), Photo Booth photos of my besties, crystals, and of course water and lip balm.

How did you come to performing audiobooks?

After working as a commercial litigation lawyer in London, I moved to Canada while on maternity leave. Faced with requalifying as a lawyer, I instead took the opportunity to rediscover my first passion: acting. I had trained with the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and had always dreamed of performing, but had chosen law instead as a more practical/safer option. After returning to the stage, COVID brought theatre to a halt. Then a close friend, newly signed by an indie publisher, asked me to narrate her audiobooks. That unexpected opportunity introduced me to audiobook narration, a career that perfectly combines storytelling, performance, and the flexibility of family life.

Anything else you’d like a listener to know?

I believe we all carry a truer version of ourselves beneath the roles we take on. I was a lawyer, then a mother, and somewhere along the way I lost the spark of who I really was, a performer and actor. It took moving to a new country and having my identity stripped back to realise what had been missing. Finding my way back to acting, and ultimately audiobook narration, felt like coming home. I believe life has a way of leading us back to who we really are, if we’re brave enough to listen when our heart calls us there.