The Chip Bishop Fellowship, established by BIO co-founder James McGrath Morris, provides up to $2,000 in travel and related expenses, such as child care, to help aspiring biographers attend the annual BIO Conference. BIO will also waive the registration fee, or it will be refunded if it has already been paid. The fellowship honors the memory of Chip Bishop, who credited attending the conference with the successful publication of his first biography. The fellowship is open to both members and non-members seeking to publish their first biography.
Chip Bishop, who passed away in 2016, was a BIO Board member who served on the Plutarch Committee. Morris lauded Bishop as a key player in the development of BIO. “Chip Bishop always told me the early BIO conferences were a huge help in getting his biographies written and published,” Morris said. “He obtained critically important information and landed an agent. There are other ‘Chip Bishops’ out there for whom the conference could play an equally important role. The Chip Bishop Fellowship is intended for an aspiring biographer who is unable to afford to attend the annual conference.”
How to Apply
Please send your responses to the questions below to BIO’s awards administrator (subject line: BIO Chip Bishop Fellowship) by April 1:
1. Have you ever attended a BIO conference? What year(s)?
2. Why do you want to attend the BIO conference?
3. Are you currently working on a biography? If so, are you researching? Writing?
4. Do you have a source of income (other than an advance for a biography)? If so, what is your job?