Lee’s Biography of Penelope Fitzgerald Wins Plutarch Award
Among Lee’s other books is Biography: A Very Short Introduction.
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life by Hermione Lee won the Plutarch Award for best biography of 2014, as selected by members of Biographers International Organization. The winning book was announced at the Sixth Annual BIO Conference in Washington, DC.
“I am absolutely delighted to have been awarded this prize, especially when I look at the competition!” said Dame Hermione Lee when she heard the news. President of Wolfson College, Oxford, England, Lee was not present at the announcement of the winner.
The three Plutarch finalists were:
- The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandria by Helen Rappaport
- The Mantle of Command: FDR at War, 1941-1942 by Nigel Hamilton
- Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh by John Lahr
Named after the ancient Greek biographer, the prize is the genre’s equivalent of the Oscar, in that BIO members chose the winner by secret ballot from nominees selected by a committee of distinguished members of the craft. This year marked the third time BIO bestowed the award. Previous winners were Linda Leavell for Holding on Upside Down: The Life and Work of Marianne Moore and Robert Caro for The Passage of Power.