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February 2025
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EDITOR’S NOTE
It’s conference season! Not only is the “Telling the Stories of Black Lives through Biography” conference coming up next month, but the program for the BIO Annual Conference, our biggest event of the year, has been posted on the BIO website. This year, the conference will be held in June in Washington, D.C. We have a fantastic lineup (full disclosure: I’m on the program committee, so I’m not totally impartial, but I still think it’s excellent), along with some wonderful panelists, and some incredible offsite archive tours and workshops. Registration information will be posted soon.
You’ll notice in the coming months that you’ll receive The Insider earlier in the month. While it’s typically sent near the end of the month, the goal is to send it within the first 10 days of the month. The Biographer’s Craft (TBC) will be dispatched within the last 10 days of the month. It’ll take some time to get both newsletters on the new schedule. This information doesn’t directly affect BIO members, per se, but it’s something to remember when sending us your news for inclusion in the newsletter.
Every issue of The Insider and TBC is archived in the member section of the BIO website—and they’re searchable. If you ever miss an issue or want to search for content, simply log in to the website and visit the newsletters section.
Yours truly,
Jared
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BIO NEWS
A Sneak Peek at the BIO Annual Conference Program
This year, the BIO Conference will be held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, June 5, and Friday, June 6. Optional tours and workshops will also be available. The roundtables, traditionally held during lunch on the second program day, will be held virtually a week before the conference. Check out the program, panelists, and moderators here. Registration information, including fees and lodging, will be posted soon.
Join BIO Next Month for Black Biography Conference in Montgomery, Alabama
BIO will host the first major national conference about Black biographies in nearly 40 years at Troy University in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 21 and 22. “Telling the Stories of Black Lives through Biography” is the brainchild of Ray Anthony Shepard, longtime BIO Board member and author of A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama (Calkins Creek, 2023). The event will feature talks, panel discussions, and opportunities to tour Montgomery’s significant civil rights memorials. A’Lelia Bundles, longtime BIO member and author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker (Scribner, 2001) and the forthcoming Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance (Scribner, June 2025), will deliver the keynote address. Visit the conference page for more information and register here.
BIO Lab 2025 Sessions Now Available to View on YouTube
The third annual BIO Lab, which took place in January, featured three speakers: Yunte Huang, Susan Leon, and Jean Strouse. To watch videos of their sessions click on the below links:
The keynote address, “Is Biography Still Relevant in the Age of X, Trump, and Truthiness?,” was given by BIO member John A. Farrell. You can watch it here.
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PRIZES
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National Jewish Book Awards
This year’s National Jewish Book Award for Biography went to Christophe Lebold for Leonard Cohen: The Man Who Saw the Angels Fall (ECW Press, 2024). Learn more about the awards here.
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BIO Member Among L.A. Times Book Prizes Finalists
The 45th Los Angeles Times Book Prizes announced its five biography finalists on February 19, including The Dragon from Chicago: The Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany (Beacon Press, 2024) by BIO member Pamela D. Toler. Winners will be revealed on April 25. View the full list of finalists here (click the Biography category).
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CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
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Application Deadlines are Approaching for BIO Awards and Fellowships
The due dates for two BIO fellowships are quickly approaching:
- The Hazel Rowley Prize awards $5,000 for the best proposal by a first-time biographer. Applications are due March 1.
- The Chip Bishop Fellowship awards up to $2,000 to defray costs associated with attending the annual BIO Conference. Applications are due April 1.
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Applications for National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Long-Term Fellowships Due April 9
The NEH’s Long-Term Fellowships offer recipients up to $60,000 to pursue projects that embody exceptional research, rigorous analysis, and clear writing. Applications from all disciplines are welcome; the NEH encourages submissions from independent and junior scholars. Applications are due by April 9. Learn more about Long-Term Fellowships here.
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Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grants
The Whiting Foundation is accepting applications for its Creative Nonfiction Grants. Up to 10 writers will receive grants of $40,000 each. Applicants must be “in the process of completing a book-length work of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction for a general adult readership.” Projects must be contracted with a publisher in the United States, the United Kingdom, or Canada to be eligible. The deadline is April 23, 2025. More information is available here.
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IN THE NEWS
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NYPL Offers “Biography Research” Event
Join the New York Public Library on Thursday, February 27, from 3 to 4 p.m., for a free course in biographical research. Attendees will “learn about common source types for biographical research, how to find these materials at the library, strategies for fine-tuning your search, and how to connect with librarians for additional support.” Registration is required.
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Fear of Losing Drives Nvidia’s Founder, Biographer Says
Nvidia is one of the fastest-growing artificial intelligence companies in the world, and its founder, Jensen Huang, is the subject of a new authorized biography. Biographer Stephen Witt marveled at Huang’s work ethic and ability to avoid burning out. One reason, Witt posited, was Huang’s intense fear of losing—an emotion so powerful that Huang “still feels upset about a loss he sustained in the final of a high-school table tennis match.” Read the story here.
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How Lorne Michaels’s Biographer Convinced SNL Chief to Reveal Rare View of Life Off-Camera
Lorne Michaels, the storied creator of Saturday Night Live, is known for rarely giving interviews. Imagine biographer Susan Morrison’s surprise when Michaels, celebrating 50 years of the groundbreaking sketch show, finally agreed to open up and share his story. Read the story here.
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John Candy’s Biographer Says Actor Would Have Won Oscar, Had He Lived
It’s almost time for the Academy Awards, and Paul Myers, biographer of actor John Candy, believes the late comic would have won the coveted Oscar during his lifetime had he not succumbed to a heart attack in 1994 at the age of 43. Read the story here.
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THE BLEEDING EDGE
Where Biography and Technology Meet
OpenAI, the company responsible for ChatGPT, recently announced its newest feature: Deep Research. According to Business Insider, this tool “generates cited reports on a user-specified topic by autonomously browsing the web for 5 to 30 minutes.” If you think this is another artificial intelligence product to hasten the downfall of humanity, you don’t have to worry—yet. I asked Deep Research to create a report on my biographical subject, Marilyn Chambers. In the first instance, it cited four sources. The fourth was unfamiliar to me. I asked Deep Research for more information about it. It admitted it wasn’t a real source. Let me repeat that: Deep Research cited a source that doesn’t exist. When prompted to create an updated report, it cited different sources, but one had nothing to do with my subject. Will the technology improve? Absolutely. But for now, AI still has much to learn from biographers—not the other way around.
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SOLD TO PUBLISHERS
A Born Writer: Juanita Harrison and Her Beautiful World
by Cathryn Halverson
sold to University of Massachusetts Press
All the Rage: The World According to Peter Paul Rubens
by Alexander Nemerov
sold to Princeton University Press
by Elias Altman at Massie & McQuilkin
More titles here.
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ROLL CALL
Introducing you to new members of BIO.
John Van Hoesen
John Van Hoesen is working on a biography of Craig Rodwell, founder of the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop in New York and the unheralded prime mover of the gay liberation movement and the first Pride March of 1970.
Stephany Steggall
Stephany Steggall, who’s written biographies on Australian novelist Tom Keneally, Australian poet Bruce Dawe, and Ethiopian long-distance runner Feyisa Lelisa, is working on a biography of Anna Alcott Pratt, the eldest daughter in the Alcott family of Concord, Massachusetts, and the model for “Meg” in sister Louisa’s Little Women.
Karen Taborn
Karen Taborn, who leads walking tours of Harlem and has written a compendium Walking Harlem: The Ultimate Guide to the Cultural Capital of Black America (Rutgers University Press, 2018), is at work on a biography of an as-yet-unnamed important African American ancestor in the Black press, the U.S. government, the Booker T. Washington organization(s), and WWI, until now neglected in contemporary bios.
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MEMBER NEWS AND NOTES
See what these members have been up to—releasing new titles, giving interviews, writing articles—by going here. And be sure to send us your news!
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Caroline Baum
Ron Chernow
Samantha Ege
Jonathan Eig
Tim Greiving
Cheryl Janifer LaRoche
Megan Marshall
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Patrick McGilligan
Kevin McGruder
Diana Parsell
Mary Frances Phillips
Pamela D. Toler
Sonja Williams
Alex Vernon
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IN STORES NOW
BIO members Cheryl Janifer LaRoche and Patrick McGilligan had new books released in February. To see the full list of February releases, go here.
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PAPERBACK RELEASES
BIO members Christina Larocco and Charles DeFanti had new books released in paperback in February. To see the full list of paperbacks released in February, click here.
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FEELING STUCK?
BIO Offers Coaching
Whatever state your biography’s in—vague idea, proposal, well underway—BIO’s experienced biographers can help. BIO offers a one-hour coaching session via phone or email for the member discounted rate of $60. (Coaches may charge more for subsequent hours.) Learn more about the program here.
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ARE YOU A STUDENT?
Discounted BIO Membership Rate
Are you a student, or do you know one who is interested in biography? BIO now has a special student membership rate. Visit the BIO website to find out more.
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KEEP YOUR INFO CURRENT
Making a move or just changed your email? We ask BIO members to keep their contact information up to date, so we and other members know where to find you. Update your information in the Member Area of the BIO website.
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MEMBERSHIP UP FOR RENEWAL?
Please respond promptly to your membership renewal notice. As a nonprofit organization, BIO depends on members’ dues to fund our annual conference, the publication of this newsletter, and the other work we do to support biographers around the world.
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BIO BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Steve Paul, President
Heather Clark, Vice President
Marc Leepson, Treasurer
Kathleen Stone, Secretary
Michael Gately, Executive Director
Kai Bird
Natalie Dykstra
Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina
Carla Kaplan
Kitty Kelley
Diane Kiesel
Sarah S. Kilborne
Linda Leavell
Heath Hardage Lee
Susan Page
Tamara Payne
Barbara Lehman Smith
Will Swift
Eric K. Washington
Sonja D. Williams
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Debby Applegate, Chair • Taylor Branch • A’Lelia Bundles • Robert Caro • Ron Chernow • Tim Duggan • John A. Farrell • Caroline Fraser • Irwin Gellman • Michael Holroyd • Peniel Joseph • Hermione Lee • David Levering Lewis • Andrew Lownie • Megan Marshall • John Matteson • Jon Meacham • Candice Millard • James McGrath Morris • Andrew Morton • Hans Renders • Stacy Schiff • Rachel Swarns • Gayfryd Steinberg • T. J. Stiles • William Taubman • Claire Tomalin
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THE BIOGRAPHER'S CRAFT
Editor
Jared Stearns
Associate Editor
Melanie R. Meadors
Consulting Editor
James McGrath Morris
Copy Editor
James Bradley
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