The Before Columbus Foundation announced the 2024 American Book Awards, which are awarded for “outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community.” Several biographies won awards: The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of The Bondwoman’s Narrative by Gregg Hecimovich (Ecco); Merze Tate: The Global Odyssey of a Black Woman Scholar by Barbara D. Savage (Yale University Press); and The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church by Rachel L. Swarns (Random House). Learn more here.

One biography has made the shortlist for the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize: Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux (Faber & Faber). The winner of the prize will be announced on November 19. Learn more here.

Those Absent On the Great Hungarian Plain by Jill Culiner (Claret Press) won the Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Biography or Memoir. Learn more here.

The 2024 Phi Beta Kappa Society Book Awards shortlists have been announced. The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of The Bondwoman’s Narrative by Gregg Hecimovich (Ecco) is on the shortlist for the Christian Gauss Award for books “in the field of literary scholarship or criticism.” And Ilyon Woo’s Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom (Simon & Schuster) is on the shortlist for the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award for “scholarly study that contributes significantly to interpretations of the intellectual and cultural condition of humanity.” Learn more here.

The Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship offered by Writers Australia is open to Australian citizens and permanent residents. Up to $20,000 is awarded for travel and research to further a writing proposal or work in progress. It may not be used to pay for a research assistant or to subsidize a publication. The focus is on biography, but extends to any aspect of cultural or social history compatible with Hazel Rowley’s interest areas. Preference is given to projects that are about “risk-taking” and expanding horizons, promote discussion of ideas, and make a significant contribution to public intellectual life. Applications are due by November 16. Click here for more information.

The Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College is receiving applications for its full-time residential fellowship, which is offered to both scholars and nonacademics who produce outstanding work on American history. The fellowship offers a $45,000 stipend, health benefits, faculty privileges, a book allowance, a nine-month residency, and housing. Applicants should have a work in progress regarding “the U.S. founding era and/or the nation’s founding ideas.” The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2024. Read more here.

Women Writing Women’s Lives (WWWL), a women’s group dedicated to the writing of women’s lives, is pleased to offer five research awards to women furthering the group’s mission. Each recipient will be awarded $1,000 to help defray expenses incurred while working on a memoir or biography of a woman in print or other media such as film, podcast, bibliography, database, or website. Awardees will also receive a one-year membership in WWWL. The deadline to apply is November 1. Learn more here.

During October, several biographers weighed in on stories that received significant news coverage. In the first instance, after a nine-hour Netflix documentary about the singer and musician Prince was blocked from proceeding by his estate for its “too-negative take,” Radio New Zealand reported on two Prince biographers—including one who was interviewed for the documentary—and their opinions. Jon Bream, the biographer interviewed, said he felt the producers were “digging for a negative perspective.” The other Prince biographer, Matt Thorne, said he was torn over the controversy, explaining: “There are fans who just want to see it because it’s like, ‘Great, nine hours of Prince.’ There are fans who desperately don’t want it to be released because they don’t want the general public to have a negative view of Prince.” Read more here.

Additionally, Oppenheimer coauthor Kai Bird’s disagreement with four historians over his subject’s legacy as a Communist was documented fully by The New York Times. The historians believed that the scientist was a “full-blown member” of a secret Berkeley Communist unit and “ultimately perjured himself in a federal hearing that had dug into his past.” Concerning the latter accusation, Bird said, “The only reason these folks are revisiting this issue is because of the Nolan film. They’re pushing their own little crusade.” He also said that there was no evidence to support that Oppenheimer was a true Communist. Read more here.

Joni B. Cole, an author of books about writing, wrote a recent blog post in which she illustrated how some of the best self-help ideas can, in fact, lead to self-sabotage when applied to writers and their projects. Running through the advice put forth in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, a canonical self-help guide, Cole gave examples of how each of the habits may be stifling your writing. One of the habits—called “sharpening the saw”— means that the practitioner attempts to “stay sharp” and keep a balanced life in support of their goals. As Cole pointed out, “Highly ineffective writers are determined to make their saws so sharp they inevitably drive themselves right over the edge.” Read more here.

by Susan Bailey
sold to Mercer University Press by the author

by Laurence Leamer
sold to Putnam
by David Halpern at David Halpern Literary Management

More titles here.

Susan Bailey
Neil Baldwin
Iris Jamahl Dunkle
John A. Farrell
Danny Fingeroth
Tanisha C. Ford
Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos
Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina
David Greenberg
Will Hermes

Mark Jacob
Martin Klotz
Eve LaPlante
Laurence Leamer
Andrew Lownie
Jennifer Skoog
Rachel L. Swarns
Sonja Williams
Ilyon Woo

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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