Biographers International Organization

By Eric K. Washington One could say Carole Ione, also known professionally as IONE—a playwright, poet, diarist, and frequent co-creator with her longtime spouse, the late composer Pauline Oliveros —has grown accustomed to long waits. As chair of BIO’s Black Lives Matter Committee, I recently had the privilege of informing Ione that Frances Anne Rollin Whipper (1845–1901) would be the namesake of a new $2,000 fellowship next spring, to be offered for a biography-in-progress of… Read More »

COVID-19 has upset publishers’ schedules for releasing new books, which might explain the large number of notable biographies coming out in the last few months of 2020 (some were postponed from spring releases). Traditional cradle-to-grave works, group biographies, and books about “hidden figures” are among the books generating interest among media outlets, before their fall and winter publication. We’re highlighting here just some of the books likely to garner critical and popular attention, because of… Read More »

On June 9, Brandon Butler and Peter Jaszi took part in a virtual workshop for BIO on fair use for biographers. Here, Butler and Jaszi answer two follow-up questions on the topic. You can see a recording of the workshop here, and read BIO’s Statement on Best Practices regarding fair use here.  Q: Taking into account fair use doctrine, when do we—and when don’t we—have to pay licensing fees in order to use… Read More »

Six BIO members shared their views on race and biography for the July issue of The Biographer’s Craft: Black Lives/Young Readers by Ray Anthony Shepard Archival Interventions: Reconstructing Life on the Margins of History by Pamela Newkirk Biography Matters by Patricia Bell-Scott Before There Was Karen, There Was Miss Anne by Carla Kaplan The Sword and the Shield by Peniel E. Joseph Biography Has Mattered to Black Lives by Eric K. Washington  … Read More »

During this historic summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter is garnering support nationally and internationally. For biographers and readers of biography, black lives matter, and writing black lives matters. Six BIO members will contribute essays to the July issue of The Biographer’s Craft about black lives, racism, and how they relate to biography. Here, in the meantime, are biographies of African-Americans by BIO members. Alexandrov, Vladimir. The Black Russian, 2013. Bell-Scott, Patricia. The Firebrand … Read More »

By Linda Leavell BIO members recently elected a new vice president, Sarah Kilborne, and three new board members: Natalie Dykstra, Steve Paul, and Eric K. Washington. Like BIO’s membership at large, members of BIO’s Board of Directors come from diverse backgrounds and practice the art of biography in multiple print and non-print media. Sarah Kilborne has chaired BIO’s Publicity and Social Media Committee for the past two years. Thanks to her initiative and enthusiasm for… Read More »