Biographers International Organization

By Deirdre David In recalling the seven years of research that went into the first volume of his biography of Lyndon Johnson, The Path to Power (1982), Robert Caro describes driving from Austin, where he was working at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, to the Hill Country that spreads out to the west in an “incredible empty panorama.” Stopping his car, he spotted in the distance the ranch in the valley of the Pedernales River… Read More »

Natalie Dykstra and Marina Harss will each receive $2,500 as the winners of the first Robert and Ina Caro Research/Travel Fellowship. BIO introduced the fellowship in 2017 to honor the Caros’ work and help biographers establish a sense of place to delineate their subject’s character. You can read more about Dykstra, Harss, and the fellowship in the March Letter from the Vice President by Deirdre David.… Read More »

Online voting for the BIO Board of Directors for the 2018-2020 term opens March 15. You will receive an email with a link to the voting site, where you can cast your ballot for up to eight candidates. The voting period closes on May 1, and results will be announced on May 5. Here are the biographies of the candidates: * Cathy Curtis, Candidate for President In my biographies, I look backward (to the… Read More »

We’re highlighting here  some of the books due out this spring and summer that are likely to garner critical and popular acclaim, because of their subject, their author, or both. The titles already getting buzz are drawn from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Library Journal, and Amazon, among others. BIO members with upcoming releases are noted in bold type. Please note: We do our best to learn about new books, and… Read More »

British author Richard Holmes, beloved for his biographies and memoirs about writing biography, is the winner of the ninth annual BIO Award. BIO bestows this honor on a colleague who has made a major contribution to the advancement of the art and craft of biography. Previous award winners are Jean Strouse, Robert Caro, Arnold Rampersad, Ron Chernow, Stacy Schiff, Taylor Branch, Claire Tomalin, and Candice Millard. Holmes will receive the honor on May 19, at… Read More »

On September 20 and 21, 2018, BIO will join the Biography Institute and the Biography Society in hosting the conference Different Lives: Global Perspectives on Biography in Public Cultures and Societies. This conference will take place in Groningen, the Netherlands, home of the Biography Institute, which is directed by BIO board member Hans Renders. The event will allow biographers to look beyond their own borders, explore how biography is practiced in other parts of the… Read More »

BIO’s Plutarch Award Committee has chosen the four books highlighted below as the finalists for this year’s Plutarch Award, the only international literary award for a biography that is chosen by fellow biographers. BIO members will have three months to read the finalists and vote for the winner.  The Plutarch Award will be presented on Saturday, May 19, at the Ninth Annual BIO Conference in New York. To see a list of the nominees for… Read More »

Here are the nominees for the 2018 Plutarch Award, honoring the best biography published in 2017, listed in alphabetical order by author: BIO PLUTARCH AWARD COMMITTEE MEMBERS, 2018: Anne C. Heller, chair Kate Buford Nassir Ghaemi Brian Jay Jones Andrew Lownie Julia Markus J.W. (Hans) Renders Ray Shepard Will Swift, ex-officio… Read More »