“Different Lives” Conference Provides International Perspectives on Biography

November 11th, 2018

By John A. Farrell Did liberal scholarship, degrading the principle of truth with postmodern theory, pave the way for Donald Trump’s duplicity? Biographer Nigel Hamilton, a former BIO president, proposed as much in a biting address that launched “Different Lives,” a three-day conference on biography at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands, in late September. “The White House was won . . . by a real estate developer committed to a platform of misogyny,… Read More »

Transcription Services Make Interviewing Easier

November 4th, 2018

By James McGrath Morris So you land a terrific two-hour interview in the course of researching your next biography. What now? If you want to obtain a full transcript of your interview, the Internet will link you to two providers that I have found to be well suited for our line of work. In the past, most transcription services were designed for legal use and were costly because of the demand among clients for precision.… Read More »

First-time Biographers, Apply Now for the Rowley Prize

October 8th, 2018

BIO is accepting applications for the Hazel Rowley Prize. The prize rewards a first-time biographer with: funding (the $2,000 award); a careful reading from an established agent; one year’s membership in BIO (along with registration to the annual Biographers International Organization Conference); and publicity for the author and project through the BIO website, The Biographer’s Craft newsletter, etc. The prize is a way for BIO To advance its mission and extend its reach to talented… Read More »

Apply Now for the Caro Fellowship

October 8th, 2018

BIO is accepting applications for the Robert and Ina Caro Research/Travel Fellowship. BIO members with a work in progress can apply to receive funding for research trips to archives or to important settings in their subject’s lives. The fellowship is restricted to supporting works of biography and not works of history, autobiography, or memoir. The application deadline is February 1, 2019. In the spring of 2019, BIO will award either one $5,000 or two… Read More »

Murdoch Biography Revisits Player’s Demise

September 25th, 2018

A new biography of one of New Zealand’s best-known rugby players has been published. Murdoch: The All Black Who Never Returned, by Ron Palenski, New Zealand’s best sportswriter, outlines and reviews one of the most controversial episodes in New Zealand sport. Keith Murdoch was on the All Blacks (New Zealand’s national rugby team) in the early 1970s. After one victory in Wales, Murdoch got into a brawl with a hotel security guard. Over the… Read More »

Tim Duggan to Receive BIO’s Editorial Excellence Award

September 19th, 2018

Biographers International Organization will present its fifth annual Editorial Excellence Award to Tim Duggan, editor and publisher of Tim Duggan Books, an imprint of Crown at Penguin Random House. Please join us on Wednesday, November 7, at 6:30 p.m., for wine, hors d’oeuvres, and a celebration of Tim Duggan’s work on behalf of his authors, with a discussion of the pleasures and challenges of editing, and of the state of the art of serious biography… Read More »

Fall 2018 Preview

September 4th, 2018

We’re highlighting here  some of the books due out this fall and winter 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 »

Alison Owings Wins Mayborn Fellowship

August 11th, 2018

Alison Owings won the Biography Fellowship awarded annually by the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, held at the University of North Texas. The fellowship is co-sponsored by BIO and BIO co-founder James McGrath Morris. With her fellowship, Owings receives a two- to three-week residency in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and mentoring from Morris during her stay. In addition, she will receive complimentary admission to the 2019 BIO Conference and a $500 stipend. During her stay in… Read More »
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