Biographers International Organization

A distinguished panel of judges, all eminent biographers, has nominated ten books for the Plutarch Award, honoring the best biography of 2018. The Plutarch is the only international literary award judged and presented by biographers. Following the announcement of the ten nominees, BIO’s Plutarch jury will narrow the list to four finalists, and BIO voting members around the world will choose the winning biography. The winner will be announced on May 18, 2019, at the … Read More »

Here are the nominees for the 2019 Plutarch Award, honoring the best biography published in 2018, listed in alphabetical order by author: Commended Books In a year when an abundance of fine biographies went to press, the 2019 Plutarch Award Jury would also like to honor the following eight works: An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden by Mary Schmidt Campbell, Oxford University Press Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman … Read More »

Thank you so much, Will, for that incredibly generous introduction, and for all the thought and effort you’ve put into this.  And many thanks to Jamie, and David, and Adam, for making me blush for the last twenty minutes. Since David is now finishing his biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, everyone who knows him knows that he rarely comes out of his writing cave for ANYTHING at this stage of the game, so I’m so happy… Read More »

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 »

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 »

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 »