2025 BIO Conference

Optional Pre-Conference Virtual Roundtables

Roundtables for the 2025 conference will take place online about a week before the conference itself. Limited to ten participants each, roundtables provide an opportunity for biographers to meet other biographers with similar interests. Participation is optional, and space is limited. Please do not sign up unless you intend to participate. Do sign up if you would like to meet fellow biographers before you arrive at the conference.

Each roundtable has a host, named in parentheses below, who will facilitate introductions, answer questions, and direct a discussion of interest to the participants. Each session lasts for one hour.

You may sign up for only one roundtable. Because of limited space, you are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible but no later than May 16. The roundtable host will contact you with a link shortly before the scheduled meeting.

All times are Washington, D.C. (Eastern Daylight) Time.

Wednesday, May 28

Thursday, May 29

All times listed are Washington, D.C. (Eastern Daylight) time.

Note: Tours are limited to those who signed up in advance. If you would like to participate, you must purchase the tour of your choosing as a ticket add-on when you register for the conference through Eventbrite. 

All times listed are Washington, D.C. (Eastern Daylight) time.

All panels and plenaries at National Press Club.

11:00 AM–12:45 PM 

WORKSHOP: Digging Up the Dirt for a Great Biography, Lisagor Room, National Press Club

Note: The workshop is limited to those who signed up in advance. If you would like to participate, you must purchase the workshop admission as a ticket add-on when you register for the conference through Eventbrite. 

Painting detailed settings and giving breath to characters is a must to draw in readers. They should feel as though they’re hiding from assassins in Nazi-occupied France, or pounding the halls of Congress, confronting hostile lawmakers. I’ve written those scenarios and more, tapping into resources some writers never consider.

Much treasure can be found by researching our subjects in different ways, by learning the weather, movies, and fashion trends of the time we’re writing about. Thinking outside the box will make any book shine!

As a self-confessed research junkie (the archives of France and England were a hoot!), I’ll show my fellow biographers:

1. How to build their characters by researching others who orbit them.
2. How to knit researched details into narrative without the dreaded, “as you know, Bob.”
3. When to STOP researching to prevent “information dump” on readers.

You’ll leave with more than one “ah ha” tidbit – guaranteed!

Judith Pearson is a bestselling author, an accomplished presenter, and a graduate of Michigan State University. But her favorite title is “story teller,” with a little “research junkie” thrown in. Those characteristics have resulted in six biographies, including a bestseller and award-winners. An accomplished presenter, Pearson has turned her books’ subjects into presentations viewed by thousands in the U.S. and the U.K. She was named one of Chicago’s Most Inspirational Women by Chicago Magazine, selected as a finalist for the Arizona Healthcare Leadership Awards, and named a Phoenix Healthcare Hero. Pearson and her husband live in Nokomis, Florida.

Face-to-face coaching sessions are available to conference participants who seek advice from an experienced biographer. Each session lasts 45 minutes and costs $50, paid directly to the coach. To request a coaching session, email a one-page description of your project along with a specific question or two to president@biographersinternational.org.