Optional Archive Tours begin
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.
Conference attendees are invited to add tours of various New York libraries and archives to your schedules. Tours will require a $25 per person fee, and registration is limited. While the New York Public Library and the Morgan Library are within walking distance of the CUNY Graduate Center, transportation will be on your own to other sites (subway, bus, taxi, car services).
Events
2024 BIO Conference
BIO welcomed biographers, editors, agents, publishers, and publicity professionals from across the nation and around the world to the 14th annual BIO Conference. BIO was honored again to partner with the Leon Levy Center for Biography to host this event.
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Additional Details
All times listed are New York (Eastern Daylight) time.
10:00–10:30 AM
10:00–11:30 AM
The New York Public Library’s special collections
The New York Public Library
40th Street and Fifth Avenue
Please join us for an introduction to The New York Public Library’s special collections. We will meet in one of the historic reading rooms, the Berg Collection, to examine archival and rare materials and to learn more about the range of resources available at The New York Public Library’s flagship location, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, which is one of the Library’s premier research centers, renowned for its extraordinary historical collections and its commitment to providing free and equal access to its resources. After we examine material, participants are invited on a brief tour of the rest of the building and reading rooms, and will have the opportunity to explore The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures as well as temporary exhibitions on view. Tour limited to 15 attendees; see Saturday schedule for another opportunity.
The New York Public Library
40th Street and Fifth Avenue
Please join us for an introduction to The New York Public Library’s special collections. We will meet in one of the historic reading rooms, the Berg Collection, to examine archival and rare materials and to learn more about the range of resources available at The New York Public Library’s flagship location, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, which is one of the Library’s premier research centers, renowned for its extraordinary historical collections and its commitment to providing free and equal access to its resources. After we examine material, participants are invited on a brief tour of the rest of the building and reading rooms, and will have the opportunity to explore The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures as well as temporary exhibitions on view. Tour limited to 15 attendees; see Saturday schedule for another opportunity.
10:30 AM–12:00 PM
The New York Public Library Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard (at 135th Street), Harlem
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, one of The New York Public Library’s renowned research libraries, is a world-leading cultural institution devoted to the research, preservation, and exhibition of materials focused on African American, African Diaspora, and African experiences. Attendees will learn about the resources in five major divisions of the center: Art and Artifacts; Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference; Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books; Photographs and Prints; Moving Pictures and Sound. Tour limited to 12 attendees.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard (at 135th Street), Harlem
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, one of The New York Public Library’s renowned research libraries, is a world-leading cultural institution devoted to the research, preservation, and exhibition of materials focused on African American, African Diaspora, and African experiences. Attendees will learn about the resources in five major divisions of the center: Art and Artifacts; Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference; Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books; Photographs and Prints; Moving Pictures and Sound. Tour limited to 12 attendees.
1:00 PM
Registration opens, Concourse Level, CUNY Graduate Center
1:00–2:30 PM
The Grolier Club Library and Museum
The Grolier Club
47 E. 60th Street
BIO member Eve Kahn will give a private tour of this unique hybrid library, museum, and club, founded in 1884, America’s oldest and largest society for bibliophiles. It is headquartered in a 1917 Georgian Revival building designed by club member and noted architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue. Interior highlights include a Dutch Colonial-style tavern and a soaring Neoclassical research library with 100,000 volumes that shed light on how the printed word and image have disseminated information for millennia. Two floors of public exhibition spaces with excerpts from Grolier members’ collections will be on the tour, including an exhibit on the wild history of English language dictionaries: “Hardly Harmless Drudgery.” Tour limited to 20 attendees.
The Grolier Club
47 E. 60th Street
BIO member Eve Kahn will give a private tour of this unique hybrid library, museum, and club, founded in 1884, America’s oldest and largest society for bibliophiles. It is headquartered in a 1917 Georgian Revival building designed by club member and noted architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue. Interior highlights include a Dutch Colonial-style tavern and a soaring Neoclassical research library with 100,000 volumes that shed light on how the printed word and image have disseminated information for millennia. Two floors of public exhibition spaces with excerpts from Grolier members’ collections will be on the tour, including an exhibit on the wild history of English language dictionaries: “Hardly Harmless Drudgery.” Tour limited to 20 attendees.
1:00–2:30 PM
Morgan Library Special Collections
The Morgan Library (Special Collections)
225 Madison Avenue (at 36th Street)
Special Collections Curator Philip Palmer will introduce attendees to the vast range of research resources at this historic site. Collections include medieval manuscripts; literary and historical documents from the lives and works of figures as diverse as Sir Isaac Newton, Henry David Thoreau, Jane Austen and John Steinbeck; the Paris Review Archive; and countless music and art sources. Attendees will meet in the Education Center. Tour limited to 20 attendees.
The Morgan Library (Special Collections)
225 Madison Avenue (at 36th Street)
Special Collections Curator Philip Palmer will introduce attendees to the vast range of research resources at this historic site. Collections include medieval manuscripts; literary and historical documents from the lives and works of figures as diverse as Sir Isaac Newton, Henry David Thoreau, Jane Austen and John Steinbeck; the Paris Review Archive; and countless music and art sources. Attendees will meet in the Education Center. Tour limited to 20 attendees.
2:00–3:30 PM
Workshop
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.
Drafting and refining a book proposal has become one of the essential ingredients to selling your book and yourself to potential agents and editors. As many biographers find, it’s one of the most difficult but important parts of the process and one way writers can focus their goals and convince even themselves of the necessity of their projects. Come join the discussion and learn some tips and strategies.
Carl Rollyson is professor emeritus of journalism at Baruch College, CUNY, and has published 14 biographies, including in 2020, The Life of William Faulkner and The Last Days of Sylvia Plath. In August 2023, the University of Mississippi Press published Rollyson’s Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 1. Volume 2 of his Plath biography is forthcoming in August 2024. Also forthcoming: The Making of Sylvia Plath, William Faulkner on and off the Page: Essays in Biographical Criticism, and Ronald Colman: Hollywood’s Gentleman Hero. Rollyson also hosts the podcast A Life in Biography, available at https://anchor.fm/carl-rollyson.
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.
Drafting and refining a book proposal has become one of the essential ingredients to selling your book and yourself to potential agents and editors. As many biographers find, it’s one of the most difficult but important parts of the process and one way writers can focus their goals and convince even themselves of the necessity of their projects. Come join the discussion and learn some tips and strategies.
Carl Rollyson is professor emeritus of journalism at Baruch College, CUNY, and has published 14 biographies, including in 2020, The Life of William Faulkner and The Last Days of Sylvia Plath. In August 2023, the University of Mississippi Press published Rollyson’s Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 1. Volume 2 of his Plath biography is forthcoming in August 2024. Also forthcoming: The Making of Sylvia Plath, William Faulkner on and off the Page: Essays in Biographical Criticism, and Ronald Colman: Hollywood’s Gentleman Hero. Rollyson also hosts the podcast A Life in Biography, available at https://anchor.fm/carl-rollyson.
4:00–4:45 PM
Member Readings, Proshansky Auditorium
4:45–5:30 PM
Awards Presentation, Proshansky Auditorium
Presentation of the Robert and Ina Caro Research/Travel Fellowship, the Frances “Frank” Rollin Fellowship, the Hazel Rowley Prize, the Chip Bishop Fellowship, and the Ray A. Shepard Service Award.
Presentation of the Robert and Ina Caro Research/Travel Fellowship, the Frances “Frank” Rollin Fellowship, the Hazel Rowley Prize, the Chip Bishop Fellowship, and the Ray A. Shepard Service Award.
5:30–7:00 PM
Opening Reception, Concourse Level
All times listed are New York (Eastern Daylight) time.
8:00–8:40 AM
Registration and Breakfast, Concourse Level, Graduate Center
8:40–9:00 AM
Welcome from Kai Bird, Executive Director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography, and BIO President Steve Paul, Proshansky Auditorium
9:00–10:00 AM
JAMES ATLAS PLENARY, Proshansky Auditorium
A conversation between Tamara Payne and Thulani Davis
A conversation between Tamara Payne and Thulani Davis
10:10–11:15 AM
BASICS
What Editors Want Today, Proshansky Auditorium
CRAFT
Melding Science and Biography, Room C203
BUSINESS
From Book to Film: Selling Options, Scripting, Producing, Room C201-202
ISSUES
Writing Asian and Asian American Biography, Room C204
What Editors Want Today, Proshansky Auditorium
CRAFT
Melding Science and Biography, Room C203
BUSINESS
From Book to Film: Selling Options, Scripting, Producing, Room C201-202
ISSUES
Writing Asian and Asian American Biography, Room C204
11:30 AM–12:30 PM
BASICS
Mining Archives for Research Gold, Room C201-202
CRAFT
Merging Biography and Memoir, Proshansky Auditorium
BUSINESS
From Ink to Algorithms: What You Need to Know About Artificial Intelligence, Room C203
ISSUES
Leadership in Times of Peril in Democracy, Room C204
Mining Archives for Research Gold, Room C201-202
CRAFT
Merging Biography and Memoir, Proshansky Auditorium
BUSINESS
From Ink to Algorithms: What You Need to Know About Artificial Intelligence, Room C203
ISSUES
Leadership in Times of Peril in Democracy, Room C204
12:30–2:00 PM
Lunch
12:30 PM–2:00 PM
Roundtables
Roundtable Topics and Moderators
(If you wish to participate in a Roundtable, you must sign up for one as part of conference registration. You will be given an option to select a Roundtable as part of the registration process through Eventbrite.)
1. American History: Louise Knight
2. Biography as Cultural History: Julia Mickenberg
3. Biography, BIO, and Ethics: Sarah Covington
4. Interviewing and Being Interviewed: Greg Daugherty
5. First-Time Biographers: Allison Gilbert
6. Writing Women’s Lives, Table 1: Carla Kaplan
7. Group Biography: Janice Nimura
8. How to Use FOIA – Tanisha Ford
9. Promotional Strategies: Jennifer Richards
10. Literary Biography, Table 1: Ruth Franklin
11. Literary Biography, Table 2: Linda Leavell
12. Military History: Marc Leepson
13. Music and Pop Culture: Holly George-Warren
14. Writing Women’s Lives, Table 2 – Emily Setina
15. Permissions, Fair Use, Other Legal Issues: Diane Kiesel
16. Tracing Black Lives: Eric K. Washington
17. Supporting Yourself as a Biographer: Beverly Gray
18. Graphic Biography: Danny Fingeroth
19. The Art of the Book Review: Elizabeth Taylor
20. Biographies of Lesser Known People: Lynne Bermont
Roundtable Topics and Moderators
(If you wish to participate in a Roundtable, you must sign up for one as part of conference registration. You will be given an option to select a Roundtable as part of the registration process through Eventbrite.)
1. American History: Louise Knight
2. Biography as Cultural History: Julia Mickenberg
3. Biography, BIO, and Ethics: Sarah Covington
4. Interviewing and Being Interviewed: Greg Daugherty
5. First-Time Biographers: Allison Gilbert
6. Writing Women’s Lives, Table 1: Carla Kaplan
7. Group Biography: Janice Nimura
8. How to Use FOIA – Tanisha Ford
9. Promotional Strategies: Jennifer Richards
10. Literary Biography, Table 1: Ruth Franklin
11. Literary Biography, Table 2: Linda Leavell
12. Military History: Marc Leepson
13. Music and Pop Culture: Holly George-Warren
14. Writing Women’s Lives, Table 2 – Emily Setina
15. Permissions, Fair Use, Other Legal Issues: Diane Kiesel
16. Tracing Black Lives: Eric K. Washington
17. Supporting Yourself as a Biographer: Beverly Gray
18. Graphic Biography: Danny Fingeroth
19. The Art of the Book Review: Elizabeth Taylor
20. Biographies of Lesser Known People: Lynne Bermont
2:00–3:00 PM
Awards Presentation
BIO Award and Keynote Address by the recipient, followed by presentation of the Biblio Award and the Plutarch Award
BIO Award and Keynote Address by the recipient, followed by presentation of the Biblio Award and the Plutarch Award
3:15–4:15 PM
BASICS
Writing an Artist’s Life, Room C201-202
CRAFT
Writing Black Lives Today, Room C203
BUSINESS
Biographers’ Survival Tips, Room C204
ISSUES
Intimacy & Boundaries, Proshansky Auditorium
Writing an Artist’s Life, Room C201-202
CRAFT
Writing Black Lives Today, Room C203
BUSINESS
Biographers’ Survival Tips, Room C204
ISSUES
Intimacy & Boundaries, Proshansky Auditorium
4:30–5:30 PM
BASICS
Alternative Approaches to Biography, Room C203
CRAFT
Writing LGBTQ+ Lives, Room C204
BUSINESS
Research Tips From Award-Winning Writers, Proshansky Auditorium
ISSUES
Who Gets to Tell the Story?, Room C201-202
Alternative Approaches to Biography, Room C203
CRAFT
Writing LGBTQ+ Lives, Room C204
BUSINESS
Research Tips From Award-Winning Writers, Proshansky Auditorium
ISSUES
Who Gets to Tell the Story?, Room C201-202
5:30–7:00 PM
Closing Reception, Concourse Level, Graduate Center
10:00–11:30 AM
Tours
Note: Tours are limited to those who signed up in advance. 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.
The New York Public Library’s special collections
New York Public Library
40thStreet and Fifth Ave.
Please join us for an introduction to The New York Public Library’s special collections. We will meet in one of the historic reading rooms, the Berg Collection, to examine archival and rare materials and to learn more about the range of resources available at The New York Public Library’s flagship location, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, which is one of the Library’s premier research centers, renowned for its extraordinary historical collections and its commitment to providing free and equal access to its resources. After we examine material, participants are invited on a brief tour of the rest of the building and reading rooms, and will have the opportunity to explore The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures as well as temporary exhibitions on view. Tour limited to 15 attendees.
Plenary Speakers
JAMES ATLAS PLENARY, Proshansky Auditorium
A conversation between Tamara Payne and Thulani Davis
Tamara Payne
is a Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X, written with her father, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Les Payne. Prior to working on the book, she worked in the media industry and real estate and graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. After earning her bachelor’s degree, Payne worked at The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour on PBS for about one year. She then moved to China, where she taught English for two years in Shandong Province. Upon her return from China, Les Payne invited her to work on the book. She was the principal researcher while working in commercial real estate. After her father’s sudden passing in 2018, Payne made it her purpose to finish his life’s work. The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X has won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, NAACP Image Award, and the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center Vanguard Award.
Title
Thulani Davis
is an associate professor and a Nellie Y. McKay Fellow in African American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the author of seven books, including The Emancipation Circuit: Black Activism Forging a Culture of Freedom, which was awarded the MAAH Stone Book Award. Her libretto work includes X, The Life & Times of Malcolm X, Anthony Davis’s Amistad, Anne LeBaron’s The E&O Line, Miya Masaoka’s Dark Passages, Steven Robinson’s The Sojourner Washing Society: A Musical in Gospel and Blues, and numerous works by Bernadette Speach, most recently, The Little Rock Nine, an opera for younger singers. Davis has written scripts for several documentaries and narrative films, including W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices, and was the project developer for I’ll Make Me a World: A Century of African American Arts. She is a past recipient of a Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Writers Award, a Pew Foundation National Theatre Artist Residency, and a Revson Fellowship on the Future of New York City, among others. She is a past Grammy winner, amidst three nominations for her work, and has been honored by the Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Committee for work on creating the Fort Monroe National Monument.
Speaker
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Firstname Lastname
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Previous Conferences
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Annual Conference 2019
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Annual Conference 2021
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Annual Conference 2022
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