Awards and Fellowships
Biographers International Organization confers five major awards recognizing outstanding biographers, biographies, editors, and research librarians and archivists, and awards six fellowships that support biographers in their research and writing.
Awards
The BIO Award
BIO’s highest honor, recognizing an individual whose work has significantly advanced the art and craft of biography.
The Plutarch Award
Awarded annually for the best biography of the year, selected by distinguished biographers from member and publisher nominations.
The Editorial Excellence Award
Honors an outstanding editor whose work has made a meaningful contribution to the field of biography.
The Biblio Award
Recognizes an exceptional librarian or archivist whose work supports and advances biographical research.
The Ray A. Shepard Service Award
Honors volunteers whose service to BIO goes above and beyond in support of the biography community.
Fellowships
The Hazel Rowley Prize
$5,000 Prize for Best Proposal from a First-time Biographer
The Frances “Frank” Rollin Fellowship
$5000 for an Exceptional Biography-in-progress About an African American Subject
The Robert and Ina Caro Research/Travel Fellowship
A minimum of $2,500 for travel to help research a biographical work
Chip Bishop Fellowship
Up to $2,000 in travel and related expenses, such as child care, to help aspiring biographers attend the annual BIO Conference
The Kitty Kelley Dissertation Fellowship
$25,000 to a Doctoral Student Writing a Nonfiction Dissertation on the Life of One or More Individuals
The Clio Fellowship for Archival Research
$5,000 for Travel to Archival Collections Related to a Biographical Project