Biographers International Organization

Biographers International Organization (BIO) is an international, non-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization founded to promote the art and craft of biography, and to further the professional interests of its practitioners. The organization was founded in 2010 by a committee of noted biographers, led by James McGrath Morris, who served as BIO's first Executive Director. The president of BIO as of 2019 is Linda Leavell.

Biographers International Organization

The BIO logo
Formation	2010
Type	501(c)3 organization
Purpose	BIO promotes the art and craft of biography, and furthers the professional interests of its practitioners.
Headquarters	Santa Fe, NM
Region served	International
Membership	Approx. 500 members
Founder	James McGrath Morris[1]
President	Linda Leavell
Website	www.biographersinternational.org

Each year, the organization presents its highest award, the BIO Award, to an individual who has made notable contributions to advancing the art and craft of biography.[2] BIO's annual Plutarch Award is given to the best biography of the year - as judged by biographers.[3]

Mission

BIO aims to promote the art and craft of biography, cultivate a diverse community of biographers, encourage public interest in biography, and provide educational and fellowship opportunities that support the work of biographers worldwide.[4]

BIO fulfills its mission by:

• hosting the annual BIO Conference[5] which presents inspiring speakers, opportunities for networking, and instruction about researching, writing, publishing, and marketing biographical work
• hosting additional in-person and online events that encourage biographers to learn from and engage with one another
• publishing a monthly members' newsletter, The Biographer's Craft, which includes news, in-depth features, and advice pertaining to biography
• supporting aspiring and practicing biographers with prizes and fellowships
• honoring outstanding biographers, editors, and librarians with awards
• offering a coaching program in which members receive personalized advice from experienced biographers
• publishing a quarterly newsletter to inform the media and publishing world about BIO's activities and general news related to biography

History

BIO was granted its corporate charter on May 26, 2010, as a 501 (c) 6. On December 27, 2019, BIO became a 501 (c) 3.

BIO grew from the vision of biographer James McGrath Morris, creator and editor of The Biographer's Craft newsletter. In July 2008, Morris wrote an open letter to biographers,[6] from which a grass-roots organization of practicing and apprentice biographers began to emerge. On March 26, 2009, the first formal organizing meeting took place at the Leon Levy Center for Biography at CUNY, and a temporary 15-member founding committee was formed to function as an Interim Board of Directors.

In February 2010, the Interim Board announced the formation of an Advisory Council composed of leading and noted biographers and agents including Deirdre Bair, Douglas Brinkley, Robert Caro, Joan Hedrick, Justin Kaplan, Eric Lax, David Levering Lewis, Andrew Lownie, John Matteson, William S. McFeely, Jon Meacham, Marion Meade, Nancy Milford, Susan Ronald, Stacy Schiff, Martin J. Sherwin, Kenneth Silverman, William Taubman, and Terry Teachout.

BIO convened its first conference in May 2010, at the University of Massachusetts Boston. It has since held its conference annually, at various locations in the United States, including Washington, D.C., New York City, and Los Angeles.

In 2019, Nancy Kuhl was awarded the 2019 Biblio Award for Extraordinary Service to Biographers by the BIO. Kuhl is a curator of poetry in the Yale Collection of American Literature, and received the award at the opening reception for the 2019 BIO Conference in New York City.[7]

On May 18, 2019, James McGrath Morris, a Santa Fe writer, received the 10th annual BIO Award. Morris' work includes Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press, and The Rose Man of Sing Sing: A True Tale of Life, Murder, and Redemption in the Age of Yellow Journalism.[8]

Awards

Each year, BIO presents several awards to honor biographers, editors, librarians and archivists, and their work.

• BIO Award: Since 2010, the BIO Award has been presented to an individual who has "made a significant contribution to the art and craft of biography."
• Biblio Award: Created in 2012, the Biblio Award is presented to an outstanding librarian or archivist. Awardees are selected by the BIO Board of Directors, from nominations submitted by BIO members.
• Editorial Excellence: Beginning in 2014, the BIO Award for Editorial Excellence has been presented to an outstanding editor of biography.
• Hazel Rowley Prize: Starting in 2014, the Rowley Prize is awarded biennially for the best proposal by a first-time biographer. Winners receive a cash prize and the winning proposal is submitted for consideration by an established literary agent.
• Plutarch Award: Since 2013, the Plutarch Award has been selected by vote and presented for the best biography of the year. The Plutarch is named for the Greek historian who is credited as the father of biography.

Year	BIO Award	Biblio Award	Plutarch Award	Editorial Excellence
2010	Jean Strouse
2011	Robert Caro
2012	Arnold Rampersad	Edward Comstock, University of Southern California
2013	Ron Chernow	David Smith, New York Public Library	Robert Caro, The Passage of Power
2014	Stacy Schiff	Wallace Dailey and Heather Cole, Curators Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Harvard University	Linda Leavell, Holding On Upside Down: The Life and Work of Marianne Moore	Robert Gottlieb
2015	Taylor Branch	Thomas Mann, Library of Congress	Hermione Lee, Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life	Jonathan Segal
2016	Claire Tomalin	Dave Grabarek, Library of Virginia	Rosemary Sullivan, Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva	Nan A. Talese
2017	Candice Millard	Karen Alder Abramson & Staff John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum	Ruth Franklin, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life	Robert Weil
2018	Richard Holmes	Michael T. Ryan, VP & Director Patricia J. Klingenstein Library, New-York Historical Society	Caroline Fraser, Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder	Tim Duggan
2019	James McGrath Morris	Nancy Kuhl,[9] Curator of Poetry Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Library	David W. Blight, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom	Ileene Smith
2020	Hermione Lee		Sonia Purnell, A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II

Publications

The Biographer's Craft is a monthly online newsletter that active BIO members receive as part of their membership. TBC features original, non-fiction articles of general interest to biographers, writers, and readers of biography. Regular features include interviews with notable biographers, and a listing of biographies sold to publishers, as well as biographies published each month.

The current editor of The Biographer's Craft is Michael Burgan.

Leadership

At the first conference in Boston on May 15, 2010,[10] Nigel Hamilton was chosen to assume the presidency, succeeding Debby Applegate, who had served as interim president. Charles J. Shields was elected vice president, and eleven others were selected to serve one- to two-year terms on the board. In its first actions, the board selected James McGrath Morris to serve as executive director.

Since 2010, BIO's president and vice president have been elected biennially by BIO members. Its Board of Directors are broken into two groups, each of which are also elected biennially. The current Board is composed of 19 members, including the president and vice president.

Term	President	Vice President
2009	Debby Applegate (interim)	None
2010-2012	Nigel Hamilton	Charles J. Shields
2012-2014	James McGrath Morris	Brian Jay Jones
2014-2016	Brian Jay Jones	Cathy Curtis
2016-2018	Will Swift	Deirdre David
2018-2019	Cathy Curtis	Deirdre David
2019-2020	Linda Leavell	Karin Roffman
2020-2021	Linda Leavell	Sarah K. Kilborne

Membership

BIO offers varying levels of membership, depending on a member's professional status. BIO is open to professional, amateur, and aspiring biographers and documentarians around the world, and also permits membership for readers of biography, students and corporations.[11]

Dues range from $30 annually for students, to $250 annually for corporations.

Notable Members

• Debby Applegate (2007 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher)
• Robert Caro (1975 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for The Power Broker; 2002 National Book Award, 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson)
• Ron Chernow (2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for Washington: A Life, 1990 National Book Award for The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
• Nigel Hamilton (Whitbread Award for Biography, Templar Medal for Military History for Monty, official three-volume biography of Field Marshal Montgomery)
• Stacy Schiff (2000 Pulitzer Prize for Biography, for Vera: Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)
• T. J. Stiles (2009 National Book Award and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Biography The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt; 2016 Pulitzer Prize for History for Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America)
• Jean Strouse (Bancroft Prize for Alice James: A Biography)

Notes

1. [e-mail], Teya Vitu. "Author petitions to change name of DeVargas Center". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
2. "BIO Award". Archived from the original on 2015-05-01.
3. "The Plutarch Award". Biographers International Organization. 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
4. "About BIO".
5. "BIO Conference".
6. "James McGrath Morris, "An Open Letter to Biographers," The Biographer's Craft, July 2008".
7. "Beinecke Curator Nancy Kuhl Honored for Extraordinary Service to Biography". Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
8. [e-mail], Tracy Mobley-Martinez |. "Santa Fe writer wins biographer award". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
9. "Beinecke Curator Nancy Kuhl Honored for Extraordinary Service to Biography". Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
10. "Jan Gardner, "Biographers, Unite," boston.com, May 23, 2010".
11. "Join BIO".