Biographers International Organization

Biographers International Organization (BIO) is the first ever international organization that represents the professional interests of biographers: those who’ve already published, and those working on biographies - in every medium, from print to film.
The idea for BIO grew from the success of a monthly newsletter, the Biographer’s Craft begun in 2006, that recognized that biographers generally work without the support of university-level course or professional organizations devoted to the art and craft of biography.
We held our first-ever, annual one-day conference this year—the Compleat Biographer Conference—at the University of Massachusetts, Boston on May 15, 2010, featuring ten workshops, ranging from ‘Marketing Your Biography’ to ‘Dealing With the Family.’ In addition, attendees were invited to pitch their latest proposals to literary agents during ‘speed dating’ sessions. And our first BIO award for lifetime contribution to biography went to Jean Strouse, whose Alice James: A Biography won a Bancroft Prize and whose Morgan: American Financier won acclaim for its realistic portrayal of the man and its lucid explanation of his financial work.
In fact, there has probably been no more remarkable assemblage of biographers ever before than at our first conference. Among the attendees and panelists was Debby Applegate, author of The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher (Pulitzer Prize); Justin Kaplan, Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain (Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award); T. J. Stiles, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (Pulitzer Prize); Kitty Kelley, Oprah; and Kenneth Silverman, The Life and Times of Cotton Mather (Pulitzer Prize). This year’s president of BIO, incidentally, is Nigel Hamilton, author of American Caesars: Lives of Presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush.
If it sounds like we’re boasting a bit, we are! BIO is off to a fast start and we want you aboard for the excitement. The opportunities BIO provides to its members include many benefits listed on the panel to the right.
To become a member of BIO, go to our website: www.biographersinternational.org.

Join now and begin enjoying the benefits and friendships to be had from belonging to an international organization concerned exclusively with the art and craft of biography.

Program Biographers International Organization, May 19-21, New York, 2023

Program Biographers International Conference, May 17-19, New Ycork, 2019

Program Biographers International Conference, May 18-20, New York, 2018

Program Biographers International Conference, May 19-21, Boston, 2017

Plutarch Award 2017

Program Biographers International Conference, June 3-5, Richmond, 2016

Plutarch Award 2016

Program Biographers International Conference, June 6, Washington DC, 2015

2015 Conference Agenda, June 5-6, Washington DC

2015 BIO Conference Participant Bios

Plutarch Award 2014, 17 May Boston

Program Biographers Conference, May 16-18, Boston, 2014