At Leicester’s De Montfort University on 30 March the International Centre for Sports History and Culture hosted a joint conference with the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) on the theme of ‘Sport and Biography 1993-2013: Challenges, Approaches and New Developments’ . The ODNB’s research editor Mark Curthoys opened procedings with a very full and illuminating … Read more
Welcome
The last two decades have witnessed a huge expansion of research into the nature of biography. One of the great strengths of this burgeoning research culture is its interdisciplinary nature, with researchers from a wide range of academic disciplines, as well as freelance biographers and scholars unattached to any academic institution. This very strength, however, presents biography with a series of challenges. Most notably, communication across academic disciplines and between academic and non-academic writers can often prove difficult.
The aim of the 'Challenges to Biography' network is to meet these challenges, providing a platform for discussion that will be interdisciplinary, international, and inclusive. Users of the network may include academics who write biography, theorists who write about biography, freelance biographers, agents, and publishers; or indeed anyone else who simply has an interest in biography - everyone is welcome to register on the website and become involved.
Tickets for International Conference: Can Biography Survive?
Tickets for the International Conference, 'Challenges to Biography', hosted by the University of Southampton 3-4th July 2012, can now be purchased online via the university's secure online payment system here. For more information about the conference, see the event's page.
Blogs
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography conference with DMU’s International Centre for Sports History and Culture, 30 March 2012
April 4th, 2012 | Posted by in Discussion - (1 Comments)Biography Institute at the University of Groningen
February 22nd, 2012 | Posted by in Discussion - (0 Comments)Biographies have risen in popularity significantly in recent years. Amongst the signs of this increased popularity is the growing number of biographies that have been published as dissertations. As a response to this development the Biography Institute within the University of Groningen was installed in 2004. A chair in biography was founded on 1 March … Read more
Writing the lives of people and things, AD 500-1700: An interdisciplinary conference
February 10th, 2012 | Posted by in Announcements | Events - (1 Comments)Writing the lives of people and things, AD 500-1700: An interdisciplinary conference Chawton House Library, Hampshire 1-2 March 2012 Key-note Speaker: Charles Nicholl (author of The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street and The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe) Registration is still open for this early-career conference at Chawton House Library hosted by the … Read more
Biography and the Morality of Style: Prof. Robert Fraser, Open University inaugural lecture, 10 January 2011
January 24th, 2012 | Posted by in Announcements - (0 Comments)BIOGRAPHY AND THE MORALITY OF STYLE Professor Robert Fraser Inaugural lecture, Open University, Tuesday 10 January 2011 Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Dean, Ladies and Gentlemen, My theme is biography, its rewards and its pains, its inconveniences and its opportunities, and its place within a university. To the last of these questions I will turn presently, but I … Read more
Podcasts of Nottingham Symposium
January 23rd, 2012 | Posted by in Discussion | Podcasts - (0 Comments)Following on from Adrian’s report of the Nottingham Symposium, here are streamable and downloadable podcasts from the day. Ideally, these will provoke further discussion here on the site – feel free to add your comments! Andrew Lycett – The Business of Biography Miranda Seymour: Reflections of a Freelance Biographer Prof. John Charmley: “You’ll never get … Read more
Oxford Centre for Life-Writing – Hilary Term events
January 9th, 2012 | Posted by in Discussion - (0 Comments)Members of the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing have received details of Hilary Term events. For information about these and the Centre’s other activities see its website: www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/clusters/life-writing [accessible from this website via 'Links'] for details of our other activities and collaborations. For any queries or comments about the Life-Writing Centre please get in touch with … Read more
Adrian Smith reports on the second symposium, 20 December 2011
January 4th, 2012 | Posted by in Discussion - (0 Comments)Masterminded by Alex Danchev, Professor of International Relations at Nottingham University, the symposium held on 20 December was judged by all present to have been a great success, and a springboard for further initiatives. Alex’s colleagues from Politics/IR boosted the modest but keenly interested audience gathered to hear the five speakers address the central theme … Read more
Andrew Lycett late addition to Nottingham symposium, 20 December
December 13th, 2011 | Posted by in Discussion - (0 Comments)Unfortunately Ion Trewin as had to pull out of the symposium at the University of Nottingham on Tuesday 20th December. However, the writer Andrew Lycett has kindly agreed to step into the breach and provide a similar overview of biography from a primarily commercial perspective. There is still space to attend the symposium, so if … Read more
Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: Scholarship vs Advocacy
October 28th, 2011 | Posted by in Discussion - (0 Comments)A real peril of biography is being drawn into contemporary debates that involve one’s subject. For example more than a decade ago DNA testing confirmed the likelihood that Thomas Jefferson fathered a child by one of his slaves, Sally Hemings. In response to this revelation, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns Jefferson’s home, Monticello, and … Read more
Higher article on biographers crossing the gender divide
October 28th, 2011 | Posted by in Discussion - (0 Comments)This week [27 October issue] the Higher carries an article by Matthew Reisz – ‘Through the eyes of others’ – that asks the question ‘Can life-writing gain fresh insights when biographers cross the gender divide?’. In the end that specific question isn’t fully addressed as the focus is more upon the biographers who are interviewed … Read more
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