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Memoirs may be getting a lot of the attention these days, but biographies are still a popular genre for nonfiction readers - yet sometimes one of the most daunting for nonfiction writers. After all, the biographer often has to spend years immersed in somebody else's life, becoming intimately familiar with their personal life as well as their public career.
In this panel, leading biographers will discuss the techniques that enable them to craft a compelling story out of the raw data of another person's life...and stay sane while doing it!
Panelists include:
- Hank Bordowitz, author of Billy Joel: Life & Times of an Angry Young Man, Every Little Thing Gonna Be Alright: The Bob Marley Reader, and many other music biographies
- Robert Edelstein, author of the biography Full Throttle: The Life and Fast Times of Nascar Legend Curtis Turner; exclusive motor sports writer for TV Guide, where his stories are read by more NASCAR fans than any other writer in the country; contributor to Stuff, Blender, and A&E Biography.
- Marshall Fine, the author of the biography Accidental Genius: How John Cassavetes Invented the Independent Film.
- Ron Hogan (moderator), author of The Stewardess Is Flying the Plane: American Films of the 1970s; blogger for mediabistro.com's GalleyCat.
- Jean Nathan, author of the biography The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll: The Search for Dare Wright; former staff writer for The New York Observer and a senior editor at Connoisseur magazine; writer for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Travel & Leisure, Vogue, and ARTNews.
Among the topics panelists will discuss:
How do you pick somebody to write about? Should you try to find someone nobody's written about before, or consider a new take on a popular subject?
How can you best organize your research? If you're able to interview people who knew your subject, how can you get them to tell you the really good stories?
And what if your subject's still alive? How do you get him or her to open up in an interview? What can you do if they refuse to cooperate?
If you want to put your subject in critical perspective, or fill in some missing gaps, where do you draw the line between speculative interpretation and simply making things up?
And let's be honest: Is this any way to make a living? And if not, what sort of other things can you do to pay the bills that will best complement your biographical pursuits?
Event Format
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm - Discussion
8:30 pm - 9:00 pm - Q&A
9:00 pm - 10:00 pm - Informal cocktail hour at nearby bar. Cash bar.
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