Newsletter New Forms: Biography for the 21st Century
Leon Levy Center for Biography, New York
March 26, 2009
Dear Friends,
The Leon Levy Center for Biography is pleased to invite you to attend
the First Annual Conference on Biography, New Forms: Biography for the
21st Century. The conference will be held on the afternoon of
Thursday, March 26th, 2009 in the Elebash Recital Hall at The Graduate
Center.. For a complete schedule of events, please visit our website.
http://www.leonlevycenterforbiography.org/
We hope that you will be able to join us. Thank you.
Imani Wilson
Director
Leon Levy Center for Biography
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Established by a gift from the Leon Levy Foundation, the Leon Levy
Center for Biography at The Graduate Center aims to identify, support
and present excellence and innovation in biography. Envisioned as a
hub for writers, scholars, students and readers of the genre, the Leon
Levy Center for Biography seeks to build connections between
independent and university-affiliated biographers working in print,
film, visual arts and new media across academic disciplines. Through
public programs, an annual conference and lecture we endeavor to raise
the profile of biography within the academy and cultivate lively
interdisciplinary discussion about biography in our time. Professors
Nancy Milford and David Nasaw serve as Executive Director and Faculty
Director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography, respectively.
* * *
Levy Center March Conference to Focus on New Forms of Biography
BIO Founding Meeting to be Held Same Day
On March 26, the Leon Levy Center for Biography, launched last year with a major grant from the Levy Foundation, will hold what it hopes will become an annual conference on biography. The conference will take place in the Elebash Recital Hall of the Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. All events are free-of-charge and open to the public.
The founding meeting of Biographers International Organization (BIO) will precede the conference. For details on this, see the article below.
The Levy Center conference will begin at 1 p.m. with a screening of the decade-old biographical documentary about the late German actor Klaus Kinski. Werner Herzog's Mein liebster Feind--Klaus Kinski (released in English as My Best Fiend) opened to mixed reviews in 1999 yet remains popular among the director's fans, as is evidenced by an enthusiastic review of the film on the Alternative Film Guide Website.
At 3 p.m. biographer Benita Eisler will give a talk entitled "Literary Biography for the Twenty-first Century." Eisler, a Manhattan writer, is the author of Byron, O'Keeffe and Stieglitz: An American Romance and Naked in the Marketplace: The Lives of George Sand. She will be joined by John Matteson, a member of the CUNY faculty and winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in biography for his book Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father.
At 4 p.m. Eiji Han Shimizu, founder of the Emotional Content and BioGraphic Novel series, and Kai-Ming Cha, who covers comics and manga (graphic novels) for Publishers Weekly, will discuss biographies in manga and anime. After their forty-five minute presentation, there will be a talk on the intersection of biography and jazz studies by Columbia professor of comparative literature and African-American studies Farah Griffin and tenor saxophonist, composer, and jazz educator Salim Washington.
Following their discussion, freelance writer Darcy Frey, author of The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams, will give a talk entitled "The Journalist as Biographer." The conference will close with "Curating Biography," a presentation by staff members of the National Portrait Gallery, including director Martin Sullivan, public program director Jewel Robinson, and historian David Ward.
For program details and last-minute changes, consult the Leon Levy Center Website at http://leonlevycenterforbiography.com
* * *
Final Preparations Underway for Creation of Biographers International Organization
It's official. The founding meeting for Biographers International Organization (BIO) will be held on March 26, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Skylight Room at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, immediately prior to the commencement of the first Levy Center conference on biography (see above article). The space for the BIO meeting is being donated by the Levy Center.
The realization of the proposed organization critically depends on how many people are interested in participating. Please take a minute to send us an email to editor@thebiographerscraft.com with answers to the following questions:
- Will you attend this important meeting?
- If you cannot attend but support the creation of BIO, would you be interested in becoming a member?
If created, BIO would seek to advance the professional interests of career-focused and aspiring biographers through networking, advocacy, increasing access to resources, and providing legal advice.
Under the preliminary plans, BIO would seek fiscal sponsorship from an existing non-profit organization rather than creating a new 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt group. The fiscal sponsor would accept donations on BIO's behalf, provide the donor with a tax deduction, and manage the funds. In time, if BIO gets off the ground, it could grow into its own organization.
* * *
Biographers International Organization Founding Meeting Set for March 26
On March 26, 2009, biographers will gather in New York City to create Biographers International Organization (BIO) that will seek to advance the professional interests of career-focused biographers through networking and advocacy, the creation of a virtual library, and providing legal advice.
The craft of biography, like that of most literary genres, is a solitary one. But we have strong reasons to come together. As serious biographers working across the spectrum of print, television, film, radio, web and other media we need better access to resources, such as newspapers or archival documents; we need up-to-date information about new online repositories; we need to know about funding sources; and we need to learn from each other.
This is the moment. This is the time.
DATE, TIME, & LOCATION
March 26, 2009. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Skylight Room at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
(Space for meeting is being donated by the Leon Levy Center for Biography.)
REGISTRATION:
- Attendance at the meeting is free of charge.
- Advance registration is appreciated but not required.
To register, or to obtain more information, write to:
editor@thebiographerscraft.com
FOUNDING SUPPORTERS (partial list)
Kenneth Ackerman
Debby Applegate
Deirdre Bair
Kai Bird
Harry van Bommel
Cristina Bryan
Michael Burlingame
Ann Mauger Colbert
Susan Currie
Carol DeBoer-Langworthy
Sarah Dorsey
Jacqueline Edmondson
Jonathan Eig
Gayle Feldman
Robin Fowler
Beverly Gray
Nancy Greenspan
Nigel Hamilton
Elisabeth Hanscombe
Kitty Kelley
Steven G. Kellman
Sidney D. Kirkpatrick
Linda Lear
Paul Maher Jr.
Jeffrey Marks
Michael McGill
Rachel Morley
James McGrath Morris
Darlis Miller
Clare Mulley
Dona Munker
Christopher A. Needler
Patricia O’Toole
Hershel Parker
Gerald Posner
Hans Renders
Robin Rausch
Alan K Rode
Carl Rollyson
Lilla Ross
Abby Santamaria
Amy Schapiro
Erin Frances Schulz
Meryle Secrest
Charles Shields
David Stenn
T.J. Stiles
Will Swift
Terry Teachout
Steve Weinberg
Christine Wiesenthal
D. Quincy Whitney
Simon Winchester
Joe Woodward
Richard Zacks
