About this Event
Biographers International Organization (BIO) and the Leon Levy Center for Biography are pleased to present their 2025 Conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Thursday and Friday, June 5-6, 2025, with optional workshops Saturday morning, June 7.
See the BIO website for full descriptions of all events, including bios of panelists and speakers. Below is the Conference schedule. During ticket checkout, in-person attendees will choose which panels to attend during the four sessions on Friday.
Attendees joining online can stream all events that take place in the Ballroom at the National Press Club, including one panel for each time slot. (Which panels will be streamed will be announced in late May.)
Optional pre-conference roundtable discussion groups will take place online for in-person registrants about a week before the conference. Limited to ten participants each, roundtables provide a chance for biographers to meet other biographers with similar interests before arriving at the conference. Space is limited. There will be a list of choices when you purchase your tickets; sign up as soon as possible but no later than May 23. Please do not sign up unless you plan to participate.
Thursday and Saturday, for in-person registrants, there will be a choice of several free optional tours and, for additional fees, workshops as noted below. Choose the tours and workshops as ticket "Add-Ons" when you register for tickets here on Eventbrite.
Please note that refunds are available only until May 1.
Face-to-face coaching sessions are available to conference participants who seek advice from an experienced biographer. Each session lasts 45 minutes and costs $50, paid directly to the coach. To request a coaching session, email a one-page description of your project along with a specific question or two to [email protected]
THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 2025
8am - 2pm: Optional Orientation and Tour: National Archives at College Park (Capacity 11; register by 5/14; select free "Add On" ticket). Spend a half-day at Archives 2 with its expert archivists and learn about one of the more complex government archives. Catch the 8AM NARA shuttle in downtown DC at Archives 1 or meet at 8:45AM in the lobby at Archives 2 in College Park (https://www.archives.gov/college-park/accessibility). At 9AM, the program will open with a 90-minute seminar, including a briefing and question and answer session focused on the Department of State, the Department of Justice, and Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as audio-visual records. At 10:30 the group will tour the research complex and visit a stack. After that, attendees will be on their own for lunch in the cafeteria and/or have the option of doing independent research or returning to DC for afternoon conference activities.
10:00am - 11:00am: Optional Tour (pre-registration required): Library of Congress Tour (Capacity 25; register by 5/14; select free "Add On" ticket). Arrival location: ground floor of Jefferson Building, 101 Independence Ave SE. (Timed passes for entry will be arranged in advance). Book lovers and history buffs, this one's for you. Take a private tour of the Library of Congress (LOC) led by BIO member and LOC docent, Amy Schapiro. Delve into the stories of the Library of Congress, admire and learn about the stunning architecture, see the Great Hall, the Main Reading Room, Thomas Jefferson's Collection of Books, the Gutenberg Bible, and the Librarian's Ceremonial Office. Participants will also have an opportunity to get a reader registration card.
11:30am - 2pm: Optional (pre-registration required): Library of Congress Research Orientation (Capacity 35; register by 5/14; select free "Add On" ticket). Location: Room 139, Thomas Jefferson Building, 101 Independence Ave SE. Arrival and check-in at 11:30 on ground floor of Jefferson Building, at main Information Desk (next to coat check); group entry to building will be arranged in advance. In this two-hour session, participants will get a briefing on research tips and strategies from two LOC reference librarians: Laura Berberian of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division and Edith Sandler of the Manuscripts Division. The session will conclude with an optional tour of the Manuscript Reading Room (in the Madison Building). Note: Because of interior construction and room locations, this program will entail considerable walking; wheelchair and elevator access can be arranged with advance notice. In line with room capacity, the number of registrants will be limited to 35.
Time TBD: Optional (pre-registration required): Howard University Tour and Orientation, Moorland-Springarn Research Center (Capacity 20; register by 5/14; select free "Add On" ticket). Detailed orientation of the Center's holdings and opportunity to consult with its archivists on specific research projects and material access. Howard University's Moorland-Springarn Research Center (MSRC) is the largest and most comprehensive repository of books, documents, and ephemera on the global Black experience, with over 700 collections. It also houses the Pittsburgh Courier DC Image Collection, along with Howard University's Jazz Oral History Project and Institute for the Arts and Humanities. MSRC houses the University's Archives and Manuscripts divisions, Library, Museum, and the Black Press Archive.
12:00pm: BIO Conference Registration opens, National Press Club (NPC), First Amendment Room
1:00pm - 2:30pm: Optional Workshop (pre-registration required), "Crafting the Nonfiction Book Proposal," Murrow Room, National Press Club (additional $50 fee, register by 5/14; select "Add On" ticket during checkout)
3:00pm - 4:30pm: Three-minute Member Readings followed by Fellowship and Awards Presentations, Ballroom, National Press Club
BIO members who have a new biography published between June 1, 2024 and June 1, 2025 are invited to participate in the Members' Reading. Please send the title of your book, the name of its publisher, and the month of publication by 3/15 to [email protected]
5 :30pm - 7pm: Welcome Reception at Kitty Kelley's home in Georgetown. (Address will be provided to conference registrants.)
FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2025
All events at National Press Club
8:00 - 8:40 am: Coffee in Ballroom, Bookseller in First Amendment Room
8 :40 - 9am: Welcomes, Ballroom
9 :00am - 10:00am: James Atlas Plenary, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser in conversation, Ballroom
10:15am - 11:15am: Panels Session I (Ballroom, Holeman, Lisagor, Murrow)
Basics: "Narrative Uses of Perspective and Voice": Lauren Arrington (The Poets of Rapallo), moderator; Maryemma Graham (The House Where My Soul Lives), Prudence Peiffer (The Slip), Benjamin Taylor (Chasing Bright Medusas).
Craft: "All Things Audio": John A. "Jack" Farrell (Richard Nixon: The Life), moderator; James Ambuske(R2 Studios), Lindsay Chervinsky (Making the Presidency), Major Garrett (CBS News).
Issues: "The Next Phase of AI and Biography": Jared Stearns (Pure), moderator; Amanda Levendowski (Feminist Cyberlaw), Joseph M. Moxley (Writing Commons), Mark Traphagen (copyright attorney).
Theme: "First Ladies: Public and Private Power": Peter Slevin (Michelle Obama: A Life), moderator; Heath Hardage Lee (The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon), Susan Page (The Rulebreaker), Rebecca Boggs Roberts (Untold Power).
11:30am - 12:30pm: Panels Session II (Ballroom, Holeman, Lisagor, Murrow)
Basics: "Ask an Agent": A'Lelia Bundles (On Her Own Ground), interviewer; Gail Ross (WME), guest.
Craft: "Graphic Biography: What's Gained, What's Lost?": Danny Fingeroth (Jack Ruby), moderator; Sabrina Jones (Our Lady of Birth Control), Adam Leslie (Real Spy Comics), Tim E. Ogline (The Way to Wealth), Mimi Pond (The Customer Is Always Wrong).
Issues: "For the Win: Biographers Tackle the Lives, Legacies, and Impact of Athletes in and out of Sports": Susan Ware (Why They Marched), moderator; Madeleine Blais (Queen of the Court), Ashley Brown (Serving Herself), Samuel G. Freedman (Into the Bright Sunshine), Andrew Maraniss (Beyond the Game).
Theme: "Biographers' Use of Government Archives": Steve Paul (Literary Alchemist), moderator; Kirstin Downey (Isabella), Ashley Farmer (Remaking Black Power), Victoria Phillips (Martha Graham's Cold War), Nicholas Reynolds (Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy).
12:30pm - 2:30pm: Luncheon, Presentation of BIO Award and Keynote, Plutarch Award, Ballroom. (Choose lunch option during ticket check-out)
2:45pm - 3:45pm: Panels Session III (Ballroom, Holeman, Lisagor, Murrow)
Basics: "The Unreliable Narrative Source: Coping With Essential but Untrustworthy Sources": Eve M. Kahn (Zoe Anderson Norris), moderator; Marnie Mueller (The Showgirl and the Writer), Alison Owing (The Mayor of Tenderloin), Eric K. Washington (Boss of the Grips).
Craft: "Co-Authored Biography": Allison Gilbert (Listen, World!), moderator; Kai Bird (American Prometheus), Andrew S. Curran (The Race Makers), Emily Setina (Oxford Handbook of Gertrude Stein).
Issues: "Skeletons in the Closet": Vincent DiGirolamo (John Swinton), moderator; Barbara Burkhardt (Garrison Keillor), Kitty Kelley (Oprah), Roger K. Newman (Hugo Black).
Theme: "Black Music Biography": Aidan Levy (Saxophone Colossus), moderator; Danielle Amir Jackson (Honey's Grill), Marcus J. Moore (High and Rising), Giovanni Russonello (Gil Scott-Heron), Gayle Wald (This is Rhythm).
4 :00pm - 5:00pm: Panels Session IV (Ballroom, Holeman, Lisagor, Murrow)
Basics: "Chasing Ghosts: First-Time Biographers Confronting Elusive Subjects": Sunny Stalter-Pace (Imitation Artist), moderator; Howard Fishman (To Anyone Who Ever Asks), Gail Levin (Edward Hopper), Alec Nevala-Lee (Inventor of the Future), John Troutman (Biography of a Phantom).
Craft: "U.S. Government Archives and Archivists": Christian F. Ostermann (Wilson Center), moderator; Lauren Harper (Freedom of the Press Foundation), David A. Langbart (U.S. National Archives), David Robarge (CIA Historian), Marissa Vassari (Rockefeller Archive Center).
Issues: "Ten Years and Counting: How to Live With Your Biography": Carla Kaplan (Jessica Mitford), moderator; Nicholas Boggs (Baldwin: A Love Story), Megan Marshall (After Lives), Tamara Payne (The Dead Are Arising).
Theme: "Presidential Biographies in Contemporary Culture": James Bradley (Martin Van Buren), moderator; Nancy Isenberg (The Problem of Democracy), Carl Rollyson (Making the American Presidency), Henry Wiencek (Master of the Mountain).
5 :00pm - 7pm: Closing Reception, Holeman and First Amendment Room
SATURDAY, JUNE 7, 2025
9am - 10:45am: Optional Workshop (pre-registration required), "Applying for a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Grant to Support Your Biography," with Mark Silver (additional fee, register by 5/14; select "Add On" ticket). Lisagor Room, National Press Club
11am - 12:45pm: Optional Workshop (pre-registration required), "Digging Up the Dirt for a Great Biography," with Judith Pearson (additional fee, register by 5/14; select "Add On" ticket). Lisagor Room, National Press Club
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
National Press Club, 529 14th Street Northwest, Washington, United States
USD 0.00 to USD 395.00
