Biographers in Conversation
Biographer Gabriella Kelly-Davies chats with biographers across the world about the myriad of choices they make while researching, writing and publishing life stories. In every episode, she explores elements of narrative strategy such as structure, use of fiction techniques, facts and truth, beginnings and endings and to what extent the writer interpreted the evidence rather than providing clues and leaving it to readers to do the interpreting themselves. She also asks how they researched their books; how they balanced a subject’s public, personal and inner lives; and ethical issues, such as privacy and revealing secrets.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 47 minutes
- Episodes
- 54
- Years Active
- 2024 - 2025
Ashleigh Wilson's "Brett Whiteley: Art, Life and the Other Thing"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Ashleigh Wilson chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies me about his choices while crafting Brett Whiteley: Art, Life and the Other Thing, his acclaimed b…
Amy Reading's "The World She Edited: Katharine S. White at The New Yorker"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Amy Reading chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting The World She Edited: Katharine S. White at The New Yorker, the bi…
Patchen Barss "The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Patchen Barss chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about his choices while crafting The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius, the biogr…
Brenda Niall's "Joan Lindsay: The Hidden Life of the Woman Who Wrote Picnic at Hanging Rock"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Australia’s doyenne of biography, Brenda Niall, chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting: Joan Lindsay: The Hidden Life of…
Andrew Ford's "The Shortest History of Music"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, the multi-award-winning broadcaster, composer and author Andrew Ford chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about his choices while crafting, The Shortes…
Kate Kennedy's "Cello: A Journey Through Silence to Sound"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Kate Kennedy, a distinguished cellist, musicologist, and Director of Oxford University’s Centre for Life Writing chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davie…
Bernadette Brennan's "Leaping into Waterfalls: The Enigmatic Gillian Mears"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, award-winning biographer Dr Bernadette Brennan chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting Leaping into Waterfalls: The Enigm…
Helen Ennis' 'Max Dupain: A Portrait'
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, the acclaimed author and art historian Dr Helen Ennis chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting Max Dupain: A Portrait, the…
Anna Funder’s ‘Wifedom’: Restoring Visibility & Voice
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies chats with multi-award-winning author Anna Funder about her choices while crafting Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life. Wife…
Jacqueline Kent. A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, A Literary Life
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Jacqueline Kent chats with Gabriella about the choices she made while writing A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, A Literary Life, the biography of Austra…
Ashleigh Wilson: A Year with Wendy Whiteley: Conversations About Art, Life and Gardening
Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation Ashleigh Wilson chats with Gabriella about his book: A Year with Wendy Whiteley: Conversations About Art, …
Christie Lowrance: Nature’s Ambassador
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Christie Lowrance chats with Gabriella about her strategy for writing Nature’s Ambassador: The Legacy of Thornton W. Burgess, the children’s author and…
Laurie Gwen Shapiro: The Stowaway. A Young Man’s Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica
Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Laurie Gwen Shapiro chats with Gabriella about the choices she made while writing The Stowaway: A Young M…
Melanie Nolan: The ADB’s Story
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Gabriella chats with Melanie Nolan about her book, The ADB’s Story, the history of the Australian Dictionary of Biography she co-edited with Christine …
Melinda M. Ponder. Katharine Lee Bates: From Sea to Shining Sea
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Melinda Ponder shares with Gabriella her choices while writing the biography of the 19th century American poet, writer, teacher and social activist, Ka…
Judith Brett: The Enigmatic Mr Deakin
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Judith Brett, the acclaimed political historian, chats with Gabriella about the choices she made while writing The Enigmatic Mr Deakin. This biography …
Joshua Kendall: The Man Who Made Lists. Love, Death, Madness and the Creation of Roget’s Thesaurus.
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Joshua Kendall chats with Gabriella about the choices he made while writing The Man Who Made Lists, his biography of Peter Mark Roget, the eighteenth-c…
Ryan Cropp: Donald Horne. A Life in the Lucky Country
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Ryan Cropp shares with Gabriella the multiplicity of choices he made while writing Donald Horne. A Life in the Lucky Country, the biography of Donald H…
Marcia Biederman: The Disquieting Death of Emma Gill, Abortion, Death and Concealment in Victorian New England
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Marcia Biederman shares with Gabriella the choices she made while writing The Disquieting Death of Emma Gill, Abortion, Death and Concealment in Victor…
Cathy Perkins: The Shelf Life of Zora Cross
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Cathy Perkins chats with Gabriella about the choices she made while writing The Shelf Life of Zora Cross, her biography of Zora Cross, a prolific write…