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
Carl Rollyson: The Life of William Faulkner
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Gabriella chats with veteran biographer Carl Rollyson about his two-volume biography of William Faulkner, a giant of 20th century literature who won th…
Sarah George: GAMU: The Dreamtime Stories, Life and Feelings of Big Bill Neidjie
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Gabriella chats with Sarah George, who wrote GAMU: The Dreamtime Stories, Life and Feelings of Big Bill Neidjie. Known as Kakadu Man, Aboriginal elder …
Ann-Marie Priest: My Tongue Is My Own. A Life of Gwen Harwood
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Ann-Marie Priest chats with Gabriella about the choices she made while writing her award-winning biography My Tongue Is My Own. A Life of Gwen Harwood,…
Mark McKenna: An Eye for Eternity. The Life of Manning Clark
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, the historian Mark McKenna chats with Gabriella about the choices he made while writing An Eye for Eternity, the biography of Australia’s legendary his…
Nancy Hurrell: The Egan Irish Harp
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Nancy Hurrell, an acclaimed harpist and harp historian, chats with Gabriella about the choices she made while crafting The Egan Irish Harps: Tradition,…
Brett Mason: Wizards of Oz
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Brett Mason chats with Gabriella about the choices he made while writing Wizards of Oz: How Oliphant and Florey helped win the war and shape the modern…
Joel Birnie: My People’s Songs: How an Indigenous Family Survived Colonial Tasmania
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Joel Stephen Birnie chats with Gabriella about the choices he made while crafting My People’s Songs: How an Indigenous Family Survived Colonial Tasmani…
Nadia Wheatley: The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Nadia Wheatley chats with Gabriella about the choices she made while writing the biography of Charmian Clift, one of Australia’s most charismatic write…
Kenneth Miller, Mapping the Darkness, The Visionary Scientists who Unlocked the Mysteries of Sleep (Part Two)
In this episode, Gabriella continues her conversation with Kenneth Miller about his group biography Mapping the Darkness, The Visionary Scientists who Unlocked the Mysteries of Sleep.
As we learned …
Kenneth Miller: Mapping the Darkness, The Visionary Scientists who Unlocked the Mysteries of Sleep (Part One)
In this first of two episodes with Kenneth Miller, Gabriella asks about the choices he made while writing Mapping the Darkness, The Visionary Scientists who Unlocked the Mysteries of Sleep, the compe…
Matthew Lamb: Frank Moorhouse. Strange Paths
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Matthew Lamb chats with Gabriella about the choices he made while writing Strange Paths, the biography of Frank Moorhouse, a celebrated Australian nove…
Bernadette Brennan: A Writing Life. Helen Garner and her Work
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Gabriella chats with Bernadette Brennan about her choices while crafting A Writing Life. Helen Garner and her Work, a literary portrait of one of Austr…
Peter FitzSimons: The Opera House
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Peter FitzSimons chats with Gabriella about the choices he made while writing The Opera House, the gripping biography of Sydney Opera House, one of the…
Biographers in Conversation Sneak Peek
Welcome to Biographers in Conversation, a podcast about the many choices biographers make while researching, writing, and publishing life stories.
If you like the sound of Biographers in Conversation…