A Life in Biography
Carl Rollyson
Talks and interviews about the life of biography as experienced by a biographer over forty years and fourteen biographies, dealing with subjects ranging from Sylvia Plath to William Faulkner, Marilyn Monroe to Susan Sontag, and much more.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 24, 2021 • 59min
More with Tim Christian & Carol Sklenicka about the principles, practices & mechanics of biography
More with Tim Christian & Carol Sklenicka about the principles, practices & mechanics of biography with examples from our work
Jul 17, 2021 • 56min
Episode 66: The Principles & Practices of Biography: A Talk with Tim Christian & Carol Sklenicka
Episode 66: Talking with Tim Christian (biographer of Mary Hemingway) and Carol Sklenicka (biographers of Raymond Carver and Alice Adams) about the principles and practices of biography.
Jul 10, 2021 • 41min
Episode 65: Biography and the Hermeneutic Circle
What it means to circle around your subject in a biography and how that circling is hermeneutical. I draw on my biography of Lillian Hellman for examples.
Jul 3, 2021 • 45min
Episode 64: Janet Malcolm and the Black Art of Biography
My encounters with Janet Malcolm’s assault on biography, beginning in 1994 and continuing through several books of mine in the new millennium.
Jun 28, 2021 • 32sec
A Life in Biography (Trailer)
Jun 27, 2021 • 39min
Episode 63: Talking with Carol Sklenicka about her biography of Alice Adams
The biographer of Raymond Carver explains what drew her to Alice Adams and the history of the generation that came into its own after World War II
Jun 19, 2021 • 43min
Episode 62: A Talk with Kai Bird about his new Shakespearean/Faulknerian biography of Jimmy Carter
A talk with Kai Bird about his Shakespearean/Faulknerian biography of Jimmy Carter
Jun 12, 2021 • 46min
Episode 61: Biography Anne Sebba discussing Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy
A wide-ranging discussion of why Ethel Rosenberg matters, what is new in her story, and why American writers continue to be obsessed with her life.
Jun 5, 2021 • 3h 53min
Episode 60: The Case for Literary Prurience
I draw on my experience of writing biographies of William Faulkner, Michael Foot, and Amy Lowell, to explain why biographies have to be about the whole person, notwithstanding the charge of literary prurience.
May 29, 2021 • 41min
Episode 59: Biographology
What you need to know about reading, writing, and reviewing biography.
