The Art of Biography Writing

Biography writing can be a fraught, delicate business – from choosing a worthy subject to ensuring a life is interesting to the reader, a biographer often has to deal with difficult relatives, conflicting stories, and embittered rivals. Their subject may be dead – or worse, infuriatingly alive. And writing memoir and autobiography can have its own set of problems. 

What choices does a writer make when faced with drastically differing versions of events? And how does a biographer decide which aspects of a life remain untold?

To celebrate the Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship’s fifth anniversary, and to announce the 2016 winner, we’re bringing together four great writers (three of whom are past Fellowship winners) to discuss their work. Janine Burke, a judge of the Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship, will interview Stephany Steggall, Maxine Beneba Clarke and Caroline Baum as they discuss the art, the attraction and the dangers of writing a life.

Presented in partnership with Writers Victoria and the Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship.