Why are biographies so popular? Because humans are enthralled by the lives of others | Caroline Knox

We seek inspiration, consolation – and the unvarnished truth. And we know that all the best stories are trueCaroline Knox is director of the Boswell book festivalMy love affair with biography began aged nine, when my subscription book club sent me a compendium of “true life” adventure stories. It is a passion I have carried into adulthood: before moving to the great biographer and diarist James Boswell’s home county of Ayrshire and founding a festival in his name, I had enjoyed commissioning biography, memoir and travel writing – all genres at which Boswell excelled – as a senior editor at the renowned publisher John Murray. It was then still housed in the family’s London mansion in Albemarle Street, where one of the great lost memoirs in literature, Lord Byron’s, had been burnt in the drawing-room grate.Visiting Boswell’s burial place for the first time, in the churchyard in Auchinleck, a former mining village in Ayrshire, I was shocked to discover that Boswell’s literary legacy had also seemingly been laid to rest. His exquisite neoclassical mausoleum stood derelict, with not even a sign to mark his last resting place. I immediately determined to launch a book festival of biography.Caroline Knox is director of the Boswell Book festival. The Boswell book festival will take place at Dumfries House, Ayrshire, from 12 to 14 May 2023, with a children’s festival taking place at the same time Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-09 08:00:15 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Why are biographies so popular? Because humans are enthralled by the lives of others | Caroline Knox"


Erin Steele Isn’t Trying to Look Good in Her Memoir

Erin Steele’s memoir, Sunrise Over Half-Built Houses: Love, Longing and Addiction in Suburbia, chronicles the life of an isolated, self-conscious Canadian teenager growing up in middle-class British Columbia to loving parents who are simultaneously present and absent. As young Erin grapples with... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2025-02-21 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


ACOTAR Hulu Series is a No-Go

Sorry ACOTAR fans--that series isn't happening, plus, reclaiming Indigenous history, being an author with a celeb book club pick, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2025-02-19 16:00:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Big Names In Upcoming Mystery Adaptations + Robert Langdon Returns

This round of mystery and thriller news is filled with upcoming adaptations. Plus, there’s a must-read memoir and The Da ... Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2025-02-19 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Divorce Memoir With No Lessons

Haley Mlotek’s new book provides neither catharsis nor remedies for heartache, but rather a tender exploration of human intimacy. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2025-02-19 12:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Bangles' memoir retraces the band's steps of walking like Egyptians, meeting Prince and making history

Susanna Hoffs, along with bandmates Vicki and Debbi Peterson, spoke about new book "Eternal Flame," recalling key events in the Bangles' chart-topping run in the 1980s and how the band shaped their lives. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2025-02-18 18:48:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Oprah has Announced her 111th Book Club Pick

Oprah has announced that her book club pick for March 2025 is Dream State by Eric Puchner, which came out ... Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2025-02-18 17:26:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Black Historical Fiction to Read With Your Book Club

I know some people like to march to the beat of their own drum and aren’t really interested in what ... Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2025-02-18 13:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


An Intimate Memoir of Immigration, Politics, and Trauma

Rich Benjamin’s new book Talk to Me explores the coup that overthrew his grandfather, the president of Haiti, in 1957. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2025-02-15 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Deals: Week of February 17, 2025

A big-name picture book adaptation of the Grimm fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel” goes to HarperCollins, Margaret Atwood brings a memoir to Doubleday, Sourcebooks picks up the memoir of the daughter of Gisele Pelicot, and more in this week’s book deals. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-02-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Margaret Atwood’s First Memoir Announced

The multi-award winning feminist author Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale) has announced that she will be releasing her long-awaited memoir ... Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2025-02-12 19:59:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Club Picks for February 2025

Reese's Book Club picks Allegra Goodman's latest novel, B&N and Read with Jenna both spotlight Jessica Soffer's ‘This Is a Love Story,’ and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-02-12 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


11 Book Club Picks for February 2025

Want to get involved in a book club? Here are 11 clubs, what they're reading in February, and how you can take part in the conversation. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2025-02-11 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: February 11, 2025

“I am determined to keep writing, it has never mattered to me more.” Hanif Kureishi on trauma, recovery and what it means to be a writer.  | Lit Hub Memoir Just in time for Valentine’s Day: 25 writers explain the anatomy of a good sex scene. | Lit Hub Craft Pankaj Mishra on nationalism,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-11 11:30:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Asks: 5 Authors, 7 Questions, No Wrong Answers

The Lit Hub Author Questionnaire is a monthly interview featuring seven questions for five authors with new books. This month we talk to: * Justin Haynes (Ibis) Shane McCrae (New and Collected Hell: A Poem) Haley Mlotek (No Fault: A Memoir of Romance and Divorce) Maggie Su (Blob: A Love Story)... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-11 09:57:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this


With a new hit film, Netflix has reduced disabled lives to feelgood fodder – and got the facts shockingly wrong | Archie Bland and Ruth Spencer

This story about a child with cerebral palsy is badly misleading – and a slap in the face for families like oursAmazing news from Netflix: there is an extraordinary treatment available for children with very severe neurological disabilities, one that, given the appropriate level of parental... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2025-02-11 08:00:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this


In Toronto, Random House Canada Names Vivek Shraya a Senior Editor

The author Vivek Shraya joins the Random House Canada staff as a senior editor with a broad acquisition portfolio. The post In Toronto, Random House Canada Names Vivek Shraya a Senior Editor appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2025-02-10 12:40:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lauren Markham on the Use and Limitations of Language to Describe Disaster

I’ve known Lauren Markham’s writing since her first book, The Faraway Brothers, came out in 2017. Then, a couple years ago, I got to know her a bit more as a person when a friend emailed the two of us and another writer to ask our thoughts on writing (and teaching) journalism versus memoir or […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-07 09:57:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Annotated Nightstand: What Sarah Chihaya Is Reading Now, and Next

In Sarah Chihaya’s memoir Bibliophobia, we enter into the moment of her breakdown—an event that she has seen on her horizon since childhood, but also seemed impossibly remote. As a child of Japanese and Japanese-Canadian immigrants to the US, Chihaya’s parents “didn’t really believe in the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-06 09:56:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this