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"


A Dancer’s Life: Chita Rivera on Working Hard and Learning From the Best

A new memoir traces the three-time Tony Award winner’s life and career working with Balanchine, Robbins and Fosse. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-04-19 09:00:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How lawyer-author Orlando Ortega-Medina turned his exile from L.A. into a legal thriller

'The Fitful Sleep of Immigrants' began as a memoir about Orlando Ortega-Medina's exile from a homophobic U.S. How it became an immigration thriller instead Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-04-18 13:00:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Hanif Kureishi to publish memoir about accident that left him paralysed

Shattered, out in 2024, will expand on the material the Buddha of Suburbia author has been sharing on social media from his hospital bed since a fall in Rome last yearThe novelist and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi will publish a memoir in 2024 about the accident that left him paralysed last year.... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-18 11:05:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this


This book club connects incarcerated fathers to the outside world.

When Ashley C. Ford showed up to the book club in March, she found an audience who had all read her 2021 bestseller, Somebody’s Daughter, and were primed for a lively discussion. “I gotta tell you, I’ve been to a lot of bookstores where they didn’t do that,” Ford laughs. The event took place... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-17 16:03:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: ‘Chita: A Memoir,’ by Chita Rivera with Patrick Pacheco

Her new memoir finds the 90-year-old singer-dancer hungry for acclaim, but generous to others on her way to getting it. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-04-17 09:00:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Charkin: ‘The Challenges of International Diplomacy’

Publication day: 'The IPA continues to quietly do good work in the background' on the freedom to publish and diplomacy, writes Richard Charkin in 'My Back Pages'—his memoir releasing today. The post Charkin: ‘The Challenges of International Diplomacy’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-04-17 04:05:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Review: ‘Stalking Shakespeare: A Memoir of Madness, Murder, and My Search for the Poet Beneath the Paint,’ by Lee Durkee

In “Stalking Shakespeare,” Lee Durkee describes his quest to find a true, authentic image of the famous playwright, a search that becomes a tragicomic tale in its own right. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-04-15 09:00:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lucinda Williams Tells Her Secrets

The singer-songwriter reveals herself in a memoir that captures her adventures with charming rogues, puzzled music executives and her own demons. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-04-14 16:18:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Deals: Week of April 17, 2023

Knopf buys a memoir from WNBA star Brittney Griner, and Teju Cole sells his second novel to Random House. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: April 13, 2023

Omer Aziz on finding himself trapped between East and West in Jerusalem: “Everywhere I went there had been an implicit question everyone seemed to be asking: What side are you on?” | Lit Hub Memoir Books from the life of Isabella Stewart Gardner, the most important arts patron you’ve never heard... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-13 10:30:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Brittney Griner’s Memoir to Be Published

Brittney Griner's memoir is set to be published by Knopf. The memoir will be intimate and moving," and will detail her detainment in Russia. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-04-12 16:24:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Brittney Griner Is Writing a Memoir About Her Detention in Russia

The basketball star, who was detained for 10 months, said she hoped her book would raise awareness about other Americans who had been wrongfully detained abroad. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-04-12 14:16:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this


'Always Running' is more than cholo lit — it's a manual for L.A.'s salvation

What makes writers' favorite memoir on the Ultimate L.A. Bookshelf Luis J. Rodriguez's 'Always Running'? It's a personal story that aims to save us all. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-04-12 12:30:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: April 12, 2023

“What had I done, insisting on more of us?” Maggie Smith on the anxious, silent first year of motherhood. | Lit Hub Memoir We asked, you answered: Here are 22 (more) adaptations better than the books they’re based on. | Lit Hub Film & TV Naomi Kanakia on literary transphobia. | Lit Hub... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-12 10:30:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Brittney Griner’s memoir will be a spring 2024 title.

Olympian and WNBA star Brittney Griner will co-write a memoir about her experience being detained by Russia in 2022 while headed over to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg, Deadline reports. Griner was behind bars for 10 months as the diplomatic debacle played out, and will recount: the harrowing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-11 18:23:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Don’t Miss These April 2023 Book Club Picks

Get involved in a book club with this roundup of what all of the online book clubs are reading in April. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-04-10 10:36:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


First-Quarter Bestsellers

Prince Harry’s memoir has sold more than a million copies since its January release, making it the #1 book in 2023 so far. But the year is still young, and Colleen Hoover and Dav Pilkey are hot on Harry’s heels. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Deals: Week of April 10, 2023

Actor Millie Bobby Brown sells a debut novel to William Morrow, and S&S buys a memoir from Sheila Johnson, cofounder of BET. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Finding “Enough”: A Conversation with Nicole Chung, by Renee H. Shea

Finding “Enough”: A Conversation with Nicole Chung, by Renee H. Shea Interviews [email protected] Mon, 04/03/2023 - 21:13 Writer and editor Nicole Chung is the author of the best-selling memoir All You Can Ever Know (Catapult, 2018), the story of... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-04-04 02:13:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: April 3, 2023

“Transness emerges at the sight of other trans people living happily in the world.” Rafael Frumkin on top surgery, the beauty of the trans body, and building a world to feel safe in. | Lit Hub Memoir How Fabio Pusterla discovered a lifelong love of poetry (translated by Will Schutt). | Lit Hub... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-03 10:30:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this