First, here’s a laurel and hearty handshake extended to T.J. Stiles, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Stiles pulled off a literary hat trick, of sorts, by having his biography awarded both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award for non-fiction. Plus he’s a Caro fan, which gives him even more points in my book. Not that he needed them. Anyway, congratulations all around.
Speaking of Pulitzer Prize winners (watch what I do here), we’re less than a month away from the first Compleat Biographer Conference, hosted by the Biographers International Organization (BIO) in Boston on May 15. It’s your chance to immerse yourself in biography for a day, talking with, listening to and learning from some of the best — including interim BIO President and Pulitzer Prize winner Debby Applegate, the aforementioned T.J. Stiles, Charles J. Shields, Kitty Kelley, James McGrath Morris, and tons more. It’s a daylong series of workshops and panel discussion on the practical aspects of the craft and art of biography, including a session with agents who represent biographies and non-fiction. Come on, it’ll be fun.
For more information on the conference, go here. While you’re at it, stroll over to the home page for The Biographer’s Craft — soon to be the official newsletter of BIO — and put yourself on the mailing list.
Brian Jay Jones 
