Description
Saturday, Mar 9, 10:30am-4:30pm
Open to all
Limited to 12 participants
Hybrid Workshop*
“Biography is a metaphor. It’s not the person’s life; it’s writing about a person’s life.”
–Benjamin Moser, author of a biography of Susan Sontag
This workshop aims to introduce participants to the art and science of writing the story of another person’s life. After unpacking the notion of “biography” and examining examples of different approaches, the workshop will focus on the challenges and methodologies of biographical investigation, research, and writing. Participants are invited to bring to the workshop a favourite book-length biography and, if possible, to briefly present the subject of a biography that they would like to write.
Morning (10.30 am – 1 pm):
- Introductory remarks and participant introductions
- Biography as creative nonfiction (As opposed to memoir, autobiography, auto-fiction, or fiction).
- “My favourite biography.” Each participant, beginning with the workshop leader, briefly presents a favourite book-length biography. (Participants are invited to prepare these brief presentations before coming to the workshop and, if possible, to bring in a copy of the book they wish to highlight.)
- Discussion
Afternoon (2 pm – 4.30 pm):
- The research and writing process. (Including a breakdown of the workshop leader’s research, methodology, and writing process for his two award-winning published biographies.)
- “My future biography.” Each participant briefly presents the subject of a biography they would like to write, with emphasis on the “why” and the “how,” describing how they would go about doing it and the pitfalls they might anticipate.
- Discussion and wrap-up
Suggested reading: Robert A. Caro, Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing. Penguin Random House, 2019.
*This workshop will take place at the QWF Office (Room 3, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Westmount, Quebec) with up to 2 virtual spots for participants who are unable to attend in-person. By default, all workshop registrations are for in-person spots. If you would like to attend the workshop via Zoom, first email Riley ([email protected]) to see if online spots are still available for this workshop, and then wait for confirmation. Virtual spots are limited and are reserved for people who either live outside Montreal or have a medical condition.
