Please find below the following press release issued by The Biography Institute on our upcoming conference, held in Groningen, 19-21 September 2018, as well as the programme and brochure.
Different Lives: a conference on national traditions in biography.
Biography as a genre has gathered a lot of popular interest in recent years. In determining how we deal with our national past, biographies play a significant part. These accounts are not written in a vacuum; they are to be understood within a tradition – the way individuals are usually depicted within the nation. These traditions are the central focus of the conference “Different Lives: Perspectives on Biography in Public Cultures and Societies,” which will be organized by the University of Groningen’s Biography Institute from September 19 to 21, 2018.
In order to gain understanding of the national biographical traditions, it is important to invite speakers that have firsthand knowledge of these traditions. For that reason, fifteen speakers from all continents were asked to share what they consider to be their nation’s most accomplished biography. Additionally, they will be participating in roundtable discussions to thematically address controversial topics within the field of biography. How does censure affect biography in different parts of the world? Similarly, how much importance is assigned to the authorized biography? Lastly, the genre’s connection to other domains of knowledge, such as psychology, history, and media studies, will be discussed.
The keynote address will be delivered by British biographer Richard Holmes, whose books, Footsteps: Adventures of a Romantic Biographer (1985) and This Long Pursuit: Reflections of a Romantic Biographer (2016), feature elaborate reflections on his practice as a biographer. In his lecture, Holmes will address the way the English tradition of liberal biography has influenced his own biographical research and methods. Holmes has written that empathy is a central tenet of thorough biographical research; the biographer has to be able to defend his subject’s positions at all times. In his lecture, the sustainability of this tradition will be examined.
Carl Rollyson, renowned American author of twelve biographies and three books on biography, will speak on the American tradition of presidential biography. More often than not, these biographies are labelled “authorized,” which connotes something very different from “reliable.” In the age of fake news and alternative facts, how far can biographers go in stretching the facts? This last question will also be addressed by Nigel Hamilton, biographer of Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, in the conference’s opening lecture, “Truth, Lies, and Fake Truth.”
Each speaker will address the theme “national traditions in biography” in their own way. Evgeniya
Petrova will focus on biography in Russia. She reviewed over 200 texts for her research on biographies of celebrities in Russian media. In her lecture, she will demonstrate which constants she uncovered in these people’s careers, and make an argument about the contemporary media landscape in Russia. The production of biography in closed societies, such as Iran, will also be investigated. Sahar Vahdati Hosseinian will focus on cultural, religious, and social issues that determine the character of contemporary Iranian biography.
Biography in New Zealand only has a small sample size; for the most part, it is dominated by sports figures. However, a large number of critical biographies on artists, musicians, and writers have recently started to appear. Doug Munro answers the question of how the authors of these books portray New Zealand’s society. South-African researcher Lindie Koorts assumes a post-colonial perspective; according to her, the exposure of some “heroes” from the South-African past initiated a discussion that speaks volumes on South Africa’s link to apartheid.
The conference is organized by the Biography Institute, a research institute of the University of Groningen that has produced multiple significant biographies on interesting historical figures. The organization collaborated with the American Biographers International Organization and The Biography Society, a French organization of 
researchers in biography, led by Joanny Moulin, who will also speak at the conference. Owing to these organizations’ expansive networks, it was possible to invite a broad group of prominent researchers and biographers. The driving impulse is to remind us that biography is a truly international endeavor.
Signing up for the conference is possible on the website: www.different-lives.com. The organization can be reached by e-mail at bioconferenceboard@rug.nl.
Brochure:
(click here to download)
Programme
September 19
12.30 – 16.00
Masterclass for young biographers, by Nigel Hamilton
16.30 – 17.30
Opening Lecture by Nigel Hamilton
‘Truth, Lies and Fake Truth. The Future of Biography.’
with word of welcome by Frans Zwarts
17.30 – 18.30
Reception
Offered by Groningen Congres Bureau
September 20
10.00 Conference Opening by Hans Renders and Joanny Moulin
10.15 – 11.15
Panel 1 chaired by David Veltman
Carl Rollyson (US)
Evgeniya Petrova (Russia)
Joanny Moulin (France)
11.30 – 12.30
Panel 2 chaired by Joanny Moulin
Elsbeth Etty (the Netherlands)
Daniel Meister (Canada)
Phuong Ngoc Nguyen (Vietnam)
12.45 – 14.00
Mystery Guest at Academy Building
14.30 – 16.00
Roundtable Discussion with John A. Farrell
Topics: political impact of biography, institutions
and status of the biographer, the
biopic, categories of biography, biography
and orality. Speakers:
Lindie Koorts (South Africa)
Doug Munro (New Zealand)
María Jesús González (Spain)
Yannick Gouchan (Italy)
Étienne Naveau (Indonesia)
16.00 – 17.00
Keynote Lecture by Richard Holmes
The Biographer’s Handshake
17.30
Drinks at Conference Venue
September 21
10.15 – 11.15
Panel 3 chaired by Madelon Franssen
Sahar Vahdati Hosseinian (Iran)
Doug Munro (Australia)
María Jesús González (Spain)
11.30 – 13.00
Roundtable Discussion with Patrick Di Mascio
Topics: biography and censorship, the critical
reception of the biography, biography and
psychology, biography and history. Speakers:
Carl Rollyson (US)
Daniel Meister (Canada)
Elsbeth Etty (the Netherlands)
Stefano Magni (Italy)
Raffaele Ruggiero (Italy)
14.00 – 14.30
Interview with the winner of Dutch Biography Prize
14.30 – 15.30
Panel 4 chaired by Nigel Hamilton
Lindie Koorts (South Africa)
Yannick Gouchan (Italy)
Étienne Naveau (Indonesia)
15.45 – 16.30
Public Discussion with Hans Renders
18.00
Conference Dinner at Humphrey’s