Episode 42: Talking Faulkner biography with Larry Wells, author of the memoir, In Faulkner’s Shadow
A wide ranging discussion of Larry Wells’s memories of the Faulkner family, of Faulkner biographers, Joseph Blotner and Carvel Collins, and what it takes to research and write biography, which often feels like a Henry James story.
17 Jan 202139min
Episode 41: Heather Clark on her new Plath Biography.
We talk about how Heather Clark became interested in Plath, how she came to write the biography, how biography is a product of its age, and much more.
9 Jan 202130min
Episode 40: John Bryant on his new multi-volume Melville biography
A wide-ranging discussion of biography, how to work on literary figures Melville’s “black consciousness” and much more.
2 Jan 202143min
Part 3 of my interview with Alexis Coe
Slavery, capitalism, what went into the making of Washington’s life and those of his contemporaries—plus Alexis Coe puts THE BIG QUESTION to me.
29 Dec 202015min
Part 2 of my interview with Alexis Coe
More discussion of how to shake up the genre of presidential biography.
29 Dec 20206min
Part 1: Alexis Coe author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington
A wide ranging discussion of presidential biography and why Alexis Coe decided on what has been called a “historiographical intervention.”
29 Dec 20209min
Episode 38: Ten Tips For Enterprising Biographers
My experience over 40 years of contacting sources and how they responded, and how I got them to respond.
26 Dec 202039min
Episode 37: Why Plath: My Rollicking Interview with Emily Van Dyne about her forthcoming book
Much talk about Emily’s book, Loving Sylvia Plath, how students and other readers react to Plath, and the role biography plays in the mixed reactions to her work.
19 Dec 202037min
