Biography and Life Writing Resources

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 Select Resources

• Journal of a/b: Auto/Biography Studies (Taylor and Frances)

  • https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/raut20

• The International Auto/Biography Association is a worldwide network of more than 1,500 scholars. See: Center for Biographical Research and Resources.

  • https://manoa.hawaii.edu/cbr/iaba-listserv/

A classic resource

• John A. Garraty. (1957). The Nature of Biography. Alfred A. Knopf.

Select resources for analyzing and writing educational biography and life writing:

• Michael Erben, Ed. (1998). Biography and Education: A Reader. Palmer.

• Ivor Goodson, Ed. (1992). Studying teachers’ lives. Routledge.

• Gerald Gutek. (2010). Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Education: A Biographical Introduction 5th Edition. Pearson Publishing.

• Gerald Gutek. (2024). A Memoir of an Educational Biographer: Gerald Gutek's Reflections on the Historical and Continuing Value of a Unique Craft (Research in Life Writing and Education Book Series). Emerald Press.

  • https://bookstore.emerald.com/a-memoir-of-an-educational-biographer-hb-9798887307800.html

• Craig Kridel, Ed. (1998). Writing Educational Biography: Explorations in Qualitative Research. Routledge.

  • https://www.routledge.com/Writing-Educational-Biography-Explorations-in-Qualitative-Research/Kridel/p/book/9780815322962

• Thalia Mulvihill & Raji Swaminathan. (2017). Critical approaches to life writing methods in qualitative research. Routledge. -

  • https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315629582/critical-approaches-life-writing-methods-qualitative-research-thalia-mulvihill-raji-swaminathan

Select resources on analyzing and writing biography and life writing

• African American Biographical Resources.

  • https://guides.library.cornell.edu/africana_biographical

• Lael Netzer, O., & Spallacci, A. (2022). On Teaching Life Writing in an Age of Social Change. A/b: Auto/Biography Studies, 37(3). Special Issue.

  • https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/raut20/37/3

• Bronwyn Davies and Susanne Gannon. (2006). Doing Collective Biography. Open UP. ISBN 978-0-674-02466-3

• Nigel Hamilton. (2007). Biography: A Brief History. Harvard UP.

  • https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674034716–

• Nigel Hamilton. (2008). How To Do Biography: A Primer. Harvard UP.

  • https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674066151

• Hermione Lee. (2009). Biography: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford.

  • https://academic.oup.com/book/828/chapter/135447427

• Brian Roberts. (2002). Biographical Research. Open University Press.

• Carl Rollyson. (2005). Essays in Biography. iUniverse press.

• Carl Rollyson. (2005). A Higher Form of Cannibalism? Adventures in the Art and Politics of Biography. Ivan R. Dee Publishing.

• Meryle Secrest. (2007). Shoot the Widow: Adventures of a Biographer in Search of her Subject. Alfred A. Knopf.

• Linda Wagner-Martin. (1994). Telling Women’s Lives: The New Biography. Rutgers UP.

General Resources for Biography:
Library of Science - Lists multiple collections of biographies and resources