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Frances Wilson and the enigma of Muriel Spark
Time: 6.30pm, Tuesday 11 NovemberAddress: Maggs Bros, Bedford Square Frances Wilson’s Electric Spark (Bloomsbury), about the early years of the great novelist Muriel Spark, can claim to be the most highly praised biography of 2025. ‘A brilliant, wonderfully shrewd biography’ (William Boyd); ‘Pitch-perfect, electrifying. Reconfirms Wilson’s pre-eminence as Maestra of British biography’ (Rachel Holmes); ‘Joyously,…
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Ann Wroe in conversation with Iona Mclaren
When: Tuesday 7 November,Where: Hatchards, PiccadillyTickets: Click here Come and meet Ann Wroe, winner of the Biographers’ Club Exceptional Contribution to Biography award in 2020, who will be in conversation with Iona Mclaren. Her new book, Lifescapes, reflects on the art of trying to catch lives on the page. Ann Wroe is the acclaimed author of books including…
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Christmas Party and Tony Lothian prize giving 2022
Join us for wine and nibbles at our Christmas party, and for the presentation of the Tony Lothian Prize.
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Plath’s Psychiatrist
Club member Nigel Cameron is at work on a biography of Ruth Barnhouse (Beuscher), Sylvia Plath’s psychiatrist and friend, and is due to deliver the ms to University of Massachusetts Press for publication in 2028. The press published Cameron’s previous book, Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General, in 2025.
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Soho Legend
The National Portrait Gallery will hold a launch for Club member Darren Coffield’s new book, Hen, Mistress of Mayhem, a biography of Soho legend Henrietta Moraes, at 6-9pm on Wednesday 15 April. The launch will take place in Larry’s bar – entrance in St Martin’s Place. Coffield will give a talk and book signing at the…
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The Biographers’ Club Summer Party, 2026
Date and time: Thursday 2 July, 6.30pm-8.30pmVenue: St Mary’s, Cadogan Street, London SW3 2QP Tickets: £25 from [email protected] Join us for drinks and canapés in the garden of St Mary’s, a Grade II-listed Catholic church in Chelsea. There is a marquee in case of rain.
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Caroline Moorehead, A Sicilian Man: Leonardo Sciascia, The Rise of the Mafia and the Struggle for Italy’s Soul
Date and time: Tuesday 2 June, 6.30pmLocation: Hatchards, 187 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LE Tickets: £10. Click here to book. Come and meet the historian and biographer Caroline Moorehead as she and Jonathan Keates discuss her latest book. In 1986, the largest Mafia trial in Italy’s history took place in Sicily: 471 men and 4 women…
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Miranda Seymour’s New Biography Out 20 May
Winner of our Exceptional Contribution to Biography Award, 2025, Miranda Seymour’s I, Vera: The Many Lives of Vera Gedroits tells the inspiring story of ‘a towering, sweet-faced lesbian princess [and] an ardent supporter of workers’ rights who regularly performed true medical miracles of surgery. Pre-order your copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/i-vera/miranda-seymour//9780008650384 Can’t wait that long? Watch Seymour…
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A Story of Survival: Anne Sebba and Dr Kate Kennedy on The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz
29 May, 14:00 @ The Buttery, Wolfson College (and online via Zoom) Register here: https://oclw.web.ox.ac.uk/event/a-story-of-survival-anne-sebba-and-dr-kate-kennedy-on-the-womens-orchestra-of-auschwitz
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Join OCLW’s Writing Class & Feedback Group
No matter where you are and what stage your writing has reached, you can join one of our classes to learn and to develop your writing in a supportive and expert-led environment. What to expect: Life-Writing Class: Mondays, 11:00-13:00; hybrid sessions, in person at Wolfson College and online via Zoom; led by Rebecca Abrams. Online Writing…
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The Hatchards and Biographers’ Club First Biography Prize Winner, 2025 – Matthew Cobb!
We are delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s prize is Matthew Cobb, author of Crick: A Mind in Motion, all about the essential role Francis Crick played – alongside his scientific partner James Watson – in the discovery of DNA. Congratulations also to the shortlisted runners up:
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Passion, Politics and Power: The Life of Lady Pamela Berry
Patrons of the London Library are warmly invited to their annual gathering to thank those who have kindly chosen to leave a gift to the Library in their Will. Library Member Harriet Cullen will share insights from her biography of her mother, Lady Pamela Berry – a woman who was a bystander and protagonist across…
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Elizabeth Buccleuch Prize winner Andrew Kenrick to be published this summer
Andrew Kenrick, winner of the then Tony Lothian Prize (now Elizabeth Buccleuch Prize) will have his first biography published by Penguin in August 2026 as Rex Juba: 15 Glimpses of an African King. To pre-order your copy now, choose from the options included on Penguin’s website here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/467783/rex-juba-by-kenrick-andrew/9781911709787
