In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, the historian Dr Pamela Toler chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting The Dragon from Chicago. The Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany, the biography of Sigrid Schultz, the Chicago Tribune’s bureau chief in Berlin during Hitler’s rise to power.

Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:

• Why Pamela Toler chose The Dragon from Chicago as the biography’s title
• Why Sigrid Schultz’s story is still so relevant today
• How Pamela responded to gaps and misinformation in the historical record
• How she reconstructed scenes from Sigrid’s life that reflected escalating intimidation and imminent danger in Nazi Germany
• How Pamela balanced her voice as the narrator with Sigrid’s voice and point of view
• How Pamela balanced Sigrid’s professional and public life with her human story
• How Pamela contextualised Sigrid’s life and choices within their broader historical, social and cultural landscape.

In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Ashleigh Wilson chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies me about his choices while crafting Brett Whiteley: Art, Life and the Other Thing, his acclaimed biography of Brett Whiteley, one of Australia’s most iconic artists.

Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:

• The meaning of The Other Thing in the biography’s title
• Ashleigh’s surprise discoveries and how they shaped the narrative
• How Ashleigh verified the many colourful anecdotes about Brett Whiteley
• How he reconciled the layers of myth surrounding Whiteley’s art and life
• Why he structured Whiteley’s biography chronologically
• How Whiteley’s mercurial character drove the plot
• How Ashleigh portrayed Whiteley’s complex relationship with Australia and his desire to be recognised on the international stage
• How Ashleigh balanced Whiteley’s public persona and human story
• Ashleigh’s ethical decisions when revealing Whiteley’s mental health issues and addictions
• The literary devices Ashleigh employed to balance academic rigour with crafting a captivating and propulsive narrative
• The extent to which Ashleigh believes he got to the truth of his biographical subject.

In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Amy Reading chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting The World She Edited: Katharine S. White at The New Yorker, the biography of Katharine Sergeant White, the first fiction editor of The New Yorker, an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry.

Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:

• Amy Reading’s inspiration for crafting The World She Edited
• How The World She Edited provides a long overdue corrective to the male-dominated lens through which America’s literary history during the 20th century and the rise of The New Yorker have been portrayed
• How Amy portrayed Katharine’s challenges, including sexism, misogyny, paternalism and backhanded insults
• The extent to which Amy interpreted Katharine’s correspondence with her authors
• How Amy narrowed the biographical scope given that the ‘finding aid’ to Katharine’s archival collection runs to 800 pages
• How Amy crafted lucid, elegant narrative, evoking the style Katharine infused throughout The New Yorker
• Why Amy argued for the importance of Katharine’s forgotten work and made a larger argument about female readers as the drivers of literary culture.