Shows / Biographers in Conversation
Biographers in Conversation
Biographer Gabriella Kelly-Davies chats with biographers across the world about the myriad of choices they make while researching, writing and publishing life stories. In every episode, she explores elements of narrative strategy such as structure, use of fiction techniques, facts and truth, beginnings and endings and to what extent the writer interpreted the evidence rather than providing clues and leaving it to readers to do the interpreting themselves. She also asks how they researched their…
Episodes
- Biographers in Conversation
A Vast Horizon: Artists and Lovers, Freedom and War
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Anna Thomasson chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about A Vast Horizon: Artists and Lovers, Freedom…
- Biographers in Conversation
Black, White + Colour
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Tim Dobbyn chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Black, White + Colour: A Biography of Mervyn…
- Biographers in Conversation
Trudeau & Doonesbury: The Cartoonist Who Turned the News into Art
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Joshua Kendall chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Trudeau & Doonesbury: The Cartoonist Who…
- Biographers in Conversation
Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr James Bailey chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of…
- Biographers in Conversation
Dr Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Nigel Cameron chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Dr Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General…
- Biographers in Conversation
Circle of Wonders - Truth-telling in Storytelling
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Kathryn Heyman chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Circle of Wonders. Here’s what you’ll…
- Biographers in Conversation
Parallel Lives: From Freud and Mann to Arbus and Plath
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Jeffrey Meyers chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Parallel Lives: From Freud and Mann to Arbus and…
- Biographers in Conversation
Love and Need: The Life of Robert Frost’s Poetry
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Adam Plunkett chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Love and Need: The Life of Robert Frost’s Poetry…
- Biographers in Conversation
Renaissance Quills of Their Own: Shakespeare's Sisters
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Ramie Targoff chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Shakespeare’s Sisters: Four Women Who Wrote the…
- Biographers in Conversation
Chameleon
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Robert Dessaix chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Chameleon: A Memoir of Art, Travel, Ideas and…
- Biographers in Conversation
Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, S. Shakthidharan (Shakthi) chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about his choices while crafting Gather…
- Biographers in Conversation
‘Find Me at the Jaffa Gate’, 2026 Michael Crouch Award for a Debut Work, winner
In this special episode of Biographers in Conversation for the National Biography Award, Dr Micaela Sahhar chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her…
- Biographers in Conversation
‘Max Dupain: A Portrait’. 2026 National Biography Award winner
In this special episode of Biographers in Conversation for the 2026 National Biography Award, Dr Helen Ennis chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her…
- Biographers in Conversation
The Callas Imprint: A Centennial Biography
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Sophia Lambton chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about The Callas Imprint: A Centennial Biography. Here’s…
- Biographers in Conversation
Fourteen Ways of Looking
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Erin Vincent chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting Fourteen Ways of…
- Biographers in Conversation
Clever Men
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Martin Thomas chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Clever Men: How Worlds Collided on the…
- Biographers in Conversation
Artists, Siblings, Visionaries: Gwen and Augustus John
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Judith Mackrell, one of Britain’s most eminent biographers, chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her…
- Biographers in Conversation
Dr Sylvia Martin "Double Act: Eirene Mort & Nora Kate Weston"
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Sylvia Martin chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Double Act: Eirene Mort and Nora Kate…
- Biographers in Conversation
Cynthia Banham "Mother Shadow: A Meditation on Maternal Inheritance"
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Cynthia Banham chats with Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Mother Shadow: A Meditation on Maternal…
- Biographers in Conversation
Sheryle Bagwell "Letter from Provence: Two Women, Two Centuries and a Village House in France"
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Sheryle Bagwell chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Letter from Provence: Two Women, Two…
- Biographers in Conversation
Nigel Hamilton "Lincoln vs. Davis: The War of the Presidents"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Nigel Hamilton chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Lincoln vs. Davis: The War of the Presidents…
- Biographers in Conversation
Zachary Leader "Ellmann’s Joyce: The Biography of a Masterpiece and Its Maker"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Zachary Leader chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Ellmann’s Joyce: The Biography of a Masterpiece…
- Biographers in Conversation
Micaela Sahhar "Find Me at the Jaffa Gate: An Encyclopaedia of a Palestinian Family"
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Micaela Sahhar chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting Find Me at the…
- Biographers in Conversation
Karen Fang "Background Artist: The Life and Work of Tyrus Wong"
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, Professor Karen Fang chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting Background…
- Biographers in Conversation
Debra Adelaide "When I Am Sixty-Four"
In this latest episode of Biographers in Conversation, award-winning author Dr Debra Adelaide chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while…
- Biographers in Conversation
Troy Bramston: "Gough Whitlam: The Vista of the New"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Troy Bramston chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Gough Whitlam: The Vista of the New. This is the first…
- Biographers in Conversation
Ian Hembrow: "Celsius: A Life and Death by Degrees"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Ian Hembrow chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about his choices while crafting Celsius: A Life and Death by…
- Biographers in Conversation
Hester Kaplan: "Twice Born: Finding My Father In the Margins of Biography"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Hester Kaplan chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Twice Born: Finding My Father In the Margins of…
- Biographers in Conversation
Helen Pitt: "The House" and "Luna Park"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Helen Pitt chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about The House: The dramatic story of the Sydney Opera House…
- Biographers in Conversation
Paul Kildea: "Chopin’s Piano: A Journey through Romanticism"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Paul Kildea chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Chopin’s Piano: A Journey through Romanticism. Here’s…
- Biographers in Conversation
Sara Fitzgerald "The Silenced Muse: Emily Hale, T. S. Eliot, and the Role of a Lifetime"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Sara Fitzgerald chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about The Silenced Muse: Emily Hale, T. S. Eliot, and the…
- Biographers in Conversation
Dr Theodore Ell "Lebanon Days: Memories of an ancient land through economic meltdown, a revolution of hope and surviving the 2020 Beirut explosion"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Theodore Ell chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Lebanon Days: Memories of an ancient land through…
- Biographers in Conversation
Deborah FitzGerald "Her Sunburnt Country: The Extraordinary Literary Life of Dorothea Mackellar"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Deborah FitzGerald chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Her Sunburnt Country: The Extraordinary…
- Biographers in Conversation
Lucy Sussex & Megan Brown "Outrageous Fortunes: A Double Life of Crime"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Lucy Jane Sussex and Megan Brown chat with Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Outrageous Fortunes: The Adventures of…
- Biographers in Conversation
Dava Sobel "The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dava Sobel chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a…
- Biographers in Conversation
Jacqueline Kent "Inconvenient Women: Australian Radical Writers 1900-1970"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Jacqueline Kent chats with Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Inconvenient Women: Australian Radical Writers…
- Biographers in Conversation
Mark Hussey "Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Mark Hussey chats with Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel. Here’s what you’ll…
- Biographers in Conversation
Nicholas Boggs "Baldwin: A Love Story"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Nicholas Boggs chats with Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Baldwin: A Love Story. Here’s what you’ll discover in…
- Biographers in Conversation
Francesca Wade "Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Francesca Wade chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife. Here’s what you’ll…
- Biographers in Conversation
Lance Richardson "True Nature: The Lives of Peter Matthiessen"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation Lance Richardson chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about True Nature: The Lives of Peter Matthiessen. Here’s…
- Biographers in Conversation
Frances Wilson "Electric Spark: The Enigma of Muriel Spark"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Frances Wilson chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Electric Spark: The Enigma of Muriel Spark. Here’s…
- Biographers in Conversation
Summer Series - Stephen J. Campbell: ”Leonardo da Vinci: An Untraceable Life”
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation’s special summer season, Dr Stephen J. Campbell chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about his choices while…
- Biographers in Conversation
Susan Wyndham "Elizabeth Harrower: The Woman in the Watch Tower"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Susan Wyndham chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Elizabeth Harrower: The Woman in the Watch Tower…
- Biographers in Conversation
Clare Wright OAM: "Näku Dhäruk - The Bark Petitions: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the Course of Australian Democracy"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Professor Clare Wright OAM chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Näku Dhäruk The Bark Petitions: How the…
- Biographers in Conversation
Summer Series - Andrew Ford’s ”The Shortest History of Music”
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation’s special summer season, multi-award-winning broadcaster, composer and author Andrew Ford AOM chats with Dr…
- Biographers in Conversation
Summer Series - Oliver Soden "Jeoffry: The Poet’s Cat"
In this first episode of Biographers in Conversation’s special summer season, the distinguished British biographer Oliver Soden chats with Dr Gabriella…
- Biographers in Conversation
Josie McSkimming: "Gutsy Girls: Love, Poetry and Sisterhood"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, pychotherapist, university lecturer and author Josie McSkimming, chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about…
- Biographers in Conversation
Helen Trinca: "Looking for Elizabeth: The Life of Elizabeth Harrower"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, biographer and veteran journalist, Helen Trinca, chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about Looking for…
- Biographers in Conversation
Dr Drusilla Modjeska: "A Woman’s Eye, Her Art: Reframing the Narrative through Art and Life"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Drusilla Modjeska chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about A Woman’s Eye, Her Art: Reframing the Narrative…
- Biographers in Conversation
Julie Summers' "British Vogue: The Biography of an Icon"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Julie Summers chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about British Vogue: The Biography of an Icon Here’s what…
- Biographers in Conversation
Diana Parsell "Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington’s Cherry Trees"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Diana Parsell chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting Eliza Scidmore: The…
- Biographers in Conversation
Dr Greg de Moore "Tom Wills: The Insubordinate Life of an Australian Sporting Legend"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Greg de Moore chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about his choices while crafting Tom Wills: The…
- Biographers in Conversation
Ray Boomhower: "The Ultimate Protest: Malcolm W. Browne, Thich Quang Duc, and the News Photograph That Stunned the World"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Ray Boomhower chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about his choices while crafting The Ultimate Protest…
- Biographers in Conversation
Dr Bron Bateman: "Women of a Certain Courage"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Bron Bateman chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while editing Women of a Certain…
- Biographers in Conversation
Stephen J. Campbell: "Leonardo da Vinci: An Untraceable Life"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr Stephen J. Campbell chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about his choices while crafting Leonardo da Vinci…
- Biographers in Conversation
Jillian Graham "Inner Song: A Biography of Margaret Sutherland"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, the musician and author Dr Jillian Graham chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting…
- Biographers in Conversation
David Veltman, Daniel Meister and Hans Renders Biography Across the Digitized Globe: Essays in Honour of Hans Renders
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Dr David Veltman, Dr Daniel Meister and Professor Hans Renders chat with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about…
- Biographers in Conversation
Shauna Bostock "Reaching Through Time: Finding My Family’s Stories"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Shauna Bostock chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting Reaching Through Time…
- Biographers in Conversation
Sebastian Smee: "Paris in Ruins: How Love, War and Art Gave Birth to Impressionism"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic Sebastian Smee chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about his choices while…
- Biographers in Conversation
Heather Clark: "Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath"
In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, multi-award-winning biographer Dr Heather Clark chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while…