'Celebiography: Celebrity and Life-Writing in Dialogue' is a one-day workshop convened by Sandra Mayer, in collaboration with the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing (OCLW). This workshop explores the intersections of celebrity and life-writing across historical periods, disciplines, and media, highlighting possibilities of theorectical and methodological cross-fertilisation.
Paper by Emma Smith, Tobias Heinrich, Julia Lajta-Novak, and Ginette Vincendeau will include case studies from different cultural and historical contexts, focusing on biographical subjects as diverse as celebrity actresses and celebrity books. They will be followed by a round table discussion featuring Hermione Lee, Philip Bullock, Ruth Scobie, and screenwriter Lindsay Shapero, and a Q&A with Will Brooker, including footage from his documentary Being Bowie.
Click here to view the poster.
Programme
10.00 Sandra Mayer (University of Vienna/OCLW): Welcome
10.15 – 11.30 | Celebrity, Biblio-Biography, and Obituaries
(chair: Ruth Scobie)
Emma Smith (University of Oxford): “Shakespeare, Biblio-Biography, and the Life of the Celebrity Book”
Tobias Heinrich (University of Oxford): “Celebrity, Biography, and the Enlightenment: Friedrich Schlichtegroll’s Nekrolog”
11.30 – 12.00 Tea/Coffee Break
12.00 – 1.15 | Cultural Icons in (Bio)Fiction and Film
(chair: Hannah Yelin)
Julia Lajta-Novak (University of Salzburg/King’s College London): “From Celebrity 'Whore' to Romantic Heroine: Images of Nell Gwyn in Restoration Satire and Contemporary Biofiction”
Ginette Vincendeau (King’s College London): “Brigitte Bardot and the French New Wave: Life-writing On and Off Screen”
1.15 – 2.00 Lunch
2.00 – 3.15 | Celebrity and Life-Writing: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives
Roundtable discussion featuring Hermione Lee (University of Oxford), Philip Bullock (University of Oxford), Ruth Scobie (University of Sheffield), and Lindsay Shapero (screenwriter), chaired by Sandra Mayer (University of Vienna/OCLW)
3.15 – 3.45 Tea/Coffee Break
3.45 – 5.00 | Being Bowie: Will Brooker’s Unique Research Approach to the Life and Career of David Bowie
(chair: TBA)
Q&A with Will Brooker (Kingston University London), including footage from Being Bowie, a documentary of the unique research process behind his forthcoming book Forever Stardust
5.00 – 5.15 Closing Remarks
Click here to read abstracts and bio notes.
Register via: www.oxforduniversitystores.co.uk
Celebrity Research
The Oxford Centre for Life-Writing, OCLW
Contact name: Kate Kennedy
Contact email: oclw@wolfson.ox.ac.uk
Audience: Open to all
