How do you write a biography?, Monocle on Culture 188 - Radio | Monocle

Monocle on Culture

How do you write a biography?

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18 May 2015

Episode 188

28 minutes

Robert Bound is joined in the studio by ghostwriter Fanny Blake and Cathy Rentzenbrink, books editor at 'The Bookseller'. Up for discussion is how to choose your subject, adopt their voice and dig up the most salacious stories possible. Plus we hear from Kim Jong-il’s biographer and about a Brazilian play challenging the legalities of penning someone else’s story.

18 May 2015

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Chapter 1

8 minutes

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Chapter 1

Cathy Rentzenbrink on the biography market

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Cathy Rentzenbrink, writer and books editor at ‘The Bookseller’, tells us what makes biographies sell and when people are most likely to buy them.

8 minutes

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Cathy Rentzenbrink on the biography market

Chapter 2

7 minutes

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Chapter 2

Interview with ghostwriter Fanny Blake

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Fanny Blake is an experienced ghostwriter who tells us how to immerse yourself in someone else’s life, how to draw out the juiciest stories and the differences between being a writer and an author.

7 minutes

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Interview with ghostwriter Fanny Blake

Chapter 3

5 minutes

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Chapter 3

Michael Breen, Kim Jong-il’s biographer

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Michael Breen tells us how he wrote Kim’s biography without meeting him and why he hasn’t returned to North Korea since.

5 minutes

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Michael Breen, Kim Jong-il’s biographer

Chapter 4

6 minutes

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Chapter 4

'Authorised Biography' - a Brazilian play

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We report on the play by popular Brazilian television actor Paulo Betti that challenges the legalities of writing a biography in the country.

6 minutes

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'Authorised Biography' - a Brazilian play

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