Carl Rollyson

American Philosophical Society grant

I was awarded a grant for work on my biography of Lillian Hellman, published as LILLIAN HELLMAN: HER LEGEND AND HER LEGACY in 1988. Recently the NEW YORK TIMES singled out my book as the best biography of Hellman--quite a distinction since several biographies have been published since my book first appeared 25 years ago.

American Council of Learned Societies

I was awarded a grant for my biography of the highly regarded journalist, Martha Gellhorn. The book was published in 1990 as NOTHING EVER HAPPENS TO THE BRAVE: THE STORY OF MARTHA GELLHORN.

NEH Fellowship for College Teachers

I have been awarded three of the highly competitive NEH fellowships. Two were for my biographies of Rebecca West and Amy Lowell (in progress). I was also awarded an NEH fellowship for a book about biography, published as A HIGHER FORM OF CANNIBALISM? ADVENTURES IN THE ART AND POLITICS OF BIOGRAPHY.

University of Toronto

Ph.D

English

1975

I completed my undergraduate work at Michigan State University, earning a B.A. degree in English in 1969.

Reviewer

New York Times, June 8, 2012

Always the challenger, Hellman did her best to thwart all unsanctioned accounts of her life. She forbade her friends to talk to inquiring writers and destroyed many of her personal letters. Nonetheless, a half-dozen biographies have been published since her death. The best of them is Carl Rollyson’s “Lillian Hellman: Her Legend and Her Legacy” (1988), a critical but astute portrait.

Author of THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS (book and Emmy and Golden Globe Award Winning HBO movie)

HBO

"With his high-powered and perceptive page-turners on Lillian Hellman, Rebecca West, Martha Gellhorn and Susan Sontag, Carl Rollyson has shown himself to be amongst the very first rank of contemporary biographical practitioners.
--Roger Lewis, author of The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (book and Emmy and Golden Globe Award Winning HBO movie), The Real Life of Laurence Olivier, and Anthony Burgess

Biographer and newspaper book reviewer and columnist, author of EUDORA: A WRITER'S LIFE

Philadelphia Inquirer

"Carl Rollyson knows more about biographies than anyone else in the world. His independent mind, his experience, and his voracious reading have equipped him to produce amazing insights into the reading -- and writing -- of biographies.

Hollywood Enigma: Dana Andrews

http://politicalsciencejuniorfellows.wordpress.com/  George Bush Presidential Library, College Station, TX

2012-09-13

Marilyn Monroe

Legends of Hollywood Film Festival  Wynne Home Arts Center, Huntsville, Texas

2011-11-06

Dana Andrews: The Road from Rockdale to Hollywood

Author appearance  Lucy Hill Patterson Memorial Library, Rockdale, Texas

2010-11-04

Quality Work: Why It Must be Marketed

I’m writing a biography of Amy Lowell (1874–1925). She constantly wrote to publishers, magazine editors, and critics. She called them and parked herself in their offices. She designed her own promotional material and advertisements. Imagine how she would have used her author’s website. That is what social media is, too: showing up. For Amy Lowell--and for me--imagining and creating an audience for one’s work is what writing is all about.

The Making of Movie Stars and Icons

My biographies focus on subjects who have transformed themselves into film stars and icons. In my book, FEMALE ICONS: FROM MARILYN MONROE TO SUSAN SONTAG, I anatomize the careers of writers and various artists who quite deliberately invent themselves--often creating stories and events, or embellishing actual experiences in order to create glamorous images of themselves. How these figures use the media, and the way the media collaborates in the creation of stars is also a feature of my talk.

Alternatives to Traditional Publishing

I have self-published over twenty books. I can talk knowledgeably about marketing titles, explain why I use self-publishing as part of a publishing programs that includes trade publishers, small presses, and university presses. My experience as a book reviewer for the WALL STREET JOURNAL, THE WASHINGTON POST, and THE NEW YORK SUN informs my understanding of the way books get noticed and reviewed. Included in my talk are several examples of the way I have used social media to promote my work.