In 2013 Biographers International Organization (BIO) established the Hazel Rowley Prize for Best Proposal from a First-time Biographer. The winner receives $5,000, a careful reading from at least one established literary agent and a year’s membership in BIO. The prize is open to biographers around the world who have never previously published a biography. Applications close each year on 1 March and the winner is announced at the BIO annual conference. More information about how to apply is on the BIO website.
The prize was given in memory of Hazel Rowley who was a BIO enthusiast from its inception, understanding the need for biographers to help each other. She was a passionate advocate for the art and craft of biography and a writer of exacting standards. This prize was given to acknowledge Hazel’s contribution to both BIO and biography writing.
The prize has been awarded to the following writers:
2026 Catherine Cramer, writing a biography of American scientist Frank Lillie, best known for his work in zoology and embryology
2025 Liz Schott, working on Useful and Beautiful: The Life of Dorothy Wright Liebes, a woman renowned for her textile design, color artistry and experimentation with innovative fibers from the mid-1930s until she died in 1972
2024 Tracy Floreani, working on Invisible Woman: Fanny Ellison and the Staging of a Writer’s Life, a biography of the populist theatre director, aspiring writer and philanthropy professional married to novelist Ralph Ellison
2023 Alec Pollak, writing a biography of American writer Joanna Russ
2022 Laura Michele Diener, writing a biography of the Norwegian-Danish writer Sigrid Undset
2021 Tanya Paperny, writing about her great-grandmother Tatiana Ivanovna Shatalova-Rabinovich, a political activist who was killed by the Stalin regime
2020 Jay Prosser, working on a biography exploring one Jewish family’s experiences and connections across empires and centuries
2019 Barbara Fisher, working on a biography of the influential cultural critic Lionel Trilling
2018 Andrew D Scrimgeour, working on The Man Who Tried to Save Jesus: Robert W. Funk and The Jesus Seminar, about one of the most controversial figures in modern biblical scholarship
2017 Diana Parsell, working on a biography of intrepid American traveller Eliza Scidmore
2016 Robert Marshall, working on a biography of author Carlos Castaneda
2014 Holly Van Leuven, working on a biography of entertainer Ray Bolger
