In Progress: A Postgraduate Work in Progress Conference

Helen Hayes, "The Concept of 'Progress' in Writing Biography"

The aspects of progress addressed in this paper are several:

the "work in progress" of creating the biography of a living person,

how the researcher with the subject, interacts and interweaves to form the story

the journey from raw data to determining the story shape, the issues and themes of the life, the perspectives to be developed,

the "life progress" of the subject, what shaped and formed that life, where it is going now

what contribution this work will make to the "art of biography"

My project consists of the research and writing of the biography of a living person, accompanied by a thesis. The subject is Geoffrey Cornish, who fought and was shot down as a bomber pilot in WWII and survived four years in Stalag Luft III (the "Great Escape" prisoner of war camp). He subsequently studied medicine, practised anaesthetics and later cardiac rehabilitation. He currently maintains a specialist medical practice at the age of eighty one. His adventures and contribution to community and to medicine have been legendary. The writing up of a chronological life summary, presently underway, will inform the plan and framework of the biography.

The reasons for recording the subject's life as a doctoral project include:

an interesting and complex story
as a model for "living" biography
challenges including the variety of material, the ages of the subject and their disparate world locations, technical challenges in doing this
the project's potential to forge links across disciplinary boundaries.

Emerging themes in the life of the subject studied so far include:

continual takeup of "new lives"
tenacity, determination, principles; no such word as "no"
addressing challenges--staying power
subject as a romantic, a dreamer, an idealist
decisiveness--especially in selection for bomber training, choice to be anaesthetist.

There are several streams of question to be explored in the thesis. The theory and craft of biographical writing is one. Another is the motivation of the reader to read such works and what is sought from reading them. A third is "what makes the subject tick". A fourth is what the encouragement of biographical writing does for society culturally, ideologically and historically.

Biography:Helen Hayes is undertaking a doctorate in English at the University of Queensland. Many years of working in social research, particularly studying and writing about communities, urged her to extend her skills to the literary form of biography. She is currently collecting data from and about her octogenarian subject and researching the techniques, forms and appeal of biography. Helen has Masters' degrees in Research, Education and Business Administration and regards her present pursuit as the perfect blend of her existing skills and developing interests.