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World Authors/Writers

The books on this page include biographical information, and, in some cases, criticism for major world authors. "Literary Criticism" titles (Classical, Contemporary, etc., individually listed) are useful for finding out how an author's works have been perceived from the time of first publication to the present. Additional biographical titles on world authors are available in Reference in the call number range PN 74-PN 900. To identify which volume of Gale (publisher) publications has a particular author or mentions a particular work (title), use Gale's Literary Index; CSU owns many of the volumes in the series (the nine major titles are included on this page). Two key titles are available online (in the same database) and are linked to from this page.

  • Buck, Claire, ed. The Bloomsbury Guide to Women's Literature. New York: Prentice Hall, 1992.
    PN 471 .B57 1992 REF

    Essays in the first section give an overview of literary eras starting in Greek antiquity. The largest part, the "Reference section," has biographical information about women authors and definitions of selected literary terms and concepts (in one alphabetical list).

  • Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of World Authors from Classical Antiquity through the Fourteenth Century, from the First Appraisals to Current Evaluations. Detroit: Gale, 1988- .
    PN 610 .C53x REF

  • Contemporary Authors: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Nonfiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television, and Other Fields. Detroit: Gale, 1967- . Also available online 1967- (to CSU users).
    PN 771 .C612 REF and PN 771 .C613 REF

  • Contemporary Authors: Autobiographical Series. Detroit: Gale, 1984- .
    PN 771 .C616 REF

  • Contemporary Literary Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Today's Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Short Story Writers, Scriptwriters, and Other Creative Writers (CLC). Detroit: Gale, 1973- . Also available online 1992- (to CSU users).
    PN 771 .C617 REF

    Includes people who are still alive or who died after 1960.

  • Dictionary of Literary Biography. (DLB) Detroit: Gale, 1978- .
    PS 221 .D5 REF

    Now over 250 volumes. Each volume has authors from a particular location, era, or type. See SAGE record for list of volumes. Use cumulative index to search for specific author or work. Highly recommended source.

  • Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook. Detroit: Gale, 1981- .
    PS 221 .D52 REF

    Published to augment and update entries already published in the DLB. Adds newly prominent writers who were not in original DLB volumes.

  • Kirkpatrick, D. L., ed. Contemporary Novelists. 5th ed. London: St. James, 1986.
    PR 883 .C64 1991 REF

    Has biographies, publications, and critical studies of the novelists' works.

  • Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Philosophers, and Other Creative Writers, from the First Published Critical Appraisals to Current Evaluations. Detroit: Gale, 1984- .
    PN 86 .L56 REF

  • Magill, Frank N. ed. Cyclopedia of World Authors. 5 vols. Rev. 3rd ed. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 1997.
    PN 451 .M36 1997 REF

    Includes list of works listed by genre and secondary bibliography.

  • Magill, Frank N. ed. Great Women Writers: The Lives and Works of 135 of the World's Most Important Women Writers, from Antiquity to the Present. New York: Henry Holt, 1994.
    PN 471 .G74 1994 REF

    Includes list of principal long fiction, other literary forms, achievements, biography, analysis, other major works, and bibliography.

  • Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Short Story Writers, Philosophers, and Other Creative Writers Who Died between 1800 and 1899, from the First Published Critical Appraisals to Current Evaluations. Detroit: Gale, 1981- .
    PN 761 .N5x REF

  • Poetry Criticism. Detroit: Gale, 1991- .
    PS 303 .P63 REF

    Covers the "most frequently discussed and studied poets in high school and undergraduate college courses." Various nationalities, eras, and movements in each volume. Annotated bibliography of additional sources.

  • Short Story Criticism. Vols. 1-32. Detroit: Gale, 1988-1999.
    PN 3373 .S386 REF

    Major short story writers from all eras and nationalities. Gives overviews of major criticism.

  • Tucker, Martin, ed. Literary Exile in the Twentieth Century: An Analysis and Biographical Dictionary. New York: Greenwood, 1991.
    PN 495 .L43 1991 MORGAN

  • Twentieth Century Literary Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Short Story Writers, Philosophers, and Other Creative Writers Who Died between 1900 and 1960, from the First Published Critical Appraisals to Current Evaluations. Detroit: Gale, 1978- .
    PN 94 .T8x REF

  • Writer's Directory. New York: St. James.
    PS 1 .W73 REF DESK (latest year)

    Living writers who write in English. Good resource for list of publications.

See Finding Literary Criticism in Books for identifying book-length books of criticism on authors or their works.

How to Do Library Research

English Language & Literature

Content: Naomi Lederer