Need to find a playwright? In Literature Resource Center, perform an Advanced Search for drama in Subject. Click Biographies at the top of the results list. In the right-hand column, FILTER RESULTS by Publication Title. Now select the Dictionary of Literary Biography and Apply the filter.
If desired, filter your results once more by Publication Title. Note DLB volumes including:
Click here to see a list of printed DLB drama volumes held in the Reference Stacks, 1st floor (Gitenstein Library).
Use this guide to find scholarly books, journal articles, and reference works about American and English drama. Questions? Use my contact information in the left-hand column (scroll down) to schedule your research consultation.
These reference works offer biographical essays about dramatists, the publishing history of plays, and/or bibliographies—sometimes annotated—of primary (e.g., author interviews) and secondary sources.
A companion is a "a handbook intended to be used in connection with the study of a particular subject or field" (ODLIS). Companions provide introductory essays and topic overviews. I especially recommend titles in the Cambridge Companions to Literature series, several of which I have listed below.
A handbook is a "single-volume reference book of compact size that provides concise factual information on a specific subject, organized systematically for quick and easy access" (ODLIS).
A dictionary is a "single-volume or multivolume reference work containing brief explanatory entries for terms and topics related to a specific subject or field of inquiry, usually arranged alphabetically. The entries in a dictionary are usually shorter than those contained in an encyclopedia on the same subject..." (ODLIS).
An encyclopedia is " book or numbered set of books containing authoritative summary information about a variety of topics in the form of short essays, usually arranged alphabetically by headword or classified in some manner. An entry may be signed or unsigned, with or without illustrations or a list of references for further reading" (ODLIS).