Selected Reference Books for Researching Literary Voices
Biography-Bibliography:
These reference works provide scholarly background information about an author and/or lists of an author's primary works. Bibliographies also list secondary sources written by critics and scholars about authors and their primary works.
A Guide to Jewish Themes in American Fiction, 1940-1980 by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0810813807Publication Date: 1981-02-01This reference work is quite dated but could still be useful to researchers undertaking projects based on primary literary sources published during the mid-twentieth century. Also available in print, Reference Collection, Call # PS374.J48 B53 1981.- Twentieth-Century American-Jewish Fiction Writers [Dictionary of Literary Biography] by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0810317060Publication Date: 1984-05-25"Contains alphabetically arranged entries that provide career biographies of fifty-one American-Jewish fiction writers active during the twentieth century; each with a list of principal works and a bibliography." Also available in print, Reference Collection, Call # PS129 .D47 v. 28.
Companions and Handbooks:
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.
The Cambridge Companion to Jewish American Literature by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0521792932Publication Date: 2003-06-12also available in print, General Collection, Call # PS153.J4 C36 2003
Jewish American Literature: A Guide to Reading Interests by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 156308984XPublication Date: 2004-10-30also available in print, General Collection, Call # PS153.J4 R45 2004
Encyclopedias:
An encyclopedia is "a 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 illustration or a list of references for further reading" (ODLIS).
Encyclopedia of Jewish-American Literature by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781438140612Publication Date: 2013 (2nd ed.)
Biography-Bibliography:
These reference works provide scholarly background information about an author and/or lists of an author's primary works. Bibliographies also list secondary sources written by critics and scholars about authors and their primary works.
Contemporary Gay American Novelists: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0313280193Publication Date: 1993-01-30This dated bibliography reveals works published during the mid-to-late twentieth century. Also available in print, Reference Collection, Call # PS374.H63 C66 1993.
Contemporary Lesbian Writers of the United States by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0313282153Publication Date: 1993-10-30This book incorporates discussions of authors who write for children and young adults such as Lesléa Newman, author of Heather Has Two Mommies (c. 1989). Also available in print, Reference Collection, Call # PS153.L46 C65 1993
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Literature: A Genre Guide by Call Number: PS153.G38 B67 2008ISBN: 9781591581949Publication Date: 2008-06-30see especially Chapter 6, Coming Out
Companions and Handbooks:
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.
The Ashgate Research Companion to Queer Theory by Call Number: HQ76.25 .A83 2009ISBN: 9780754671350Publication Date: 2009-12-28
The Cambridge Companion to American Gay and Lesbian Literature by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781107046498Publication Date: 2015-05-26also available in print, General Collection, Call # PS153.G38 C36 2015
The Cambridge Companion to Gay and Lesbian Writing by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0521888441Publication Date: 2010-11-25also available in print, General Collection, Call # PN56.H57 C37 2011
A Companion to Gender Studies by Call Number: HQ1075 .C656 2005ISBN: 0631221093Publication Date: 2004-10-08
Encyclopedias:
An encyclopedia is "a 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 illustration or a list of references for further reading" (ODLIS).
The Oscar Wilde Encyclopedia by Call Number: PR5823 .B34 1998ISBN: 0404614981Publication Date: 1998-01-01
Biography-Bibliography:
These reference works provide scholarly background information about an author and/or lists of an author's primary works. Bibliographies also list secondary sources written by critics and scholars about authors and their primary works.
- Native American Writers of the United States [Dictionary of Literary Biography] by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0810399385Publication Date: 1997-03-17also available in print, Reference Collection, Call # PS129 .D47 v.175
Native North American Literature: Biographical and Critical Information on Native Writers and Orators from the United States and Canada from Historical Times to the Present by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0810398982Publication Date: 1994-11-01also available in print, Reference Collection, Call # PS508.I5 N38 1994
Companions and Handbooks:
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.
The Cambridge Companion to Native American Literature by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0521822831Publication Date: 2005-07-21also available in print, General Collection, Call # PS153.I52 C36 2005
The Routledge Companion to Native American Literature by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781138020603Publication Date: 2015-10-26"Of the several European powers that came to the New World in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century, it was the Spanish who encountered indigenous civilizations so sophisticated, complex, and advanced that they rivaled and in many ways surpassed the European civilizations to which they were compared" (Chapter 1, "Indigenous American Literature: The Inter-American Hemispheric Perspective").
Encyclopedias:
An encyclopedia is "a 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 illustration or a list of references for further reading" (ODLIS).
Encyclopedia of American Indian Literature by Call Number: PS153.I52 E53 2007ISBN: 0816056560Publication Date: 2007-06-01- Native American Literatures: An Encyclopedia of Works, Characters, Authors, and Themes by Call Number: PS153.I52 W47 1999ISBN: 0874369320Publication Date: 1999-03-24
Biography-Bibliography:
These reference works provide scholarly background information about an author and/or lists of an author's primary works. Bibliographies also list secondary sources written by critics and scholars about authors and their primary works.
A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 9781400041237Publication Date: 2009-02-24also available in print, General Collection, Call # PS147 .S46 2009
Notable American Women Writers by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781642654233Publication Date: 2020-02-01
African American women:
Black Women of the Harlem Renaissance Era by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780810885424Publication Date: 2014-10-16
Hispanic American women:
Bibliographic Guide to Chicana and Latina Narrative by Call Number: PS153.M4 L46 2003ISBN: 0313319871Publication Date: 2003-08-30
Companions and Handbooks:
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.
American women:
The Cambridge Companion to African American Women's Literature by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780521858885Publication Date: 2009-04-30also available in print, General Collection, Call # PS153.N5 C343 2009
The Cambridge Companion to Nineteenth-Century American Women's Writing by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0521669758Publication Date: 2001-11-15also available in print, General Collection, Call # PS147 .C36 2001
English (British) women:
The Cambridge Companion to Early Modern Women's Writing by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780521885270Publication Date: 2009-10-08also available in print, General Collection, Call # PR113 .C36 2009
The Cambridge Companion to Women's Writing in Britain, 1660-1789 by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781107600980Publication Date: 2015-04-20also available in print, General Collection, Call # PR448.W65 C36 2015
The Cambridge Companion to Women's Writing in the Romantic Period by Call Number: PR111 .C36 2015ISBN: 9781107016682Publication Date: 2015-03-12
The Cambridge Companion to Victorian Women's Writing by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781107064843Publication Date: 2015-10-15also available in print, General Collection, Call # PR115 .C36 2015
Multiple nationalities:
The Cambridge Companion to Modernist Women Writers [1890-1945] by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780521515054Publication Date: 2010-09-23also available in print, General Collection, Call # PN56.M54 C365 2010
Companion to Women's Historical Writing by Call Number: PR756.H57 C66 2005ISBN: 1403915083Publication Date: 2005-11-25
Encyclopedias:
An encyclopedia is "a 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 illustration or a list of references for further reading" (ODLIS).
Encyclopedia of Feminist Literature by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0816060401Publication Date: 2006-05-01also available in print, Reference Collection, Call # PN471 .S58 2006
Encyclopedia of Women's Autobiography by Call Number: HQ1185 .E63 2005ISBN: 0313327378Publication Date: 2005-08-30
African American women:
Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0313334293Publication Date: 2007-01-01also available in print, Reference Collection, Call # PS153.N5 E49 2007
Writing African American Women: An Encyclopedia of Literature by and about Women of Color by Call Number: PS153.N5 W756 2006ISBN: 0313331960Publication Date: 2006-04-01
English (British) women:
Women Writers of Great Britain and Europe: An Encyclopedia by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0815323433Publication Date: 1997-03-01also available in print, Reference Collection, Call # PN471 .W565 1997
American Authors (General):
American Ethnic Writers by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0893561576Publication Date: 2000-11-01- American Literary Scholarship by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-JOURNAL [online] + PS3 .A47 [print]Publication Date: 1963-date (latest vol. 2017)The bibliographic essays found in these volumes tackle recent scholarship (secondary criticism) written about major authors (e.g., Hawthorne), literary genres and periods (e.g., Fiction: 1900 to the 1930s). Highly recommended.
American National Biography by Call Number: CT213 .A68 1999ISBN: 0195206355Publication Date: 1999-01-21The ANB is the go-to reference work for finding credible information about the lives of significant persons in American history. Locate Americans by "occupations and realms of renown" such as Animal Rights Activists, Black Nationalists, Civil Rights Leaders, Gay Rights Activists, Social Reformers, Suffragists, and many other occupations. Brief but highly useful bibliographic essays accompany each entry. These point researchers to the most important secondary biographies but also to repositories of collected papers and other primary source ephemera.
American Writers by Call Number: PS129 .A55ISBN: 0684197855Publication Date: 1996-09-23"The 4-vol. main set consists of 97 of the pamphlets originally published as the University of Minnesota pamphlets on American writers; some have been rev. and updated. The supplements cover writers not included in the original series."
English (British) Authors:
British Writers by Call Number: PR85 .B688ISBN: 0684157985Publication Date: 1979-01-01In 7 vols. with index; dated but still potentially useful biographies of British writers from John Donne to George Orwell
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 019861411XPublication Date: 2004-09-23The ODNB is the standard reference work for British biography. Extensive bibliographic essays accompany many of the biographical entries. Also available in print, Reference Collection, 1st floor of TCNJ Library (call # DA28 .O95 2004).
World Authors:
- The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0521831792Publication Date: 2006-01-26also available in print, Reference Collection, Call # PR85 .C29 2006
Critical Survey of Drama (3rd ed. in 8 vols.) by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781682176221Publication Date: 2017-11-30This updated 3rd. edition (c2017) should prove useful as a starting point for your drama research. Find here biographies of 550 dramatists and nearly 100 overview essays on the dramatic tradition in countries and regions around the world. Intriguing chapter titles such as Renaissance Drama, Postcolonial Theater, Islamic Drama, West Indian Drama, and Gay and Lesbian Theater, among others, reveal important dramatists and their plays. Bibliographies accompany most essays, whether biographical or overview. The preceding (2nd) edition is available in print, Reference Collection, call # PN1625 .C68 2003.
Critical Survey of Short Fiction: World Writers by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781587657993Publication Date: 2012-12-30"This volume examines writers from a wide range of countries, including Argentina’s Jorge Luis Borges, China’s Ha Jin, India’s Salman Rushdie, and Russia’s Alexander Pushkin. New writers include Japan’s Haruki Murakami, Jamaican writer Michelle Cliff, and Peru’s Daniel Alarcon" (Salem Press). The back half of this book includes a chapter on Terms and Techniques; a lengthy bibliography with sections dedicated to world regions from African Short Fiction through South Korean Short Fiction; a Guide to Online Resources; a Time Line and Chronological List of world short fiction writers; and a list of Major Award winners.
A Dictionary of Writers and their Works (3 ed.) by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780199585052Publication Date: 2015
- The Modern Library, 1925-1959The Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia
open access
American Authors:
General:
The Oxford Companion to American Literature by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0195065484Publication Date: 1995-10-12
Regional:
The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the American South by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781107036789Publication Date: 2013-08-19also available in print, General Collection, Call # PS261 .C336 2013
A Companion to the Regional Literatures of America by Call Number: PS169.R45 C66 2003ISBN: 0631226311Publication Date: 2003-07-09
The Oxford Handbook of the Literature of the U. S. South by Call Number: PS261 .O94 2016ISBN: 9780199767472Publication Date: 2016-02-04
English (British) Authors:
The Cambridge Companion to British Black and Asian Literature, (1945-2010) by Call Number: PR120.B55 C36 2016ISBN: 9781107139244Publication Date: 2016-10-19
The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of London by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780521897525Publication Date: 2011-08-18also available in print, General Collection, Call # PR8471 .C36 2011
A Companion to British Literature (in 4 vols.) by Call Number: PR85 .C61 2014ISBN: 9780470656044Publication Date: 2014-02-10
World Authors:
The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780199214921Publication Date: 2007-10-08
The Oxford Companion to English Literature by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780192806871Publication Date: 2009-11-23
The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Literature in English by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0192122711Publication Date: 1996-10-31also available in print, Reference Collection, Call # PR471 .O94 1996
American Authors:
General:
Encyclopedia of American War Literature by Call Number: PS169.W27 E53 2001ISBN: 0313306486Publication Date: 2000-11-30
Encyclopedia of the Environment in American Literature by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780786465415Publication Date: 2013-02-22
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature by Call Number: PS153.M56 G74 2005ISBN: 031333059XPublication Date: 2005-10-01
The HarperCollins Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature by Call Number: PS21 .B46 2002ISBN: 006019815XPublication Date: 2002-04-01
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0195156536Publication Date: 2004-01-29
Southern States:
Encyclopedia of Southern Literature by Call Number: PS261 .S515 1997ISBN: 0874369525Publication Date: 1997-12-01
English (British) Authors:
- The Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature by Call Number: PR19 .C66 2003ISBN: 0826414567Publication Date: 2003-04-25
Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English by Call Number: PR9080.A52 E53 2005ISBN: 0415278856Publication Date: 2005-04-07
Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0195169212Publication Date: 2006-03-03
- Literary Reference (start here)My top recommendations for American and English (U.K.) literature, literary chronologies, criticism and theory, dictionaries
- Literary VoicesAfrican American, Asian American, Hispanic American, Jewish American, LGBT, Native American, women authors, and more
Reference Databases
Best bets:
- Literature Online (LION) Gitenstein Library database One of the major draws of this databases is that it provides access to over 300 volumes in the Cambridge Companions series. Incorporates dictionaries, encyclopedias, and author biographies.
- Literature Resource Center Gitenstein Library database Access Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism, and Dictionary of Literary Biography. Use the Gale Literary Index (link at the bottom of the database's homepage) to find more information about authors in printed Gale literary series. Looking for reviews? LRC is also a good review source.
- Oxford Reference Online Gitenstein Library database literary reference works searchable via a single interface
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography by
The ODNB is the standard reference work for British biography. Extensive bibliographic essays accompany many entries. Also available in print, Reference Collection, 1st floor of TCNJ Library (call # DA28 .O95 2004).
Call Number: E-BOOKISBN: 019861411XPublication Date: 2004-09-23
The Oxford English Dictionary by
(1150 CE- ) Documents the history of words in the English language including variant spellings, obsolete forms, combinations, derivatives, and definitions. More limited coverage of scientific and technical vocabulary, slang, jargon, and dialect. Meanings are arranged historically. Includes quotations from novelists, playwrights, journalists, scholars, scientists, legislators, politicians, diarists, saints, philosophers. Includes the full text of the 1989 Second Edition (20 printed volumes) and the 1993-1997 addition series (3 printed volumes). Advance release material for the projected 2010 New (Third) Edition is incorporated quarterly.
Call Number: E-BOOKISBN: 0198611862Publication Date: 1989-03-30
