Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB)
Need help choosing an author of short stories to research? In Literature Resource Center, perform an Advanced Search. Copy/paste the following into the first blank search box: "short story" OR "short stories". Choose Subject from the drop-down. Now click the blue Search button to execute your search. Click Biographies at the top of your results list. In the right-hand column, FILTER RESULTS by Publication Title. Finally, check the box next to the Dictionary of Literary Biography and Apply the filter.
If desired, filter results once more by Publication Title. Note the most relevant DLB volumes including:
- American Short-Story Writ. Since World War II
- British and Irish Short-Fiction Writers, 1945-2000
- British Short-Fiction Writers [1800-1980]
Click here to see a list of printed DLB short story volumes, Reference Stacks, 1st floor (Gitenstein Library).
Humanities Librarian
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5787-2609Introduction
Use this guide to find scholarly books, journal articles, and reference works about the American and English short story. Also use this guide for help citing your sources in the MLA Style.
Questions? Use my contact information in the left-hand column (below) to schedule your research consultation.
Selected Titles
These reference works provide biographical essays about short story writers, authors' publishing histories, and/or bibliographies—often annotated—of primary (e.g., author interviews) and secondary sources.
Featured:
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 the 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 the "Major Awards" and winners.
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 entries. Profiles over 40 short story writers: Advanced Search > Occupations > Writing and publishing > prose fiction > short-story writer.
Most up-to-date:
African American Short Story Writers (College Support Series) by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781429840170Publication Date: 2017
Colonial [Postcolonial] Short Story Writers (College Support Series) by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781429839785Publication Date: 2017
Minimalist Short Story Writers (College Support Series) by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781429840026Publication Date: 2017
Short Story Writers on Gay and Lesbian Issues (College Support Series) by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781429840057Publication Date: 2017
Also great:
Asian American Short Story Writers: An A-to-Z Guide by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0313322295Publication Date: 2003-06-30also available in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # PS153.A84 A828 2003
Critical Survey of Short Fiction ( 2nd rev. ed. in 7 vols.) by Call Number: PN3321 .C7 2001ISBN: 0893560065Publication Date: 2001-01-01All seven volumes are also available online from Internet Archive (archive.org).
Short Story Writers [in 3 vols.] by Call Number: PN3373 .S398 1997ISBN: 0893569518Publication Date: 1997-01-01vol. 2, Nikolai Gogol -- Edna O'Brien, is available online from Internet Archive (archive.org)
Companions:
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.
The Cambridge Companion to the English Short Story by Call Number: PR829 .C18 2016ISBN: 9781107084179Publication Date: 2016-06-06
The Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0231110987Publication Date: 2001-03-08also available in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # PS374.S5 C57 2000
The Edinburgh Companion to the Short Story in English by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 1474400655Publication Date: 2018-12-05
The Facts on File Companion to the American Short Story by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0816044376Publication Date: 2000-09-01also available in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # PS374.S5 F33 2000
The Facts on File Companion to the British Short Story by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0816074968Publication Date: 2007-01-01
A Reader's Companion to the Short Story in English by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0313291047Publication Date: 2000-12-30also available in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # PS374.S5 R43 2001
Encyclopedia:
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" (ibid.).
Encyclopedia of the British Short Story by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 1438140703Publication Date: 2013
Handbooks:
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" (ibid.).
The American Short Story Handbook by Call Number: Coming Fall 2022ISBN: 9780470655429Publication Date: 2015-03-02
The British and Irish Short Story Handbook by Call Number: PR829 .M35 2012ISBN: 9781444330465Publication Date: 2012-03-12
Masterplots (4th ed. in 12 vols.) by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781587655685Publication Date: 2011-01-30"Masterplots... retains the original purpose of the Masterplots concept: providing fundamental reference data, plot synopses where applicable, and critical evaluations of a comprehensive selection of English-language and world literature that has been translated into English. The [synopsis and analytical] essays are in alphabetical order by title, and each includes an annotated bibliography to aid readers in further study" (Salem Press). This set covers drama, long fiction, short fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.
Masterplots, 2010-2018 Supplement (4th ed. in 2 vols.) by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781642650327Publication Date: 2019-05-30"The Supplement critically evaluates 187 major examples of serious fiction, published in English from 2010 to 2018, from writers in the United States and around the world" (Salem Press).
