Encyclopedias & Handbooks  ::  Historical Reference Books :: Biographical Sources :: Criticism :: Databases :: Websites

Use this guide to find biographical information on authors, historical reference, and critical sources on their works.  
Begin by searching the Online Catalog .

To find works BY an author  HEMINGWAY, ERNEST   click on AUTHOR

To find works ABOUT an author HEMINGWAY, ERNEST   click on SUBJECT

ENCYCLOPEDIAS & HANDBOOKS

Help you identify authors and define terms.

Encyclopedia Britannica
REF AE 5 E363

Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century
REF PN 771 .E5

A Glossary of Literary Terms
REF PN   41 .A184

Granger's Index to Poetry (locates poems in collections)
REF PN 1022 .G7

NTC'S Dictionary of Literary Terms
REF PN 44.5 .M58

Oxford Companion to American Literature
REF PS 21 H3

Oxford Companion to English Literature
REF PR 19 D73

Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
REF PN 1021 E5

HISTORICAL REFERENCE BOOKS

Provide information about the time in which the author lived.

Chronicle of the 20th Century
REF D 422 .C57 1987

Chronicle of the World
REF D11 .C56 1989

Columbia Literary History of the United States
REF PS 92 .C64

Concise Dictionary of American History
REF E 174 .A45

Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography
REF PS 129 C66

Day by Day
REF D 427 L4

A Literary History of the American West
REF PS 271 .L58

The Timetables of American History
REF E 18.7 U75

The Timetables of History
REF D 11 G78

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

Tell you about the author's life.

American Women Writers
REF PS 147 .A4

American Writers
REF PS 129 .A55

British Writers
REF PR 85 .B688

Contemporary Authors
REF PN 466 C59

Contemporary Authors New Revision Series
REF PN 466 C598

Contemporary Poets
REF PR 603 .C6 1985

Dictionary of Literary Biography
REF PS 21 .D5

European Writers
REF PN 501 .E9

Hispanic Writers
REF PQ 7081.3 H58

Something About the Author
REF PN 451 S6

Twentieth Century Authors
REF PN 771 K86

World Authors
REF PN 451 W3

CRITICISM

Contain critiques and analyses of literary works.

1300 Critical Evaluations of Selected Novels and Plays
REF PN 44 .M335

20th Century Literary Criticism:   A Reader
PN 94 .L6

Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism
REF PN 88 C552

Contemporary Literary Criticism
REF PN 771 C59
(Gives excerpts of criticisms of creative works of living authors and those who have died since 1960 .)

Critical Survey of Long Fiction
REF PN 3451 .C7

Critical Survey of Poetry
REF PN 111 C7

Critical Survey of Short Fiction
REF PN 3321 .C7

Critical Temper
REF PR 83 .C764

Drama Criticism
REF PN 1601 D59

Literary Criticism: Plato to Dryden
PN 1035 .G5

Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800
REF PN 86 L56

Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism
REF PN 761 N56

Poetry Criticism
REF PN 1010 .P499

Poetry Explication
REF PR 502 .K8 1980

Short Story Criticism
REF PN 3373 S389

Twentieth Century Literary Criticism
REF PN 771 T86
(Critical excerpts on authors of all types of fiction who died between 1900 and 1960.)

DATABASES

See databases located at http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/library/databases/artlit.html or use the following to start with:

Gale's Literary Index   
Indexes literary criticism and biography series published by Gale Research.   The titles of these series are included on this library guide and shelved in Reference.

Literature Resource Center-LRC
Literature Resource Center provides access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of authors from every age and literary discipline. Combining Gale Group's core literary databases in a single online service, the Literature Resource Center covers more than 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, and other writers, with in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most-studied authors.

WEBSITES