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Library Subject Guides

Literary Biography

A Selective Guide to the Library's Resources on This Subject

For Research Assistance:  Ask a Librarian
Subject Headings
These subject headings may be used to locate books in the Pellissippi Library Catalog and the netLibrary eBook collection.

Call numbers for browsing
Use this call number to browse the circulating and reference collections: 

Databases
For a complete list of databases:  Databases A-Z

Academic OneFile - The premier source for peer-reviewed, full-text articles from the world's leading journals and reference sources. With extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects, Academic OneFile is both authoritative and comprehensive.

Discovering Collection -a comprehensive cross-curricular source containing thousands of full-text entries on a broad range of topics.

Literature Resource Center - Full-text biographical and critical resources on 2000 of the most-studied authors.

Oxford Reference Online - Oxford Reference Online brings together 100 language and subject dictionaries and other reference works into a single cross-searchable resource.  Subject areas include language, general reference, humanities, social sciences, business & professional, and science & medicine.

Poetry for Students - A quick but information-rich reference source, each volume of Poetry for Students provides analysis of approximately 20 poems that teachers and librarians have identified as the most frequently studied in literature courses.

Short Stories for Students -  contains concise synopses of the story's plot, characters and themes, along with a brief author biography, a discussion of the story's cultural and historical significance and excerpted criticism geared specifically towards the high school student. Researchers will also find information on media adaptations of the story, discussion questions and suggestions on what to read next. Cumulative indexes enable students to access entries via author, title, nationality and theme.

Wilson Biographies Plus  Illustrated (online) offers over 72,000 narrative profiles of figures from antiquity to the present.
It also includes more than 26,000 images with new ones added regularly.  The database provides links to biographical coverage in over 4,000 periodicals.


NOTE: You may access online databases from off-campus computers by entering your general computer account username and password (used for PSTCC e-mail). NOTE: Enter your username in this format example: s_jmdoe. It is not necessary to add "@pstcc.edu" for this application.


Journals and Magazines
The following journals are available at the Pellissippi library in the Reference area. Many journals now have websites, providing the table of contents and access to selected articles in the current printed journal. Many include additional information and resources in certain subjects.
  • American Literature 
  • Contemporary Literature 
  • Explicator 

Reference Books
African American Writers. Smith, consulting editor: Buckler and Litz, general editors. New York: Scribner's, 2001. 2 volumes. REF PS 153 .N5 .A344 2001  Articles provide an introduction to the work of African American writers. Articles begin with a short biography followed by a survey of the writer's works and an assessment of works as a whole. Provides a bibliography of biographical and critical works.

American Women Writers: A critical reference guide from colonial times to the present. Mainero, ed. New York: Ungar, 1979-82. REF PS 147 .A4 Bio-bibliographical essays with some critical comment on American women writers of all periods.

American Writers: A collection of literary biographies. Ungar, ed. New York: Scribner's, 1974-. REF PS 129 .A55 1974 Selected authors are represented in a signed essay providing an introduction to the writer's life and work.

British Writers. Ian Scott-Kilvert, ed. New York: Scribner's , 1974-81. 8 volumes and supplement. REF PR 85 .B688 Similar to American Writers.

Contemporary Authors: a bio-bibliographical guide to current authors and their works and Contemporary Authors: New revision series. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1962- . REF Z 1224 .C6 Emphasis is on authors of published books but also encompasses the prominent in newspapers, television, and other media. Coverage is of writers living or deceased since 1900 who are of literary interest in today's college curriculum. Use the Cumulative Index to find entries in the Contemporary Authors Series. (also available in Literature Resource Center online database listed above.)

Dictionary of Literary Biography. Myerson, ed. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1978- . Volume 1- . REF PR 19 .D5 Each volume contains biographical-bibliographical essays of major writers and an overview for a particular area of literature. Each volume has a cumulative index to the preceding volumes. The Contemporary Authors cumulative index (REF Z 1224 .C6 Index) indexes this entire series. (Also available in Literature Resource Center online database listed above.)

The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature. Jay Parini, ed. in chief. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. REF PS21. E537 2004. Includes discussion of authors, texts, and literary movements.

Web Resources

Online Literary Criticism Collection - Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/) - contains 3810 critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period.