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This new title brings together overviews and detailed essays of two categories of writers — Native Americans who celebrate the significant contribution that the native peoples have made to the history, culture and growth of the United States, and writers who represent the reality and bold spirit of the American West.

An indispensible guide to over 400 authors, with in-depth analyses of their significant works of fiction, drama, nonfiction, young adult literature, and poetry.

First published in 1988, this book contains entries on famous American Humorists. Humor has been present in American literature, from the beginning, and has developed characteristics that reflect the American character, both regional and national. Although American literature was, in the past, treated as inferior to British literature, there has always been a large popular audience for the genre, which this book shows. The figures with entries in this encyclopedia not only amuse in their writing, but also aim to enlighten- setting out to expose the foibles and foolishness of society and the individuals who compose it. It is the manner in which these authors try to accomplish this end that determines whether they appear in the volume. Indeed, the book will demonstrate that the best humor has at its base, a ready understanding of human nature.

The South Carolina Encyclopedia Guide to South Carolina Writers expands the range of writers included in the landmark South Carolina Encyclopedia. This guide updates the entries on writers featured in the original encyclopedia and augments that list substantially with dozens of new essays on additional authors from the late eighteenth century to the present who have contributed to the Palmetto State's distinctive literary heritage.Each profile in this concise reference includes essential biographical facts and critical assessments to place the featured writers in the larger context of South Carolina's literary tradition. The guide comprises 128 entries written by more than sixty-nine literary scholars, and it also highlights the sixty-nine writers inducted thus far into the South Carolina Academy of Authors, which serves as the state's literary hall of fame. Rich in natural beauty and historic complexity, South Carolina has long been a source of inspiration for writers. The talented novelists, essayists, poets, playwrights, journalists, historians, and other writers featured here represent the countless individuals who have shared tales and lore of South Carolina.The guide includes a foreword by George Singleton, author of two novels, four short story collections and one nonfiction book, and a 2010 inductee of the South Carolina Academy of Authors.

This four-volume set covers American authors from many periods and genres, building a broad understanding of the various contexts - from the biographical to the literary to the historical - in which literature can be viewed. The Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of American Literature allows a reader to analyze an author's work as a reflection of the heritage, traditions and experiences of the author's personal life and the beliefs, events, and lifestyles of the United States at the time, given such context as: Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs was interested in eugenics -- the study of methods to improve the human gene pool, and the same'science'that Hitler used to try to legitimize the Holocaust. Known mostly for her portrayal of her mental health issues, Sylvia Plath was also a feminist writer who channeled her frustration as a woman with a career during the conservative, post-World War II society. Ralph Waldo Emerson was instrumental in building an American culture of literature and arts distinct from the'parent culture'of England and Europe. The nearly 500 entries also identify the significant literary devices and global themes that define a writer's style and place the author in a larger literary tradition as chronicled and evaluated by critics over time. For example: Kurt Vonnegut Jr. repeatedly featured characters in his fiction who fall into self-doubt when they lose work or social standing as his father did in the Depression and those who struggle with mental illness just as his mother did. The theme of the individual adrift in a corrupt and phony world in J. D. Salinger's fiction is said to have been influenced by his own experiences growing up and by F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Critical thinking and activity prompts, in addition to images, further enhance the reader's own personal response to American literature.

At a time when the environment is of growing concern to students and general readers, nature writing is especially meaningful. This book profiles the literary careers of 52 early American nature writers, such as John James Audubon, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Caroline Stansbury Kirkland, Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, and Mabel Osgood Wright. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and discusses the writer's life and works. Entries close with primary and secondary bibliographies, and the encyclopedia ends with suggestions for further reading.Global warming, pollution, and other issues have made the environment a topic of constant discussion these days. Many environmental concerns were treated by early American nature writers, who recognized the beauty of the natural world in an age of commercial expansion. Some of the most famous writers of the 18th and 19th centuries wrote about nature, and their works are stylistic masterpieces. At a time when students are being encouraged to read and write about nonfiction, these masterworks of early American nature writing are all the more important. This book gives students and general readers a welcome introduction to early American nature writers.

This new edition of Southern Writers assumes its distinguished predecessor's place as the essential reference on literary artists of the American South. Broadly expanded and thoroughly revised, it boasts 604 entries-nearly double the earlier edition's-written by 264 scholars. For every figure major and minor, from the venerable and canonical to the fresh and innovative, a biographical sketch and chronological list of published works provide comprehensive, concise, up-to-date information. Here in one convenient source are the South's novelists and short story writers, poets and dramatists, memoirists and essayists, journalists, scholars, and biographers from the colonial period to the twenty-first century.What constitutes a'southern writer'is always a matter for debate. Editors Joseph M. Flora and Amber Vogel have used a generous definition that turns on having a significant connection to the region, in either a personal or literary sense. New to this volume are younger writers who have emerged in the quarter century since the dictionary's original publication, as well as older talents previously unknown or unacknowledged. For almost every writer found in the previous edition, a new biography has been commissioned.Drawn from the very best minds on southern literature and covering the full spectrum of its practitioners, Southern Writers is an indispensable reference book for anyone intrigued by the subject.

African-American authors have consistently explored the political dimensions of literature and its ability to affect social change.

A companion title to 100 Most Popular Young Adult Authors, this book features another 100 biographical sketches and biographies of popular young adult authors. In addition to authors that did not appear in the first volume, dozens of fresh voices that have emerged in the field of young adult literature have been included. Carefully reviewed by a number of distinguished young adult literature experts, this book presents a treasure trove of information, a wealth of different genres, and is a one-stop guide to some of the best-loved authors in today's teen literature. Includes: David Almond, Maya Angelou, T. A. Barron, Joseph Bruchac, Sandra Cisneros, Linda Crew, Sarah Dessen, Carl Deuker, Nancy Farmer, Will Hobbs, Lensey Namioka, Naomi Shihab Nye, Philip Pullman, J. K. Rowling, Louis Sachar, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Paul Yee, and many more! Grades 6-12.

Explores the rich tradition of American ethnic writers and the ways in which they have expressed their sense of identity through literature, both fiction and nonfiction.

A guide based on a 1997 survey of popular children's book authors provides biographical sketches and selected bibliographies for such writers as Beverly Cleary, Lois Lawry, Lewis Carroll, Mary Downing Hahn, and C.S. Lewis.

Reader's Guide Literature in English provides expert guidance to, and critical analysis of, the vast number of books available within the subject of English literature, from Anglo-Saxon times to the current American, British and Commonwealth scene. It is designed to help students, teachers and librarians choose the most appropriate books for research and study.

The book focuses on individuals writing in the'90s, but also includes 12 classic authors (e.g., Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, J.R.R. Tolkien) who are still widely read by teens. It also covers some authors known primarily for adult literature (e.g., Stephen King) and some who write mainly for middle readers but are also popular among young adults (e.g., Betsy Byars). An affordable alternative to multivolume publications, this book makes a great collection development tool and resource for author studies. It will also help readers find other books by and about their favorite writers.