Resources for study both within and outside the British Library, selected by our experts.
Electronic resources
- On the Web
Featured collections
Black Europeans (Online Gallery)
From the Manuscripts collection...
•Tambimuttu: The British Library holds a range of correspondence and papers relating to expatriate Sri Lankan poet and literary editor Thurairaja "Tambi" Tambimuttu. Some of this material can be discovered through the manuscripts catalogue by selecting an "Index Search" and entering Tambimuttu's name. Additional material is still being catalogued, but can be located by contacting Manuscripts staff.
•Other notable writers in English from around the world whose careers are well-represented in our Manuscripts department include Joseph Conrad, Nadine Gordimer, Rudyard Kipling, Katherine Mansfield, S. Menon Marath, Jean Rhys, Wole Soyinka, Rabindranath Tagore, Derek Walcott and Patrick White.
From the Sound Archive collection...
•African Writers' Club (BBC Africa Services Collection): Recordings made of African writers and artists including Chinua Achebe, John Okai, Robert Serumaga and Wole Soyinka, in connection with the radio series 'Writers' Club', c. 1960s. Catalogue number: C134
•Africa Centre: Recordings made of African writers, artists, and music groups, and international commentators including Peter Katjavivi, Mbulelo Mzamane, Loretta Ncobo, Alice Walker and Linton Kwesi Johnson, at the Africa Centre, Covent Garden, London, c. 1980s-2000s. Catalogue number: C48
•Canada House Readings: Recordings made of Canadian writers such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Alice Munro and Robertson Davies, at literary events in Canada House, London, c. 1980s. Catalogue number: C41
•Poetry International Festival: Author readings recorded at the Purcell Rooms, London, including writers Derek Walcott and Vikram Seth, c. early 1990s. Catalogue number: C492
•Poetry Olympics Festival: Recorded readings by performance poets Benjamin Zephaniah and Molefe Pheto, among many others, c. 1980s. Catalogue number: C92
•Royal Commonwealth Society: Recordings made at RCS of numerous writers and commentators from Commonwealth countries such as Ngugi wa Thiongo, Denis Healey, John Malcolm Fraser (ex-Prime Minister of Australia), Douglas Hurd and Sir Seretse Khama (ex-President of Botswana), c. 1970s-1980s. Catalogue number: C54
*Note that some of these recordings can now be accessed on the web through the Sound website pages (available at most UK higher and further education institutions and on-site at the British Library).
Electronic resources
Owing to licensing restrictions, most of these resources are only available at workstations in the British Library Reading Rooms.
See in particular:
ABELL - Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (Also within Literature Online)
AustLit: The resource for Australian literature
Canadian Poetry (Also within Literature Online)
Contemporary authors ( In Literature Resource Center)
Contemporary Literary Criticism Select (In Literature Resource Center)
LIFT - Literary journals Index Full Text (Also within Literature Online)
Electronic journals
See in particular:
Callaloo (See Literature Online for later editions)
Comparative Literature Studies
Contemporary Literature (1968-2002)
Contemporary Literature (2003+)
Critique (See Literature Online for later editions)
Diacritics (See Literature Online for later editions)
English Literature in Transition
Modern Fiction Studies (See Literature Online for later editions)
Papers on Language and Literature
Review of Contemporary Fiction
World Literature Today (See Literature Online for later editions)
Additional suggested journals are included in the select bibliography below.
On the Web - list of relevant sites freely available on the World Wide Web.
Bibliography
This select bibliography lists titles relevant to the study of literatures in English that are available at the British Library. A wide range of additional titles on this topic can be found by searching the Library's catalogues.
Please note that, in most cases, if the listed shelfmark commences with HLR, OIH, OIS or SPIS, the item will be held on the shelves in the Reading Rooms. Other items in the bibliography may be held elsewhere at St Pancras, or at one of our other facilities, and may need to be ordered from the catalogue.
Useful shelfmarks
These shelfmarks are for open access items (on the shelves) in Humanities 1 and the OIOC Reading Room.
HLR 700 Art
OIS 015.6 African bibliography
HLR 920 Biographies, dictionaries
OIS 015.68 South African Books in Print
HLR 950 Asian history
HLR 015.71 Canadian bibliography
HLR 960 African history, bibliography
HLR 015.93 New Zealand National Bibliography
OIB 960.016 African bibliographies
HLR 015.94 Australian National Bibliography
HLR 970 American history (incl. Canada,Latin America,Caribbean )
IOR India Office Records
HLR 015.5 Asian bibliography
OIS 920.06 African biography
OIS 015.5 Asian bibliography
OIS 920.016 Oriental and Indian bibliographies
General
Amoia, Alma and Knapp, Bettina L. (eds.). 2002. Multicultural writers from antiquity to 1945: a bio-bibliographical sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. [HLR 809]
Appiah, Kwame Anthony, et al (eds.). 1997. The dictionary of global culture. New York: Knopf. [HLR 306]
Benson, Eugene, and Conolly, L.W. (eds.). 2005 [2nd ed.]. Encyclopaedia of post-colonial literatures in English. London: Routledge. [HLR 820.99171]
Bolaffi, Guido (ed.). 2003. Dictionary of race, ethnicity, and culture. London; Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. [HLR 305.8]
Fallon, Eric, et al (eds.). 2001. A reader's companion to the short story in London: F. Dearborn. [HLR 809.31]
Fryer, Peter. 1984. The history of black people in Britain. London: Pluto. [HLR 305.896]
Gassner, John and Quinn, Edward (eds.). 1975. The reader's encyclopaedia of world drama. London: Methuen. [HLR 809.2]
Guinier, Lani and Torres, Gerald. 2002. The miner's canary: enlisting race, resisting power, transforming democracy. Cambridge, MS; London: Harvard University Press. [SPIS.323.173]
Hawkins-Dady, Mark (ed.). 1996. Reader's guide to literature in English. London: Fitzroy Dearborn. [HLR 820.9]
Hawley, John C. (ed.). 2001. Encyclopaedia of postcolonial studies. Westport, CT; London: Greenwood Press. [HLR 809.8917]
International who's who in poetry and poet's encyclopaedia. 1993/2001 [7th ed.]. Cambridge: International Biographical Centre. [HLR 809.1]
Ivison, Duncan. 2002. Postcolonial liberalism. London; New York: Cambridge University Press. [SPIS.320.51]
Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies. [4961.270000 DSC]
Journal of Commonwealth Literature. [p905/51]
Kinsman, Claire D (ed.). 1975- . Contemporary authors: a biobibliographical guide to current authors and their works. Detroit: Gale Research Company. [HLR 808.042]
Kirkpatrick. D.L. (ed.). 1991. Reference guide to English literature. Chicago; London: St. James. [HLR 820.9]
Kunapipi - Journal of Postcolonial Writing. [P.901/1743]
Leeming, David Adams (ed.). 1997. Storytelling encyclopaedia: historical, cultural and multiethnic approaches to oral traditions around the world. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press. [HLR 808.543]
Macdonald, Margaret Read (ed.). 1998. Traditional storytelling today: an international sourcebook. London: Fitzroy Dearborn. [HLR 808.543]
Magill, Frank, et al [eds.]. 1979. Magill's bibliography of literary criticism: selected sources for the study of more than 2,500 outstanding works of western literature. Epping: Bowker. [HLR 809]
Matlow, Myron. 1972. Modern world drama: an encyclopaedia. London: Secker & Warburg. [HLR 809.203]
Matthew, H.C.G. and Harrison, Brian (eds.). 2004. The Oxford dictionary of national biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [HLR 920.041]
Prendergast, Sara and Tom (eds.). 2003. Reference guide to world literature. Detroit; London: St. James. [HLR 809]
Riggs, Thomas (ed.). 1999. Reference guide to short fiction. Detroit; London: St. James Press. [HLR 809.31]
Schellinger, Paul, et al (eds.). 1998. Encyclopaedia of the novel. Chicago; London: Fitzroy Dearborn. [HLR 809.3]
Walker, Warren S. (compiler). 1977. Twentieth-century short story explication: interpretations 1900-1975, of short fiction since 1800. London: Bingley. [HLR 809.31]
Wynne-Davies, Marion (gen.ed.). 1995. Bloomsbury guide to English literature. London: Bloomsbury. [HLR 820.9]
Africa
Bute , E.L. 1997. The black handbook: the people, history, and politics of Africa and the African diaspora. London: Cassell. [HLR 305.896]
De Kock, W.J. (ed.-in-chief). 1968- . Dictionary of South African Biography. Cape Town: published for the National Council of Social Research by Nasionale Boekhandel. [HLR 920.068]
English Studies in Africa. (Journal) [PP.5094.aaf]
Gikande, Simon (ed.). 2002. Encyclopaedia of African literature. New York; London: Taylor & Francis. [OIS 809.896]
Herdeck, Donald Elmer, et al (ed.). 1974- . African authors: a companion to black African writing, 1300-1973. Washington, DC: Inscape Corporation. [HLR 809.8967]
Irele, Abiola. 2004. The Cambridge history of African and Caribbean writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [HLR 809]
Janheinz, Jahn. 1972. Who's who in African literature: biographies, works, commentaries. Tubingen: Horst, Erdmann, Verlag. [HLR 809.8967]
Janheinz, Jahn and Dressler, Claus Peter. 1975. Bibliography of creative African writing. New York: Kraus-Thomson. [HLR 808.89967]
Joyce, Peter. 1999. A concise dictionary of South African biography. Cape Town: Francolin Publishers. [HLR 920.068 OIS 920.068]
Killam, Douglas and Rowe, Ruth (eds.). 2000. The companion to African literatures. Oxford: James Currey. [OIS 820.996]
Limb, Peter and Volet, Jean-Marie. 1996. Bibliography of African literatures. Lanham, MD; London: Scarecrow. [OIS 808.89896]
Lindfors, Bernth. [Various eds.] 2003. Black African literature in English. Oxford: Hans Zell. [OIS 820.9967]
McIlwaine, John, et al. 1996. Writings on African archives. London: Hans Zell. [OIS 026.96]
Nugent, Paul. 2004. Africa since independence: a comparative history. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. [OIS 960.32]
Parekh, Pushpa Naidu and Jagne, Siga Fatima (eds.). 1998. Postcolonial African writers: a biobibliographical critical sourcebook. London: Fitzroy Dearborn. [OIS 809.896]
Pickhanick, J., et al (compilers). 1977. Rhodesian literature in English. Gwelo: Mambo Press. [HLR 820.9968]
Research in African Literatures. (Journal) [P.901/715]
Verwey, E.J. (ed.). 1995. New dictionary of South African biography. Pretoria: HSRC. [HLR 920.068 OIS 920.068]
Who's who of southern Africa . 1959- . Johannesburg; London: Argus. [HLR 920.068]
Zell, Hans (ed.). 2003. The African studies companion: a guide to information sources. Lochcarron: Hans Zell. [OIS 960.07]
Zell, Hans, et al (eds.). 1983. A new reader's guide to African literature. London: Heinemann. [OIS 809.896]
Zimbabwe national bibliography. 1979- . Harare: National Archives. [OIS 015.689]
Australia
Arnold, John and John Hay. 2001. The bibliography of Australian literature. Part 1, A-E. Kew, Vic: Australian Scholarly Publishing. [YA.2003.b.3090]
Australian Book Review. (Journal) [PP.8000.yz]
Australian Literary Studies. (Journal) [PP.8003.al]
Bennett, Bruce and Strauss, Jennifer (eds.). 1998. The Oxford literary history of Australia. Melbourne; Oxford: Oxford University Press. [HLR 820.9994]
Bourke, Colin, Eleanor Burke and Bill Edwards. 1998. Aboriginal Australia: an introductory reader in Aboriginal Studies. St Lucia , Qld: University of Queensland Press. [m00/43705]
Green, Henry Mackenzie. 1961. A history of Australian literature, pure and applied. Sydney: Angus & Robinson. [HLR 820.9994]
Journal of Australian Literature. [ZA.9.a.4434]
Locke, Fred and Lawson, Alan. 1977. Australian literature: a reference guide. Melbourne; London : Oxford University Press. [HLR 820.9994]
Kramer, Leonie, et al (eds.). 1981. The Oxford history of Australian literature. Melbourne; Oxford : Oxford University Press. [HLR 820.9994]
Shoemaker, Adam (1988) Black words, white page: Aboriginal Literature 1929-1988. St Lucia , Qld: UQP. [YA.1991.a.26612]
Wilde, William, et al. [2nd ed.] 1994. The Oxford companion to Australian literature. Melbourne; Oxford: Oxford University Press. [HLR 820.9994]
Canada
Benson, Eugene and Toye, William (gen. eds.). 1997. The Oxford companion to Canadian literature. Toronto , ON; Oxford: Oxford University Press. [HLR 810.9971]
Brown, G.W. (gen. ed.). 1966- . Dictionary of Canadian biography. Toronto: University of Toronto Press; London: Oxford University Press. [HLR 920.071]
Canadian Literature . (Journal) [HMNTS AC.2701.h]
Canadian who's who. 1910- . London; Ottawa printed. [HLR 920.071]
Essays on Canadian Writing. (Journal) [HMNTS X.0909/2049]
Klinck, Karl F. (ed.). 1977. Literary history of Canada: Canadian literature in English. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto. [HLR 810.9971]
McKay, W.A. and Wallace, W. Stewart. 1978. The Macmillan dictionary of Canadian biography. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada. [HLR 920.071]
New, William H. (ed.). 2002. Encyclopaedia of literature in Canada. Toronto, ON; London: University of Toronto. [HLR 810.9971]
Caribbean
Arnold, James, et al (eds.). 1994. A history of literature in the Caribbean. Amsterdam; Philadelphia , PA: J. Benjamins. [HLR 809.89729]
Fenwick, M.J. 1992. Writers of the Caribbean and Central America: a bibliography. New York; London: Garland. [HLR 808.89972]
Goslinga, Marian. 1998. Caribbean literature: a bibliography. Lanham, MD; London: Scarecrow Press. [HLR 809.89729]
Paravisini-Gebert, Lizabeth, et al (compiler). 1993. Caribbean women novelists: an annotated critical bibliography. Westport , CT; London: Greenwood Press. [HLR 809.89287]
India
Bibliography of doctoral dissertations accepted by Indian universities: humanities. 1975- . New Delhi: Inter-University Board of India. [OIH 011.75]
Diehl, Katherine Smith. 1964. Early Indian Imprints. New York & London: Scarecrow Press. [OIH 015.54]
Dodiya, Jaydipsinh (ed). 1998. Contemporary Indian writings in English. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers. [YA.1999 a.6186]
Garg, Ganga Ram. 1982. An encyclopaedia of Indian literature. Delhi: Mittal Publishers. [OIH 891.4]
Gidwani, N.N. and Nvlani, K (compilers and eds.). 1969. Indian periodicals. An annotated guide. Jaipur. [OIH 011.34]
Guide to Indian periodical literature. 1964- [quarterly]. Gurgaon; Prabhu Book Service; Indian Documentation Service. [OIH 011.34]
Indian books in print. 1955- . Delhi: Indian Bibliographies Bureau. [OIH 015.54]
Natarajan, N. 1996. Handbook of Twentieth Century Literatures of India. London: Greenwood Press. [OIH 891.4]
National Library. 1991. Author catalogue of printed books in English language. Calcutta: National Library of India. [OIH 019.541]
Ratnam, A.S (ed). 1999. Critical essays on Indian women writing in English. New Delhi: Harman Publishing House. [YA.1999 a.12294]
New Zealand
Burns, J. 1981. New Zealand novels and novelists 1861-1979: an annotated bibliography. Kingswood: Heinneman. [HLR 823]
Evans, Patrick. 1990. Penguin history of New Zealand literature. Auckland; London: Penguin. [YA.1998.a.5903]
Journal of New Zealand Literature. [ZA.9.a.4438]
Robinson, Roger and Wattie, Nelson (eds.). 1998. Oxford companion to New Zealand literature. Melbourne; Oxford: Oxford University Press. [HLR 820.9993]
Sturm, Terry (ed.). 1998. Oxford history of New Zealand literature in English. Auckland; Oxford: Oxford University Press. [HLR 820.9993]
On the Web
Institute of Postcolonial Studies
Literature conferences world wide
Wasafiri: the International Magazine of Contemporary Writing
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