Biographical dictionaries collect the brief biographies of famous writers and other persons of interest. These books are useful not only as a starting point for your literary research, but as a resource for background details about other writers and persons in the historical period you're studying. You'll find basic biographical details including educational background, achievements, professional experience, and essential historical details. Discover the life stories of famous writers!
1. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
by H.C.G. Matthew (Editor), and Brian Harrison (Editor). Oxford University Press. This massive, 60-volume set coordinates the research of some 10,000 specialists into a collection of 50,000 biographies of men and women "who have shaped all aspects of the British past." While this collection is an important reference resource, the collection does not come cheap. Also, this newest edition has been criticized for a number of errors related to the biographical entries for Jane Austen and others.
2. Encyclopedia of World Writers
by Thierry Boucquey. Facts on File. This 3-volume set features entries related to writers from around the world and from ancient times to the 20th century. From the publisher: "Each volume contains critical biographies of poets, dramatists, fiction writers, diarists, and essayists. Certain anonymous works—such as epics, odes, fables, sacred texts, and creation myths—are listed by title."3. Who Wrote What?: A Dictionary of Writers and Their Works
by Michael Cox. Oxford University Press. Covering more than 25,000 works of literature from British, American, and European literature, this dictionary features the biographical entries for more than 3,000 authors. Find birth dates, death dates, and lists of published works, with publication dates and genre details. Whether you know the title and don't know the author, or you only know the author and want to find out where and when he/she wrote, you'll find what you're looking for in this book.4. Encyclopedia of British Writers, 16th, 17th, And 18th Centuries
by Alan Hager. Facts on File. This 2-volume set offers "essential, curriculm-based information on approximately 6000 major British writers--from William Shakespeare and John Milton to Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope--who flourished in Britain between the 17th and the 18th centuries."5. Biographical Companion to Literature in English
by Antony Kamm. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Biographical entries for more than 1,500 writers from Petronius to Saul Bellow, short-story writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry James, poets like Homer, Virgil, and Petrarch, dramatists like Sophocles, diarists from Samuel Pepys to Anne Frank, along with biographers, critics, children's writers, and more.6. Literary A-to-Z
From Facts on File: "In a concise and readable format, the 'Literary A to Z' set provides the details readers need to fully appreciate the lives and works of great writers throughout history. Each comprehensive volume guides readers through a writer's major compositions and the forces that shaped his or her creations—detailing significant characters, locations, ideas, and events that appear in each work, as well as the real people, places, concepts, and events that helped the words flow."7. The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary of Biography
Houghton Mifflin. "The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary of Biography" features biographical entries for more than 18,000 persons including Plato, Aristotle, Robert Burns, and many others. This collection features the full names, birth and death dates, nationalities, career details, achievements, essential quotations, and more. From the publisher: "This is an indispensable resource for schools, libraries, and individuals who need an up-to-date and authoritative biographical reference."8. American Writers
by Elizabeth H. Oakes. Facts on File. Who are the American writers, and what have their contributions to literature entailed? In "American Writers," read about novelists, short story writers, poets, dramatists, essayists, and nonfiction writers. Discover writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Countee Cullen, and Louisa May Alcott. Some of the greatest names in American literary history can be found highlighted in these pages.9. A to Z of American Women Writers
by Carol Kort. Facts on File. "A-to-Z of American Women Writers" features biographical entries for more than 150 American women writers, ranging from Mary Rowlandson in the seventeenth century. From the publisher: "Her selection of poets, essayists, novelists, journalists, and others is based on providing a broad representation of cultural, social, and economic backgrounds and the availability of the writers' work."10. Short Story Writers
by Charles E. May (Editor). Salem Press. "Short Story Writers" offers essays on 102 writers. From the publisher: "In a format similar to its predecessor, this work provides entries that include author's name, dates and places of birth and death, titles, and publication dates of the author's principal short fiction, author's accomplishments in other literary genres, achievements, a biography, an analysis of the writer's work, a list of additional titles, and a bibliography."