Resources by Subject: Literature

Reference Sources for Literature Research
Print Reference Tools
The books listed here are all located in the Bothell/CCC Reference Collection on the first floor of the Campus Library:
The Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms PN44.5 .S46 1976

The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature

 PS490 .C68 2005

The Continuum Encyclopedia of Modern Criticism and Theory

 PN94 .C695 2002
Critical Companion to William Shakespeare PR2892 .B69 2005
Critical Keywords in Literary and Cultural Theory PN44.5 .W64 2004
Critical Terms for Literary Study PN81 .C84 1995
A Dictionary of Critical Theory PN98 .S6 O77 1991
A Dictionary of Literary Study PN56 .S9 F 47 1999
A Dictionary of Poetic Terms PN1042 .M93 2003
The Fiction Dictionary

PN3355 .H43 1995
A Glossary of Literary Terms PN41 .A184 2005
A Handbook to Literature PN41 .H355 2000
Hispanic Literature in the United States PS153.H56 K36 2003
The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism PN81 .J554 1994 Also online & continuously updated UW Restricted
The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics PN1021 .N39 1993
The Oxford Companion to American Literature PS21 .H3 1995 Also available online through Oxford Reference Online UW Restricted
The Oxford Companion to English Literature PR19 .D73 1985 Also available online through Oxford Reference Online UW Restricted
The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature Available online through Oxford Reference Online UW Restricted
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature Available online through Oxford Reference Online UW Restricted
The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory PN98 .S6 O77 1991
A Research Guide for Undergraduate Students : English and American Literature PR56 .B34 2000
Online Reference Sources

Gale Virtual Reference Library - UW restricted
 From the opening page, click on the "View Publications" link by the "Literature" subheading to find online access to the following reference books:

  • Reference Guide to Holocaust Literature 2002
  • Reference Guide to Short Fiction 2nd ed., 1999
  • Reference Guide to World Literature 3rd ed., 2v, 2003
  • UXL Graphic Novelists 3v, 2007

Literature Online (LION) - UW restricted 
Contains literary criticism, reference works, and full-text literary journals. Resources on over 14,000 authors include searchable full-text works, biographies, bibliographies, websites, video readings, and more.

Literature Resource Center - UW restricted 
Contains biographical information and criticism about more than 120,000 authors from a variety of fields. It also contains critical essays, plot summaries, and an encyclopedia of literary terms.

Oxford Reference Online - UW restricted 
Provides online access to the following:

  • The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature
  • The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature
  • The Oxford Companion to American Literature
  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature
  • The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature
  • The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature
  • The Oxford Companion to Chaucer
  • The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
  • The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing
  • The Oxford Companion to Edwardian Fiction
  • The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature
  • The Oxford Companion to English Literature
  • The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
  • The Oxford Companion to German Literature
  • The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature
  • The Oxford Companion to Italian Literature
  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States
  • The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
  • The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation
  • The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French
  • The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature
  • The Oxford Companion to Women's Writing in the United States
  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature
  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature
  • The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
  • The Oxford Dictionary of Plays
  • A Dictionary of Shakespeare
  • The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare
  • The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English
  • The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Literature in English
  • A Dictionary of Writers and their Works

Other online reference tools (encyclopedias, dictionaries, and more)

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Maintainer of this guide: Leslie Bussert, Ethics and Humanities Librarian