ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 904 / C&RL News ■ D ecem ber 1999 Twentieth-century authors Biographic and bibliographic information is just a click away by M ichelle Mach and Cynthia D. Shirkey F or students and other researchers inter­ ested in 20th-century authors, information on the Internet often enriches (but doesn’t place) the basics found in traditional resources like Contemporary Authors. While Internet sources may also cover an author’s back­ ground, education, publications and awards, they often go one step farther to offer unique items that are updated in a timely manner. Fre­ quently, living and popular authors may have their own Web pages with photos and narra­ tives. Other Internet-only finds include author photographs, sound recordings of authors’ readings, announcements about upcoming au­ thor appearances, and previews of new works. This column contains selected Web sites that cover English-language authors who are currently prominent or who flourished some­ time in the 20th century? It will focus prima­ rily on biographical and bibliographic infor­ mation, with some information on literary criti­ cism. While some primary texts from the early 20th century are available online, they were considered outside the scope of this column. Most of the sites included are housed at academic institutions and are maintained by individual professors. In addition to these sources, Web sites of large booksellers often contain valuable information about contem­ porary authors, especially in the form of brief r biographies, interviews, and book reviews. Newspapers and book publishers also some­ e­ times preview opening chapters of recently published works. Starting points: meta sites and directories • A b ou t.com Guides. An impressive Web directory, About.com has guides on fiction, authors, English Literature, poetry, fantasy/sci- fí, romance fiction, and an extensive list of audio recordings by authors reading their own works. Each guide is presented by an identi­ fied author and is subdivided into various top­ ics, such as authors, mail lists, anthologies, interviews, movements, chat rooms, book re­ views, bulletin boards, and e-zines. Access: http://home.about.com/arts/books/. • C on tem p orary Literature. Hosted by the English Department at Northwestern Uni­ versity in Illinois, this bibliography of Web sites is devoted to American and British authors, including some official authors’ pages. Access: h ttp : / / w w w 2 . m m l c . n w u . e d u / e n g l i s h / weblinks/contemporary.html. • N ebraska W riters & B eyon d . This site, which is published by the Nebraska Center for Writers at Creighton University, is quite ex­ tensive, although it does not include genre writers. It has a useful list of bibliographies A bout th e authors M ic h e lle M ach is a refe ren ce lib ra ria n a n d Web specialist a t C olo rad o State U n ive rsity in F o rt Collins, e-m ail: mmach@manta.library.colostate.edu; Cynthia D. Shirkey is the English a nd American Literature reference b ibliographer a t D artm outh University, e-mail: cynthia.d.shirkey@dartmouth.edu IN T E R N E T RESOURCES About.com About.com http://home.about.com/arts/books/ http://www2.mmlc.nwu.edu/english/ mailto:mmach@manta.library.colostate.edu mailto:cynthia.d.shirkey@dartmouth.edu C&RL News ■ D e ce m b e r 1999 / 905 and directories of writers online, including di­ rectories of writers from other states and links of interest to students of genre, gender, and cultural studies. Access: http://m ockingbird. creighton.edu/ncw/writers.htm. • Voice o f th e Shuttle. Since 1994 VoS has provided broad and deep coverage o f litera­ ture resources: authors, works, projects, course syllabi, criticism and critics, journals, mail lists and newsgroups, and conferences and calls for papers. Twentieth-century information can be found in the modem, contemporary, litera­ ture by genre, and theory sections. The site is maintained by Professor Alan Liu at the Uni­ versity of California at Santa Barbara. Access: http://vos.ucsb.edu/shuttle/english.html. O verview s o f 20th-century Am erica • A m erican Cultural History: T he T w en ­ tie th C en tu ry . This Web site, created by Kingswood College Library in Texas, has quick facts about the decade, links to art and archi­ tecture, books and literature, fashion and fads, education, historic events and technology, mu­ sic, persons and personalities, and theater and film. The books & literature section includes “Books that Define the Time” (Sister Carrie) and “Books Covering the Period” (Annals o f History). Access: http://www.nhmccd.edu/con­ tracts/lrc/kc/decades.html. • A n O u tlin e o f A m erica n Literature. This book-like Web site was originally written seven years ago by Kathryn Van Spanckeren and published by the U.S. Information Agency. It is an overview of the entire span of Ameri­ can literature, and includes four chapters about 20th-century literature: “The Rise of Realism: 1860-1914,” “Modernism and Experimentation: 1914-1945,” American Poetry Since 1945: Re­ alism a n d Experimen­ tation,” and “A m erican Prose Since 1945: Real­ ism and Ex­ perimentation.” Each section skims its desig­ nated period of American literature and also includes some information about popular genre w rite rs o f th e tim e. Access: h t t p : / / www.usia.gov/products/pubs/oal/oaltoc.htm. • PAL: P ersp ectiv es in A m erican Litera­ tu re. Created by Paul P. Reuben of California State University, Stanislaus, PAL is arranged like a textbook and contains chapters on “Early Twentieth Century to 1945,” “Late Twentieth Century: 1945 to Present,” “American Drama,” and “Harlem Renaissance.” Each chapter con­ tains an introductory essay, selected bibliog­ raphies, and information on authors. Access: http://w w w .csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/ table.html. Lists of 20th-century w orks • T h e 150 B est E n g lish L anguage N ov­ e ls o f th e 2 0 th C entury. Consolidates four lists: Harvard Bookstore’s Top 100 Recom­ m ended Titles, Koen Book Distributor’s Top 100 B ooks o f th e Past Century, Library Journals 150 20th Century Most Influential Fiction, an d the m uch publicized Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels list. It is maintained by Friendswood (Texas) Public Library. A c­ cess: http://w w w .friendsw ood.lib.tx.us/lib_ business/frpubtop 150.htm. • B estse lle r Lists 1 9 0 0 -1 9 9 5 . This Web site by Cader Books contains a record of Publisher’s Weekly s top ten best novels for nearly th e entire century. Access: h ttp :// www.caderbooks.com/bestintro.html. • F e m in ista 10 0 G reat 2 0 th C en tu ry W ork s o f F ictio n b y W o m en . This list was created in response to the Modem Library’s list to remedy the small number of women n o v elists in c lu d ed . Access: h ttp ://w w w . feminista.com/v2n3/100.html. • Literary P rizes, A w ards, etc. Created by the Canterbury Public Library in New Zealand, this page has information on more than 40 international adult and children’s lit­ e ra tu re p rize s. Access: h ttp ://w w w .c c c . govt.nz/Library/LiteraryPrizes/. • N o b e l P r iz e s . This site has varying amounts of information on winners of the vari­ ous Nobel Prizes, including literature, and each Nobel Laureate’s entry has a photo and a brief biography or autobiography. Some entries also include links to other resources, articles by N o b el co m m ittee m em b ers, a c c e p ta n c e speeches, excerpts from work, and color graph­ ics of the awards. Access: http://www.nobel.se/ prize/progtable.html. Area studies and genres • C o n t e m p o r a r y P o s t c o l o n i a l & P o stim p e r ia l L iterature in E n g lish . Started as a project for one of George P. Landow’s classes at Brown University, this site has sec­ http://mockingbird http://vos.ucsb.edu/shuttle/english.html http://www.nhmccd.edu/con-tracts/lrc/kc/decades http://www.nhmccd.edu/con-tracts/lrc/kc/decades http://www.usia.gov/products/pubs/oal/oaltoc.htm http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/ http://www.friendswood.lib.tx.us/lib_ http://www.caderbooks http://www.ccc http://www.nobel.se/ 9 0 6 / C&RL News ■ December 1999 tions on the literature o f Africa, Australia, Canada, Caribbean, Indian Subcontinent, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. It also has separate sections on postcolonial theory and authors, which contains biogra­ phies, style guides, and bibliographies. A c­ cess: http://landow.stg.brown.edu/post/misc/ postov.html. • E le c t r o n ic P o e tr y C e n te r (E P C ). H oused at the University o f Buffalo and authored by the Department of English, the Faculty of Arts & Letters and the University Library System at SUNY, EPC is a fabulous poetry resource. EPC has links to electronic poetry magazines, authors’ pages, a list of poetry presses, an excellent poetry Web guide, visual poetry files, and lists of past and upcoming poetry conferences. It also contains RealAudio files of the Case Award­ winning LINEbreak radio program consist­ ing of interviews and readings by novelists and screenwriters. Access: http://epc.buffalo. edu/. • In tern et P ublic Library (IPL): N ative A m erican A uthors. This resource allows us­ ers to view biographies, reviews, and authors’ Web pages. In addition, IPL’s site has infor­ mation on tribal Web sites and contains bib­ liographies. Access: http://www.ipl.org/ref/ native/. • P ost WWII A m erican L iterature an d Culture D atabase: G en res. This University of California, Berkeley, English Department’s site includes sections on bibliographies, post m o d ern ism , sc ie n c e fictio n , p u n k an d hardcore, generation X, feminism, queer, multiculturalism, and popular culture. Access: h t t p : / / e n g l i s h . b e r k e l e y . e d u / p o s tw a r / genres.html. • OzLit—A u th ors List. Although com­ m e rc ially o r ie n te d , M areya an d P e te r Schmidt’s OzLit is a valuable resource for those interested in Australian literature. Bi­ ographies and bibliographies are accessible through its authors list page. Access: http:// home.vicnet.net.au/~ozlit/writlist.html. • V o ices fr o m th e Gaps: W o m en Writ­ er s o f C olor. Organized by name, birthplace, racial/ethnic background, and significant dates, each entry includes a brief biography, bibliography of selected works, related works, plus photos of the writer and of the one book cover. The site is produced by the University of Minnesota’s Department of English and Pro­ gram in American Studies. Access: h ttp :// voices.cla.umn.edu/. Theory/criticism • In tern et Public Library (IPL)—O n lin e L iterary C riticism . Containing more than 2,400 critical and biographical Web sites about authors and their works, this site can be browsed by author, title, nationality, and lit­ erary period. Claiming that “Good literary criti­ cism can be one of the hardest kinds of in­ formation to find on the Internet,” IPL has created an “authoritative and critical” Web guide. Also links to a Literary Criticism Path­ finder, which guides students searching for literary criticism on the Internet. Access: http:// www.ipl.org/ref/litcrit/. • V o ice o f th e Shuttle: T h eory. Part of Alan Liu’s VoS, this section covers general th e o ry r e ­ sources (early to m id 20th ce n tu ry and c o n t e m p o ­ rary) includ­ in g s u b s e c ­ tions such as Deconstruction and Feminist Theory. It also has links to journals, zines, mail lists, newsgroups, course syllabi, con­ ferences, and calls for papers. Access: http:// vos.ucsb.edu/shuttle/theory.html. Jou rnals and zines Much original writing on the Web can only be found in nonacademic electronic magazines, frequently called zines. While w e are not in­ cluding any individual zines, we have included a resource that provides access to and short annotations about them. • B eatrice. An electronic magazine focus­ ing on fiction and nonfiction authors, Beatrice has interviews going back to 1996 with su c h w rite rs as B h arati M ukhrjee, George Plimpton, and Linda Barnes. Access: http://www.beatrice.com/contents/. • B lue M oon R eview . This was the “first electronic quarterly online to focus exclusively on literary work” and contains interviews, Ac­ tion, poetry and creative nonfiction, along with a small press preview section. Mark Trainer is the ed ito r in chief. Access: h ttp ://w w w . thebluem oon.com /. http://landow.stg.brown.edu/post/misc/ http://epc.buffalo http://www.ipl.org/ref/ http://english.berkeley.edu/postwar/ voices.cla.umn.edu/ http://www.ipl.org/ref/litcrit/ http://www.beatrice.com/contents/ thebluemoon.com/ C&RL News ■ D ecem ber 1999 / 907 • H u n gry M ind R eview . The online ver­ sion of this magazine began in 1995 and pub­ lishes reviews for fiction, children’s literature, nonfiction, and essays. Access: http://www. bookw ire.com /hm r/. • LitLine. Created by Greg Maier, LitLine links to literary journals, many zines, small presses, and literary organizations. It is search­ able, and may be useful for less well-known contemporary authors, Access; http://w w w. litline.org/. • S a lo n M agazine. Self-described as the “best reader party on the Internet,” Salon has interviews going back to 1995, which include conversations with authors such as Salman Rushdie, Andrea Barrett, and Dorothy Allison. Access: http://www.salon.com/archives/1999/ books_int.html. Beyond the books For those who want to contact, meet, or see their favorite authors. • A u th ors o n th e H igh w ay. Search for author readings, signings, and appearances by event location (bookstore, city, state) or work (title, author, publisher) on this site created by P u b lish e r’s Weekly. Access: h ttp ://w w w . publishersweekly.com/highway/. • A uthor P seu d o n y m s. An especially use­ ful site for gathering information on genre au­ thors. Access: http://www.BookBrowser.com/ Pseudonyms/. • B o o k TV. Watch videos of nonfiction authors talking about their works, primarily in the areas of biography, business, history, and children’s literature on this site. Recent authors have included Esmeralda Santiago, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and P. J. O ’Rourke on this site p ro d u ced by C-SPAN. Access: h ttp :// www.booktv.org/booknotes/. • D irecto ry o f A m erica n P o ets & W rit­ e r s. This searchable directory of contact infor­ mation for more than 4,000 American poets and fiction writers is published by the Poets & Writers organization. Access: http://w w w .pw . org/directry.htm. Mail lists, new sgroups, and virtual com m unities Mail lists Jack Lynch at Rutgers University maintains an extensive list of literature-related e-mail lists nicely categorized by subject or area focus, including one directory of 20th-century lists. Lists focus either on a broad area of literature or on a single author. The Rutgers University list was formerly maintained at the University of Pennsylvania English Department’s gopher site. Access: http://androm eda.rutgers.edu/ ~jlynch/Lit/Lists/ A sample of available mail­ ing lists: • AFAMLIT-L on African American litera­ ture. Subscribe: listserv@listserv.uic.edu. • AMLIT-L on American literature. Sub­ scribe: listproc@lists.missouri.edu. • CANLIT-L on Canadian literature. Sub­ scribe: listserv@infoserv.nlc-bnc.ca. • LITERARY on books and authors, espe­ cially 19th- and 20th-century American and En­ glish literature. Subscribe: literary@list.cren.net. • POSTCOLONIAL on postcolonial litera­ ture, film, and theory. Subscribe: majordomo@ lists.villiagevirginia.edu. • SF-LIT on science fiction and fantasy. Subscribe: listserv@loc.gov. • VWOOLF on author Virginia Woolf. Sub­ scribe: listproc@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu. Newsgroups In addition to the two general newsgroups listed below, many newsgroups focus on in­ dividual authors. There are 65 newsgroups for individual authors, mainly contemporary genre au th o rs, lis ted o n D eja (Access: h t t p : / / www.deja.com/). • b it.listserv.literary • rec.a rts.b o o k s Virtual communities • P ostm odernM O O . A virtual interactive space designed to promote the exploration of postmodern theory and practice. Access: telnet:// baymoo.sfsu.edu:8888. • E n g lish Server. Sponsored by the En­ glish Department at Carnegie Mellon Univer­ sity, this site combines a giant electronic maga­ zine feel with bulletin boards, chat rooms, and mail lists to form an enjoyable place for any­ one interested in the humanities. With more than 26,600 works online (some self-published and some board edited), you never know what you m ight find. Access: h ttp ://e n g lis h - w w w.hss.cmu.edu/. Note 1. For information on foreign language writers, see Rob Withers, “Foreign language, literature, a n d cul­ ture,” C&RL New s 60 (May 1999): 361-364, 410. ■ bookwire.com/hmr/ litline.org/ http://www.salon.com/archives/1999/ publishersweekly.com/highway/ http://www.BookBrowser.com/ http://www.booktv.org/booknotes/ http://www.pw http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/ mailto:listserv@listserv.uic.edu mailto:listproc@lists.missouri.edu mailto:listserv@infoserv.nlc-bnc.ca mailto:literary@list.cren.net lists.villiagevirginia.edu mailto:listserv@loc.gov mailto:listproc@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu http://www.deja.com/ http://english-www.hss.cmu.edu/ http://english-www.hss.cmu.edu/ 908 / C&RL News ■ Decem ber 1999