English & Comparative Literature

African-American Writers by Shari Dorantes Hatch (Editor); Michael R. Strickland (Editor); Brenda Pilsner A timely survey of an important sector of American letters, African American Writers examines a multitude of black cultural leaders from the 18th century to the present. * Includes bibliography and illustrations

Chicana Portraits by Norma Elia Cantú (Editor); Raquel Valle-Sentíes (Contribution by) This innovative collection pairs portraits with critical biographies of twelve key Chicana writers, offering an engaging look at their work, contributions to the field, and major achievements. Artist Raquel Valle-Sentíes's portraits bring visual dimension, while essays delve deeply into the authors' lives for details that inform their literary, artistic, feminist, and political trajectories and sensibilities. The collection brilliantly intersects artistic visual and literary cultural productions, allowing complex themes to emerge, such as the fragility of life, sexism and misogyny, Chicana agency and forging one's own path, the struggles of becoming a writer and battling self-doubt, economic instability, and political engagement and activism. Arranged chronologically by birth order of the authors, the book can be read cover to cover for a genealogical overview, or scholars and general readers can easily jump in at any point and read about an individual author, regardless of the chronology. Biographies included in this work include Raquel Valle-Sentíes, Angela de Hoyos, Montserrat Fontes, Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Norma E. Cantú, Denise Elia Chávez, Carmen Tafolla, Cherríe Moraga, Ana Castillo, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Sandra Cisneros, and Demetria Martínez. Contributors Cordelia E. Barrera Mary Pat Brady Norma E. Cantú María Jesus Castro Dopacio Carlos Nicolás Flores Myrriah Gómez Maria Magdalena Guerra de Charur Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs Georgina Guzmán Cristina Herrera María Esther Quintana Eliza Rodríguez y Gibson Meagan Solomon Lourdes Torres Raquel Valle-Sentíes Jen Yáñez-Alaniz

Dictionary of Literary Biography: Asian American Writers by Deborah L. Madsen This award-winning multi-volume series is dedicated to making literature and its creators better understood and more accessible to students and interested readers, while satisfying the standards of librarians, teachers and scholars. Dictionary of Literary Biography provides reliable information in an easily comprehensible format, while placing writers in the larger perspective of literary history. Dictionary of Literary Biography systematically presents career biographies and criticism of writers from all eras and all genres through volumes dedicated to specific types of literature and time periods. For a listing of Dictionary of Literary Biography volumes sorted by genre click here.

Harlem Renaissance and Beyond: literary biographies of 100 Black women writers, 1900-1945 by Lorraine E. Roses; Ruth E. Randolph Adams, Elizabeth Laura -- Andrews, Regina M. Anderson [Ursula Trelling] -- Beasley, Delilah Leontium -- Bennett, Gwendolyn -- Bird, Bessie Calhoun -- Bonner (Occomy), Marita Odette [Joseph Maree Andrew] -- Bright, Nellie Rathborne -- Brown, Charlotte Hawkins -- Brown, Hallie Quinn -- Burrill, Mary ("Mamie") -- Bush (Banks), Olivia Ward -- Butler, Anna Mabel Land -- Campbell, Hazel Vivian -- Carter, Eunice Roberta Hunton -- Caution-Davis, Ethel -- Clark, Mazie Earhart -- Clifford, Carrie Williams -- Coleman, Anita Scott -- Cooper, Anna Julia -- Copeland, Josephine -- Cowdery, Mae Virginia -- Cuthbert, Marion Vera -- Day, Caroline Bond Stewart -- Delany, Clarissa M. Scott -- Dickinson, Blanche Taylor -- Dunbar-Nelson, Alice Ruth Moore -- Duncan, Thelma Myrtle -- Dunham, Katherine -- Dykes, Eva Beatric -- Epperson, Aloise Barbour -- Fauset, Jessie Redmon -- Fernandis, Sarah Collins -- Figgs, Carrie Law Morgan -- Fleming, Sarah Lee Brown -- Gaiines-Shelton, Ruth Ada -- Gilbert, Mercedes -- Gooden, Lauretta Holman -- Goodwin, Ruby Berkley -- Gordon, Edythe Mae. Graham, Ottie Beatrice -- Grimke, Angelina Weld -- Hare, Maud Cuney -- Harmon, Florence Marion -- Harrison, Juanita -- Hayford, Gladys May Casely (Aquah Laluah) -- Hazzard, Alvira -- Holloway, Lucy Ariel Williams -- Hopkins, Pauline Elizabeth -- Hunter, Jane Edna (Harris) -- Hunton, Addie D. Waites -- Hurston, Zora Neale -- Jeffrey, Maurine L. -- Jessye, Eva Alberta -- Johnson, Dorothy Vena -- Johnson, Georgia Douglas (Camp) -- Johnson (Hubbell), Helene -- Larsen (Imes), Nella -- Lewis, Lillian Tucker -- Livingston, Myrtle Athleen Smith -- Love, Rose Leary -- McBrown, Gertrude Parthenia -- McDougald (Ayer), Gertrude Elise Johnson -- Miller, May (Mrs. John Sullivan) -- Moody, Christina -- Moryck (Francke), Brenda Ray -- Murphy, Beatrice Campbell -- Murray, Pauli -- Newsome, Mary Effie Lee. Petry, Ann Lane -- Pitts, Lucia Mae -- Popel (Shaw), Esther A.B. -- Porter, Dorothy Louise Burnett -- Postles, Grace Vera -- Price, Doris D. -- Ransom, Birdelle Wycoff -- Reynolds, Evelyn Crawford [Eve Lynne] -- Ridley, Florida Ruffin -- Robeson, Eslanda Cardoza Goode -- Rowland, Ida -- Smith, J. Pauline -- Spence, Eulalie -- Spencer, Anne Bethel Bannister Scales -- Tarry Ellen -- Terrell, Mary Eliza ("Mollie") Church -- Thompson, Clara Ann -- Thompson, Eloise Alberta Veronica Bibb -- Thompson, Era Bell -- Thompson, Priscilla Jane -- Turner, Lucy Mae -- Walker, Margaret Abigail Alexander -- Weeden, Lula Lowe -- Wells-Barnett, Ida Bell [Iola] -- West, Dorothy -- Wiggins, Bernice Love -- Wood, Lillian E. -- Wright, Zara -- Wynbush, Octavia Beatrice -- Yancey, Bessie Woodson -- Yeiser, Idabelle.

Inclined to Speak by Hayan Charara (Editor) At no other time in American history has our imagination been so engrossed with the Arab experience. An indispensable and historic volume, Inclined to Speak gathers together poems, from the most important contemporary Arab American poets, that shape and alter our understanding of this experience. These poems also challenge us to reconsider what it means to be American. Impressive in its scope, this book provides readers with an astonishing array of poetic sensibilities, touching on every aspect of the human condition. Whether about culture, politics, loss, art, or language itself, the poems here engage these themes with originality, dignity, and an unyielding need not only to speak, but also to be heard. Here are thirty-nine poets offering up 160 poems. Included in the anthology are Naomi Shihab Nye, Samuel Hazo, D. H. Melhem, Lawrence Joseph, Khaled Mattawa, Mohja Khaf, Matthew Shenoda, Kazim Ali, Nuar Alsadir, Fady Joudah, and Lisa Suhair Majaj. Charara has written a lengthy introduction about the state of Arab American poetry in the country today and short biographies of the poets and provided an extensive list of further readings.

Latin American Women Writers by Kathy S. Leonard There is a wealth of published literature in English by Latin American women writers, but such material can be difficult to locate due to the lack of available bibliographic resources. In addition, the various types of published narrative (short stories, novels, novellas, autobiographies, and biographies) by Latin American women writers has increased significantly in the last ten to fifteen years. To address the lack of bibliographic resources, Kathy Leonard has compiled Latin American Women Writers: A Resource Guide to Titles in English. This reference includes all forms of narrative-short story, autobiography, novel, novel excerpt, and others-by Latin American women dating from 1898 to 2007. More than 3,000 individual titles are included by more than 500 authors. This includes nearly 200 anthologies, more than 100 autobiographies/biographies or other narrative, and almost 250 novels written by more than 100 authors from 16 different countries. For the purposes of this bibliography, authors who were born in Latin America and either continue to live there or have immigrated to the United States are included. Also, titles of pieces are listed as originally written, in either Spanish or Portuguese. If the book was originally written in English, a phrase to that effect is included, to better reflect the linguistic diversity of narrative currently being published. This volume contains seven indexes: Authors by Country of Origin, Authors/Titles of Work, Titles of Work/Authors, Autobiographies/Biographies and Other Narrative, Anthologies, Novels and Novellas in Alphabetical Order by Author, and Novels and Novellas by Authors' Country of Origin. Reflecting the increase in literary production and the facilitation of materials, this volume contains a comprehensive listing of narrative pieces in English by Latin American women writers not found in any other single volume currently on the market. This work of reference will be of special interest to scholars, students, and instructors interested in narrative works in English by Latin American women authors. It will also help expose new generations of readers to the highly creative and diverse literature being produced by these writers.

The Women of Mexico's Cultural Renaissance by Elena Poniatowska; Elizabeth Coonrod Martínez (Editor) This book consists of a collection of essays by Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska in their first English translation, and a critical introduction. The highly engaging essays explore the lives of seven transformational figures for Mexican feminism. This includes Frida Kahlo, Maria Izquierdo, and Nahui Olin, three outstanding artists of the cultural renaissance of the early twentieth century, and Nellie Campobello, Elena Garro, Rosario Castellanos, and Pita Amor, forerunner writers and poets whose works laid a path for Mexican women writers in the later twentieth century. Poniatowska's essays discuss their fervent activity, interactions with other prominent figures, details and intricacies about their specific works, their scandalous and irreverent activities to draw attention to their craft, and specific revelations about their lives. The extensive critical introduction surveys the early feminist movement and Mexican cultural history, explores how Mexico became a more closed society by the mid-twentieth century, and suggests further reading and films. This book will be of interest both to the general reader and to scholars interested in feminist/gender studies, Mexican literary and cultural studies, Latin American women writers, the cultural renaissance, translation, and film studies.