American Literature - Oxford Bibliographies
Barlow, Joel
Patricia F. Tarantello, Victoria Longa
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2022-02-21
Joel BarlowIntroductionJoel Barlow (1754–1812), a well-known poet and diplomat, was born to a farming family in Redding, Connecticut. Despite delays i...
Barth, John
Berndt Clavier
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2016-02-25
John BarthIntroductionJohn Barth (b. 1930) grew up in Cambridge, Maryland, and has spent most of his life around the Chesapeake Bay. He entered Johns ...
Beats
Charles Molesworth
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2012-08-29
Beats Introduction The “Beats” formed a literary movement with a strong social and cultural vision, but, equally important, they embodied a un...
Bellamy, Edward
Peggy Ann Brown
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2018-07-24
Edward BellamyIntroductionBest known for his utopian novel Looking Backward, 2000–1887 (1888), Edward Bellamy (b. 1850–d. 1898) authored short stories...
Bellow, Saul
Allan R. Chavkin
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2020-07-29
Saul BellowIntroductionOver a career of six decades, Saul Bellow (1915–2005) published novels, short stories, essays, and plays that attracted immense...
Bible and American Literature, The
Jonathan A. Cook
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2019-04-24
The Bible and American LiteratureIntroductionIt is a critical commonplace that the King James Bible served as the moral and cultural foundation for th...
Bishop, Elizabeth
Brett C. Millier
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2012-08-29
Elizabeth BishopIntroductionBy the end of the 20th century, to the surprise of the Anglo-American critical establishment, Elizabeth Bishop (b. 1911–d....
Bourne, Randolph
Eric Sandeen
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2014-10-28
Randolph Bourne Introduction Randolph Bourne was born 30 May 1886 in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and died in New York City on 22 December 1918. De...
Boyle, Kay
Thomas Austenfeld, Anne Reynès-Delobel
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2015-03-30
Kay BoyleIntroductionKay Boyle (b. 1902–d. 1992) produced more than forty volumes, including novels, short stories, poems, essays, an autobiography, t...
Bradford, William
David T. Read
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2012-08-29
William BradfordIntroductionStudents of William Bradford (b. 1590–d. 1657) approach his career from two main standpoints that are closely related but ...
Bradstreet, Anne
Wendy Martin, Danielle Hinrichs
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2012-08-29
Anne Bradstreet Introduction In 1630, eighteen-year-old Anne Bradstreet joined her family, her new husband, and a large group of Puritan faith...
Brockden Brown, Charles
Mark Kamrath
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2022-03-23
Charles Brockden BrownIntroductionCharles Brockden Brown (b. 1771–d. 1810), America’s first novelist, was born into a Philadelphia Quaker family and e...
Brooks, Van Wyck
Jennifer M. Nader
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2018-01-11
Van Wyck BrooksIntroductionBorn in Plainfield, New Jersey, Van Wyck Brooks (b. 1886–d. 1963) was one of America’s most well-known literary critics, bi...
Brown, Sterling
John Edgar Tidwell
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2013-09-30
Sterling Brown Introduction Sterling A. Brown (b. 1901–d. 1989) was born into the rather privileged life of black upper-middle class Washingto...
Brown, William Wells
John Ernest
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2015-10-26
William Wells BrownIntroductionBorn in Kentucky, probably in 1814, William Wells Brown was, in a long and active career, among other things, an antisl...
Butler, Octavia
Rebecca J. Holden
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2019-05-29
Octavia ButlerIntroductionOctavia E. Butler (b. 1947–d. 2006), one of the first African American science fiction (sf) authors, remains the most promin...
Byrd, William
Kevin J. Hayes
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2018-01-11
William ByrdIntroductionIn recent years, classroom anthologies have favored the secret diaries of William Byrd (b. 1674–d. 1744) over what are conside...
Cahan, Abraham
Richard Pressman
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2015-10-26
Abraham Cahan Introduction Abraham Cahan (b. 1860–d. 1951) was born in a village in Lithuania, then part of tsarist Russia but now part of Bel...
Callahan, Sophia Alice
Jennifer M. Nader
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2022-02-21
Sophia Alice CallahanIntroductionSophia Alice Callahan (b. 1868–d. 1894) was a Muscogee (Creek) and Irish American writer who is credited as the first...
Captivity Narratives
Kendall Johnson
Subject: American Literature »
Date Added: 2016-02-25
Captivity NarrativesIntroductionWhat has come to be considered the classic US captivity narrative derives from centuries of narratives describing enco...
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
