UVM Libraries Research Guides: English & American Literature: Biography

Biography - Major Sources

Dictionary of Literary Biography This link opens in a new window
This resource is a searchable database of literary biographies written by recognized literary scholars and critics, profiling past and present authors, historians, journalists, screenwriters, publishers, and playwrights worldwide from every era.
American National Biography Online This link opens in a new window
Each biographical essay in this extensive collection includes an in-depth overview of the subject's life and significance in American history. Entries provide a list of further readings and, when applicable, indicate where the subject's papers or manuscripts are located.

Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
This database contains biographical profiles of significant writers worldwide from all eras and literary genres. It also includes full-length or excerpted literary criticism articles and book reviews from scholarly journals and magazines, book chapters, and reference books. It also includes overviews of literary topics and work overviews (plots, themes, characters).
Biography in Context This link opens in a new window
This resource contains full-text biographical information on people from all periods, locations, and subject areas. It includes 650,000 entries covering international figures, drawn from numerous reference sources, plus multi-media content and full-text periodical articles.
Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new window
This resource is a portal to full-text sources (biographies, encyclopedias, companions, primary sources, images and maps) about African Americans, African American life and culture, and Africa and the diaspora.

African American National Biography by Henry Louis Gates (Editor)
Call Number: REF E 185.96 .A4466 2008 (8 vols)
Covers African American life for almost five centuries, from the arrival of Esteban in Spanish Florida in 1528 to notable black citizens of the present day. *This resource is included in Oxford African American Studies Center (see entry above).
Native North American Literature : biographical and critical information on native writers and orators from the United States and Canada from historical times to the present
Call Number: REF PS 508 .I5 N38 1994
A comprehensive source of bibliographical and critical information covering native American authors and other originators of literatures in the Native North American tradition. The book describes oral traditions as well as written literature.