Typical questions

• • Where can I find recent articles on themes in the work of Jeanette Winterson?

• • What poem does this line come from?

Starting points

• • This section focuses on the academic study of English literature. Those seeking recommendations of good books should consult the Book Reviews chapter. Information about individual authors can be traced using the Biographical Information chapter. The Modern Languages chapter has links to literature in other languages.

• • Due to limitations of space this section cannot cover all forms of literature, genres and time periods! Explore the digital libraries to find more specialised resources.

Recommended resources

Key organisations

Use these websites to find news about publications, conferences and on-going research.

Alliance of Literary Societies

www.allianceofliterarysocieties.org.uk

Useful for tracing research groups relating to individual authors and literary genres.

Modern Humanities Research Association

www.mhra.org.uk

Scholarly organisation focusing on modern languages and literature. Publications include: Yearbook of English Studies, ABELL: The Annual Bibliography of English Language & Literature and Modern Language Review.

Modern Language Association (MLA)

www.mla.org

Leading professional association for scholars of language and literature in the US. Produces the specialist MLA Style Guide for writing research papers.

Royal Society of Literature [Basic]

www.rslit.org

Established in 1820. Renowned for its literary awards and lectures. Its website provides free access to articles on literature, interviews with authors and inspiring audio files from its events.

University English

www.universityenglish.ac.uk

Professional organisation for lecturers in universities and colleges across the UK.

Study guides

Discovering Literature [Basic]

www.bl.uk/discovering-literature

Free access to this great collection of digitised texts from the British Library. It is divided into different historical periods. These currently include: Shakespeare and Renaissance literature and 18th, 19th and 20th century literature. Each section has articles, teachers’ notes and online films that set the works in their historical, social and cultural contexts.

Literary Encyclopedia (Subscription)

www.litencyc.com

Authoritative academic resource including timelines, author biographies and themed articles. Covers literary and cultural theory. Some materials restricted to subscribers.

Voice of the Shuttle [Basic]

vos.ucsb.edu

Long-established annotated guide to thousands of humanities websites originally created by Alan Liu at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Coverage includes specific genres and literary theory. Numerous links to e-books collections, literary journals and organisations.