Dlb 103: American Literary Biographers, First Series

One of the most widely read and accessible forms of literature, biography appeals to both general and specialized readers. When the subject of the biography is a writer, the genre becomes more complex. In literary biography we see the creative process unfold as the life of one artist is portrayed by another artist, writes editor Steven Serafin in this volumes foreword. More than merely recreating the life of a writer, the literary biographer examines the life in relation to the writers body of work and the social, political and cultural influences of the time in which he or she lived. Initially conceived as personal or professional memoirs, often eulogistic, notes Serafin, American literary biographies by the early part of the twentieth century began to mature into analytical and evaluative studies of the lives of subjects against the literary landscape of their periods.

34 entries include: Gay Wilson Allen, Carlos Baker, Marchette Chute, James L. Clifford, Emory Holloway, Arthur Mizener, William Riley Parker, Ralph L. Rusk, Andrew Turnbull and George Edward Woodberry.PIM31-MAY-1801