English Literature Links

A guide to internet resources for studying or teaching English Literature. Links marked 'DVD' indicate that work by that author has been filmed and is listed on the Books on Film site. Links to books are intended to assist anyone wishing to find or purchase books. The Google search box will help you search this site, or the web. To suggest sites or authors to add to the lists, report faulty links or give feedback on the site please contact me.

Contact Email: IanMackean@hotmail.com
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Other pages of interest

English Literature Essays

 Essays contributed mainly by visitors to this site

Author Pages:

T S Eliot | William Golding | Thomas Hardy | Ernest Hemingway | Ted Hughes | James Joyce | D H Lawrence | John Steinbeck | Tennessee Williams

 Introduction to the author with useful links

Glossary of Literary Terms

 Definitions of terms frequently encountered in the study of English literature

Modern Literature Time Chart

  Publication dates of works of modern literature shown in the context of historical and cultural events

Books on Film

  Many great books have been made into films. Here you can browse an illustrated list of novels and plays which have been filmed and are available on DVD

Short Story Writing

 Advice for aspiring writers

Useful links for literature students

Literature study notes

BBC GCSE Bitesize English Literature | SparkNotes | Novelguide | GradeSaver | crossref-it.info | eNotes | Shmoop | BookRags | Pink Monkey | The Student Room, Forums & Revision Notes

Author studies

Literary Encyclopedia | Literature Network | British Council Contemporary Writers | Cambridge History of English & American Literature

Literature web directories

Literary History | University of California | Rutgers University | Internet Public Library | Geometry.net | English Literature On The Web

GCSE Exam Boards


Check your course specification to see what you are expected to do and how you will be marked

AQA Assessment and Qualifications Alliance
CCEA Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment
CIE Cambridge International Examinations
OCR Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations
SEG Southern Examining Group - part of AQA

English literature terms

Glossary of Literary Terms | Rutgers University | Cyber English 

Study & essay writing help

Getting an A | Englishbiz.co.uk | GradeSaver | Teaching Resources | Homework Center | Spelling Course | Books: Grammar Guides

Literary theory

Rutgers University | Uinversity of California | About.com

Ebooks

Free Kindle Books | Project Gutenberg | ManyBooks.net | MobileRead | Internet Archive | On-line Books | Bartleby.com | University of Oxford | University of Toronto | Online Library | Literature Post | Calibre - convert and manage ebooks

Reference

Wikipedia Literature | Literary Encyclopedia | Cambridge Encyclopedia | Factbites | Biography.com | IngentaConnect Scholarly Research | Find Articles | The Free Dictionary | Dictionary.com | WordZone | Merriam-Webster Online | Online Translation | Google Book Search

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Historical periods of English literature, with recommended links

History of the English language

University of Toronto | The Routes of English | Wikipedia

Old English literature (pre-1100)

Wikipedia | Anglo-Saxon Dictionary

Middle English literature (1100-1500)

Luminarium | Wikipedia | Rutgers University | Uinversity of California

Renaissance & early C17th (1425-1660)

Luminarium C16th | Luminarium C17th | Rutgers University | Uinversity of California

Restoration (1660-1702) & 18th century (1702-1784)

Luminarium | Rutgers University | Uinversity of California | The Age of Reason | DVD (drama) | DVD (fiction)

Romantic literature (1760-1850)

Uinversity of California | Rutgers University | Romantic Circles | Romanticism On the Net | British Library: Romantics and Victorians | Wikipedia

Gothic literature (1764-present)

University of California | Rutgers University | Wikipedia

Victorian literature (1819-1901)

The Victorian Web | Political and social novels | Literary History | Rutgers University | Uinversity of California | Victorian Women Writers Project | British Library: Romantics and Victorians

The War Poets (1914-1918)

First World War.com | Lost Poets | WorldWar1.com | Poets of the Great War | The Georgians and The War Poets

Modern & postmodern (1914-present)

Literary History | Rutgers University | Uinversity of California: modern | Uinversity of California: contemporary | Modern Literature Time Chart

The Beat writers (Mid-20th century)

Literary Kicks | Dharma Beat | SparkNotes on Kerouac | Wikipedia

Postcolonial literature (Mid-C20th-present)

Postcolonial Studies | Postcolonialweb | Wikipedia

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Regional sites

Canadian literature

National Library | Wikipedia | Northwest Passages | Writing in Canada | Canadian Writers | Canadian Theatre

Indian English Literature

Wikipedia

Irish literature

Luminarium | Island Ireland | CELT Corpus of Electronic Texts

Scottish literature

The Association for Scottish Literary Studies | Wikipedia

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Authors A - Z, with recommended links

A

 

Chinua Achebe (1930-2013)

BBC News - A Hero Returns | Chinua Achebe Infosite | Wikipedia | SparkNotes | GradeSaver | BookRags | Literary History

Sir Kingsley Amis (1922-1995)

Kingsley Amis and the Era of Lucky Jim | Lucky Jim

Simon Armitage (1963-)

Simon Armitage study guide

Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)

The Victorian Web | Cambridge Encyclopedia |  Literary History | Regarding Matthew Arnold | Wikipedia | Matthew Arnold as a Critic

Margaret Atwood (1939-)

Home site | Writing in Canada | Handmaid's Tale | Gertrude Talks Back | The Treatment of Female Protagonists

Jane Austen (1775-1817)

The Victorian Web | Literary History | SparkNotes | Jane Austen Information Page | Persuasion | British Library: Jane Austen

B

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Julian Barnes (1946-)

Julian Barnes.com | Guardian Reviews

Samuel Beckett (1906-1989)

Samuel Beckett. An Introduction | The Role of Comedy in Beckett's Plays | Waiting for Godot | Samuel Beckett Resources | Nobel Prize Internet Archive | Literary History | Wikipedia | DVD

Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979)

Elizabeth Bishop and her influence | Literary History | Poets.org

William Blake (1757-1827)

Blake study guide | William Blake page | British Library: William Blake | Wikipedia

James Boswell (1740-1795) & Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

The Victorian Web | Rutgers University | Boswell ebooks | Wikipedia: Boswell | Wikipedia: Johnson | Books by Boswell

The Bronte sisters.

Charlotte (1816-1855), Emily (1818-1848), Anne (1820-1849)

Bronte Sisters Web | The Victorian Web | Literary History | The Cambridge History | SparkNotes | Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys: doubleness | Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys: symbolism | British Library Authors

John Bunyan (1628-1688)

Online library | Wikipedia | Pilgrim's Progress

Anthony Burgess (1917-1993)

Introduction | A Clockwork Orange | GradeSaver | Wikipedia

Fanny Burney (1752-1840)

Burney Society | Bartleby | Essays by Fanny Burney | Wikipedia

Lord Byron (1788-1824)

Lord Byron | Don Juan | Letters and Journals Vol 1 | Vol 2 | British Library Authors | Wikipedia | Evelina

C

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Morley Callaghan (1903-1990)

Wikipedia | The Short stories of Morley Callaghan

Angela Carter (1940-1992)

Wikipedia | Official site | British Library | British Council

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)

Luminarium | SparkNotes | GradeSaver | The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale | Wikipedia | Christian Literature: Chaucer vs Bunyan | Wife of Bath Study Guide

By Adrian Fox. Free program to download and run on your computer. The guide contains detailed notes with associated questions in various formats, generate quotes at random, and a series of resequencing and 'cloze' (missing word) formats.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

Introduction | Ancient Mariner | Wikipedia | Romantic poets and opium | Literary History | Coleridge and Becoming: Kubla Khan and Dejection: an Ode | The British Library: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)

Literary History | GradeSaver | NovelGuide | SparkNotes | Heart of Darkness | The Secret Agent

Robert Cormier (1925-2000)

Wikipedia | SparkNotes

D

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Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)

SparkNotes | GradeSaver | Literary History | Wikipedia

Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

The Victorian Web | Gad's Hill Place | 42 explore | Literary History | SparkNotes | GradeSaver | Novelguide | Dickens's Narrative Technique | DVD

John Donne (1572-1631)

Cambridge History (section X1) | Luminarium | SparkNotes | Metaphysical Poems | John Donne's Love Poetry | John Donne's Valedictions | Religious Poetry

Carol Ann Duffy (1955-)

Wikipedia | British Council | Poetry Archive

Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990) 

Lawrence Durrell, an Introduction | International Lawrence Durrell Society

E

   

George Eliot (1819-1880)

The Victorian Web | Literary History | Political and Social Novels (section X1) | British Library Authors

T S Eliot (1888-1965)

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock | Prufrock and The Outsider | Four Quartets, The Sign and the Symbol | Wikipedia | SparkNotes | GradeSaver | Exploring The Waste Land | Modern American Poetry | What the Thunder Said | Literary History The T S Eliot Society

F

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William Faulkner (1897-1962)

Faulkner on the web | Literary History | SparkNotes | Sartoris

Henry Fielding (1707-1754)

Fielding's Morality

 

F Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

Literary History | SparkNotes | Novelguide

E M Forster (1879-1970)

Introduction to E. M. Forster | Literary History | SparkNotes | Wikipedia

Brian Friel (1929-2015)

Wikipedia | Emory University

Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Literary History | Wikipedia | The Frost Foundation | Modern American Poetry

G

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William Golding (1911-1993)

The William Golding Page | SparkNotes | BookRags | william-golding.co.uk | Literary History | Nobel Prize Archive | Wikipedia

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774)

Luminarium | Cambridge History | She Stoops to Conquer |

Thomas Gray (1716-1771)

Thomas Gray Archive | Wikipedia | Luminarium | Thomas Gray

H

   

Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965)

A Rasin in the Sun | GradeSaver | The Ghetto Trap

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

The Thomas Hardy Page | British Library: Thomas Hardy | Tess of the d'Urbervilles | SparkNotes | GradeSaver | Jude the Obscure | Thomas Hardy Resource Library | Literary History | The Victorian Web | Wikipedia

Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

Seamus Heaney Study Guide | Literary History

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

The Ernest Hemingway Page | Wikipedia | SparkNotes | GradeSaver | Literary History

Barry Hines (1939-2016)

bbc.co.uk | Wikipedia

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889)

Gerard Manley Hopkins, Innovative precursor of Modernism | Wikipedia | Poetry Foundation

Ted Hughes (1930-1998)

The Ted Hughes Page | Wikipedia | Ted Hughes Homepage | Earth-Moon | Poets.org | Poetry Archive | Literary History

I

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John Irving (1942-)

Wikipedia | John Irving

Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986)

Wikipedia | All the Conspirators

Kazuo Ishiguro (1954-)

Wikipedia | British Council | The Guardian | New York Times

J

   

Henry James (1843-1916)

SparkNotes | GradeSaver | Literary History | The Turn of the Screw

Ben Jonson (1572-1637)

Cambridge History | Luminarium | Volpone | Ben Jonson Unmasked

James Joyce (1882-1941)

The James Joyce Page | Portrait of the Artist: Rebellion and Release | Portrait of the Artist: Stephen Dedalus - Rebel Without a Cause | Portrait of the Artist: Flying by the Nets | SparkNotes | GradeSaver | Wikipedia | Literary History | James Joyce Centre | James Joyce's Dublin (photos)

K

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John Keats (1795-1821)

John Keats.com | The Victorian Web | Literary History | SparkNotes | Poems | British Library: John Keats

Jack Kerouac (1922-1969)

Literary Kicks | Dharma Beat | SparkNotes on Kerouac | On the Road review

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

The Victorian Web | Literary History | Nobel Prize Resources | The Kipling Society | Kipling's Kim

L

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Ring Lardner (1885-1933)

Wikipedia | Lardnermania | DVD

 

Philip Larkin (1922-1985)

Philip Larkin Society | Literary History

D H Lawrence (1885-1930)

The D H Lawrence Page | Women in Love | Naturalist Drama: The Daughter-in-law and The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd | Wikipedia | SparkNotes | GradeSaver | Literary History

Harper Lee (1926-2016)

SparkNotes on To Kill a Mockingbird | NovelGuide on To Kill a Mockingbird

Doris Lessing (1919-2013)

Wikipedia | Doris Lessing

C S Lewis (1898-1963)

C S Lewis | GradeSaver |  SparkNotes | Literary History

The Liverpool Poets

The Liverpool Poets, an Introduction | Brian Patten: Life, Love, Death, and Poetry | Wikipedia

M

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Bernard Malamud (1914-1986)

Miscellany | SparkNotes

Frank McCourt (1930-2009)

Wikipedia | Angela's Ashes

Ian McEwan (1948-)

Ian McEwan.com | The Guardian Unlimited

William Topaz McGonagall (1825-1902)

McGonagall Online | Wikipedia

Arthur Miller (1915-2005)

SparkNotes | GradeSaver | Literary History

John Milton (1608-1674)

Luminarium | SparkNotes | GradeSaver | BookRags

Toni Morrison (1931-)

Anniina's | Toni Morrison Society | SparkNotes | GradeSaver | Moral ambiguity

N

   

Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977)

Lolita | Pale Fire | Gradesaver on Nabokov | Essays on Nabokov | Literary History

O

   

Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964)

Literary History | Good Country People

George Orwell (1903-1950)

George Orwell and Nineteen Eighty-four | George Orwell | Wikipedia | British Library | Literary History | SparkNotes

P

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Brian Patten (1946-)

Brian Patten Home Page | Brian Patten: Life, Love, Death, and Poetry

Harold Pinter (1930-2008)

Wikipedia | Harold Pinter Official Site | Literary History | Psychological Warfare in Pinter

Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)

The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath | Literary History

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

Knowing Poe | SparkNotes | Literary History | DVD

Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

The Victorian Web | A Heroic Poet | SparkNotes | The Rape of the Lock

Ezra Pound (1885-1972)

Introduction to Ezra Pound | Ezra Pound pages | Literary History

R

   

J K Rowling (1967-)

J K Rowling | Harry Potter | Harry Potter Video Game | SparkNotes

Salman Rushdie (1947-)

Wikipedia | Official Web Site | New York Times

 

S

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J D Salinger (1919-2010)

Literary History | SparkNotes | BookRags | Novelguide

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

SparkNotes | Absolute Shakespeare | Resource Center | Rutgers University | Uinversity of California | Shakespeare Facts | PlayShakespeare.com | The Shakespeare Mystery | Wikipedia

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Wikipedia | Pygmalion | International Shaw Society

Mary Shelley (1797-1851)

The Victorian Web | Frankenstein | NovelGuide | Literary History | British Library Authors

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

Wikipedia | The Victorian Web | Literary History | British Library Authors

Richard Sheridan (1751-1816)

Wikipedia | Internet Archive

Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)

Astrophil and Stella | Astrophil and Stella at Gradesaver | Luminarium | Sidney Homepage

Alan Sillitoe (1928 - 2010)

Alan Sillitoe, British novelists of the 1960s | Wikipedia | British Council

Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)

Luminarium | SparkNotes | The Faerie Queene

John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

The John Steinbeck Page | Wikipedia | SparkNotes | GradeSaver | Pink Monkey | Literary History

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

SparkNotes | NovelGuide | GradeSaver | The British Library: Robert Louis Stevenson

Bram Stoker (1847-1912)

Bram Stoker | SparkNotes | GradeSaver

Sir Tom Stoppard (1937-)

Wikipedia | Moonstruck | Tom Stoppard In Search of Reality

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

The Victorian Web | Gulliver's Travels

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909)

Wikipedia | The Victorian Web | Literary History

T

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Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

The Victorian Web | Literary History | SparkNotes | The British Library: Alfred Lord Tennyson

Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)

Dylan Thomas, life and work | Introduction to Dylan Thomas | Wikipedia | Literary History

J R R Tolkien (1892-1973)

Wikipedia | The Lord of the Rings | SparkNotes

U

   

John Updike (1932-2009)

Wikipedia | Literary History

V

   

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)

Wikipedia | Slaughterhouse Five | SparkNotes

W

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Alice Walker (1944-)

Anniina's | Living by Grace | GradeSaver | The Color Purple | SparkNotes | Sylvia Plath & Alice Walker

War Poets (1914-1918)

First World War.com | Lost Poets | WorldWar1.com | Poets of the Great War | The Georgians and The War Poets

Evelyn Waugh (1903 - 1966)

Wikipedia | Introduction to Evelyn Waugh

John Webster (1580-c1625)

Wikipedia | Luminarium | John Webster | The Duchess of Malfi

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Poets.org | Wikipedia | Modern American Poetry

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

The Victorian Web | Literary History | SparkNotes | Wilde e-texts | Wilde's Trials | British Library Authors

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)

The Tennessee Williams Page | Wikipedia | SparkNotes | GradeSaver | Pink Monkey | Literary History | DVD

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

Mrs Dalloway Through the Lens of 'Modern Fiction' | To the Lighthouse | Virginia Woolf Society | International Virginia Woolf Society

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

The British Library: William Wordswworth | The Victorian Web | Cambridge History | Uinversity of California | Literary History | The Wordsworth Circle | Concordance to Lyrical Ballads | Complete Works | Memory In Romanticism | Lyrical Ballads | Wordsworth and Lucy

Y

   

W B Yeats (1869-1935)

Introduction to W B Yeats | Yeats's 'Last Poems' | National Library of Ireland | Literary History | Wikipedia | SparkNotes | Yeats Country (photos of locations of Yeats's poems)


Sites about poetry

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The Poetry Foundation | Modern American Poetry | Cortland Review | Everypoet.com | Famous Poets | Literary History | The Poetry Archive | The Poetry Society | Poetry.com | Academy of American Poets | Sonnet Central

Literary magazines

 

3 A.M. Magazine | Antigonish Review | Atlantic Online | Books Unlimited | Granta | Literary Kicks | The Literary Review | The London Review of Books | Mslexia | New York Review of Books | On the Page | Salon | Short Stories | Spike Magazine | TLS | Wasafiri | Zoetrope

Prizes and laureateships

 

Nobel Prize for Literature | Nobel e-Museum | Nobel Prize Internet Archive | BookPrizeInfo.com | Booker Prize Reviews | The Man Booker Prize | The Costa (ex-Whitbread) Book Award | The Orange Prize | Pulitzer Prizes

Literature & Film

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Books on Film | All Movie Guide | Internet Movie Database

Miscellaneous

BBC World Book Club Podcasts | The English collection

humanities audio & video files |

The British Library | The British Library - Turning the Pages - look inside literary manuscript treasures | BBC Historic Figures | The Globe Theatre | The Gutenberg Bible | Goodreads | Education Association | Spinebreakers Forum from Penguin Books | Sommer's World Literature To G0

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