Salem Press

American Ethnic Writers
Authoritative coverage of 225 ethnic writers that is essential for the school and college library shelf. Including core voices of American ethnic literature in all major ethnicities, the set covers 50% more biographies and more than twice the titles covered in the decade-old first edition.

Ethnic literature is a mainstay of the high school and undergraduate classroom. This revised edition of American Ethnic Writers, expanded by a full volume, includes not only the classics of African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, Jewish American, and Native American novels, short stories, plays, and poetry but many new voices as well, in authoritative, clearly written essays for the student and general reader. It is a key resource for literary and American studies.

This new edition covers 225 ethnic writers plus more than 700 of their works, where the old edition covered 136 writers and 217 works. All major American ethnicities are covered: African American (102), Asian American (32), Jewish American (31), Hispanic/Latino (46), and Native American (21); among these writers are 94 women. An updated and significantly expanded three-volume edition of the original two-volume American Ethnic Writers, this edition enhances previous coverage with the addition of 89 new authors and more than 500 new works—more than doubling the length of the best-selling two-volume set of 2000.

The writers covered here include such well-known African American writers as Maya Angelou, Alex Haley, Toni Morrison and Richard Wright as well as Asian American writers Amy Tan, Ha Jin and Jade Snow-Wong and Jewish American writers Saul Bellow, Philip Roth and Elie Wiesel. Also covered here are Hispanic and Latino writers Ana Castillo, Victor Hernandez Cruz and José Yglesias, and Native American contemporaries Alexie Sherman, Barbara Kingsolver and Joy Harjo.

Arranged alphabetically by author, each essay begins with the name of the writer as best known, followed by a capsule identifier (e.g., Asian American novelist); a summary description of the writer's significance; "Traditions," which lists associated ethnicities (e.g., Japanese American); "Also known as" names; birth date and place; death date and place (if applicable); and Biography. Pronunciation guides are provided for difficult-to-pronounce names. A section of analyses follows, focusing on one to ten of the writer's works. Each of these sections on core novels, plays, short stories, or poems lists the work's title, genre, and year of publication, followed by a page of analysis. The updated "Suggested Readings" section lists 5 to 10 print resources for more information. Finally, each essay is signed by an academician or other expert contributor.

Several important research aids can be found at the end of Volume 3, including a General Bibliography and a list of Web Sites, as well as five indexes: Author Index, Title Index, Authors by Ethnic Identity, Titles by Ethnic Identity, and Titles by Genre.