Starting Research in Poetry

The following is a selected list of resources for starting research in poetry. For further assistance, contact Elizabeth Peterson, Librarian for Literature and Cinema Studies, at emp@uoregon.edu.

Background, Overviews, and Terms

• The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics |  KNIGHT REFERENCE PN1021 .N39 1993
  A comprehensive work dealing with all aspects poetry: history, types, movements, meter, prosody, and critical terminology. Entries vary in length from relatively brief entries to substantial articles of about 20,000 words.
• Patterns of Poetry : An Encyclopedia of Forms  |  PN1042.W514 1986  
  Stanza patterns and poetic forms are extensively illustrated.
• Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism Provides encyclopedia-like entries of critical trends and theories. Also includes overviews of particular critics' publications and influence. Also available in print: KNIGHT REFERENCE PN81 .J554 2005.

Companions & Handbooks

Use these sources for scholarly overviews and trends in current research. Below is a selected list. Find more by searching the library catalog for "(your topic) AND (companion or handbook)".

• Cambridge Companions to Literature and Classics Online
  The online equivalent of the renowned print series from Cambridge University Press. The hundreds of titles in the series provide scholarly overviews of authors, movements, genres, periods, and national literatures.
• A Companion to Eighteenth-century Poetry | PR553 .C66 2006
• A Companion to Medieval Poetry [e-book]
• A Companion to Poetic Genre [e-book]
• The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy | PN1389 .O84 2010
• Oxford Handbook of Modern and Contemporary American Poetry | PS323.5 .O94 2012 

Author Information

• Library Catalog
  • Search for the author as a subject (e.g., shakespeare, william). Works by and about the author will be shelved together.
• Literature Resource Center Provides easy access to scholarly research on authors and literary works. Includes criticism, biographies, bibliographies, work overviews and explications, and journal articles.

Finding Books

• UO Local Catalog | Search just the UO Libraries' holdings.
• UO WorldCat | Search the UO Libraries, the Summit system (Northwest libraries), and libraries worldwide. Use this system to request items not owned by UO Libraries.

Finding Specific Poems

• Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry in Anthologies | KNIGHT REFERENCE PN1022 .F73
• Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry in Collected and Selected Works | KNIGHT REFERENCE PN1022 .C63
  Allows you to find poems by title, author, first line, last line, or subject. Works best for English-language poems, though poetry in translation is included in the latest editions of the Index to Anthologies. Each edition indexes a slightly different collection of anthologies, so check several editions to cover all your bases.
• Index of American Periodical Verse (1971-2006) | Z1231 .P7 I47 (current in Knight Reference)
  An author list of poems appearing in 300 selected periodicals, primarily English-language little magazines, university reviews, and scholarly journals published in North America. A few Spanish-language publications have been indexed since 1981.

Literary Criticism Articles & Essays

• Academic Search Premier Indexes more than 8,000 publications, with full text for approximately 4,600. ASP focuses on academic, social sciences, humanities, general science, education and multi-cultural journals, with over 3,500 peer-reviewed titles.
• JSTOR A full-text database that contains the scanned images of hundreds of major research journals in a variety of academic disciplines, some of which began publication as early as the 1870s.
• Literature Resource Center
  Provides easy access to scholarly criticism from journals and literary magazines, reviews, and literary biographies of authors.
• MLA International Bibliography
  The essential index for critical materials about all literatures (except classical Greek and Roman), languages, folklore and film. The database provides access to over 1.3 million entries gleaned from essay collections, dissertations, monographs and over 6,000 journals. Covers 1926-present.
• Project Muse Searches the full text in over 300 academic journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, journals.

Poetry Explication

• Guide to American Poetry Explication | PS201 .G85 1989
  • Volume I: Colonial and 19th Century
  • Volume II: Modern and Contemporary
• Guide to British Poetry Explication | PR311 .M37 1991
  • Volume I: Old English - Medieval
  • Volume II: Renaissance
  • Volume III: Restoration - Romantic
  • Volume IV: Victorian - Contemporary
• Poetry Explication: A Checklist of Interpretation since 1925 of British and American Poems Past and Present | Z2014.P7K8 1980
  A comprehensive index of poetry analysis and interpretation published between 1925 and 1978 for poems of 500 lines or less. Arranged alphabetically by poet's last name and then by title of poem.

Digital Collections

A small selection of scholarly poetry collections online.

• The Algernon Charles Swinburne Project
• Emily Dickinson Electronic Archives
• Paul Laurence Dunbar
• The Poet's Voice: A Digital Poetry Collection
• Walt Whitman Archive

Professional Resources

• Literary Market Place: The Directory of American Book Publishing | KNIGHT REFERENCE PN 161 .L5
  The authoritative directory for American publishers, agents, editorial services, illustrators, advertisers, and related services.
• The Directory of Small Press & Magazine Editors & Publishers | KNIGHT REFERENCE PN 4820 .D57
  Provides contact information for small presses and publishers.
• Poet's Market | KNIGHT REFERENCE PN 1059 .M3 P59
  An indispensable guide to literary journals, awards, residencies, as well as some agents and book publishers geared specifically to poets and poetry. 
• Poets and Writers | KNIGHT PS 128 .C63
  A key journal subscription for creative writers, for its listings of residencies, calls for submissions, and awards, as well as its coverage of established writers.
• The AWP Official Guide to Writing Programs | KNIGHT REFERENCE PN181 .A8
  The Associated Writing Programs' comprehensive evaluation of programs and study options for writers.
• A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers | KNIGHT REFERENCE PS 129 .D55
  Basic directory information for contemporary American writers, compiled by Poets and Writers magazine.

Web Resources

• Poetry Foundation
  The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience. [description from their website]
• Poetry & Literature -- Library of Congress
  Information about Poet Laureates, the Favorite Poem Project, online poetry materials at the Library of Congress including manuscripts and recordings, and events with poets.
• Poetry Ireland
  An organization "dedicated to developing, supporting and promoting poetry through Ireland."
• The Poetry Society (UK)
  Founded in 1909, The Poetry Society's mission is to "advance the study, use and enjoyment of poetry." It represents British poetry both nationally and internationally, with nearly 4,000 members worldwide. The Society publishes the country's leading poetry magazine, Poetry Review.
• Poets.org
  The website of the American Academy of Poets, whose mission is "to support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry."