Edited by Nelson (English, SUNY Cortland), this two-volume set presents over 300 signed entries authored by over 125 authors, professors, graduate students, librarians, and professionals from across the United States. The articles cover topics of relevance to the field of lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgendered/queer (LGBTQ) literature such as AIDS, seminal texts like Angels in America, and a large number of articles on mainly contemporary authors. … Bottom Line: Geared toward high school, college, and scholarly research users, this work is free of bias, focusing on LGBTQ topics as equally as the materials enable. Recommended for all academic and high school libraries.

Library Journal

This outstanding reference work was written with the reader in mind. The clarity of the style and depth of the scholarship of its approximately 120 scholarly contributors make for accessible reading by academicians and high school students alike. That accessibility is enhanced by two excellent tables of contents. . . Accessibility is further promoted within each clearly formatted entry by distinct bolding for cross-referenced topics and by a thorough index at the end of volume 2. There is a tremendous amount of valuable information to be accessed in the two volumes of the Encyclopedia of Contemporary LGBTQ Literature of the United States. . . . As a whole, this work explores contemporary U.S. LGBTQ literature in its social, political, cultural, and historical contexts. A fine introduction by Marylynne Diggs lays the groundwork for this comprehensive approach, and bibliographies of important secondary sources (at the end of each entry and toward the end of volume two) reinforce it. The Encyclopedia of Contemporary LGBTQ Literature of the United States is indispensible for any excellent reference collection.

ARBAonline

While it will be extremely useful for students of literature, history, and social issues, the book also will interest general readers who want to learn more about LGBTQ society.

Reference & Research Book News

The more than 300 signed essays in this encyclopedia cover a broad spectrum of multicultural lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer contemporary literature, from memoir to poetry to drama. Arranged alphabetically, the set is weighted heavily in biographical entries, but also included are seminal works and topical entries such as "Novel, Lesbian" and "Gay Rights Movement" that range in length from approximately 500 to 4000 words…

School Library Journal

The editor and contributors must be commended for the readability of the entries, which are uniformly interesting and approachable while scholarly enough to pass university muster. . . . An excellent work for college and university libraries, as well as larger public libraries, this offering treats a broader range of writers than such standard works as Greenwood Press' Contemporary Lesbian Writers of the United States (1993) and Gay American Poets and Playwrights (2003). Also available as an e-book.

Booklist

This two-volume set will have an immediate positive impact on literary criticism in the new millennium. LGBTQ Literature is an authoritative scholarly reference for literature from 1980 to the present. . . . This set provides rich access to film and theater, especially Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions. LGBTQ Literature makes a significant contribution to the ongoing project of increasing the availability of scholarly resources on this topic. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers.

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