Contemporary Authors is an annually updated reference work published by Gale Cengage. It provides biographical details on over 120,000 writers in all genres whose works have been published in the English language. Contemporary Authors was originally released as a series of books, but is now available in an online version.
Authors can submit information about themselves, but they must meet certain inclusion criteria to receive a profile in Contemporary Authors. Authors whose works have only been published by vanity presses are generally excluded.
The first edition of Contemporary Authors was released in 1962. The series is held in many libraries, and was honored by the American Library Association in 1985 as one of the "most distinguished reference titles" of the preceding 25 years.
Famous quotes containing the words contemporary and/or authors:
“Eclecticism is the degree zero of contemporary general culture: one listens to reggae, watches a western, eats McDonald’s food for lunch and local cuisine for dinner, wears Paris perfume in Tokyo and “retro” clothes in Hong Kong; knowledge is a matter for TV games. It is easy to find a public for eclectic works.”
—Jean François Lyotard (b. 1924)
“It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.... The quotations, when engraved upon the memory, give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more.”
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965)