Library Guides: English Literature: Modern and Contemporary: Collections and Awards

Best of...

The Best American Series, published yearly by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, includes the best in short stories, mystery stories, science and nature writing, comics, nonrequired reading, and more.

Check out the MU library catalog to find the Best American Series.

This list also includes links to several other lists of popular modern and contemporary novels, short stories, and poems, some produced professionally and others informally.

The Best American Essays
PS688 .B48 2004
The Best American Nonrequired Reading
PS659.2 .B47
The Best American Poetry
PS615 .B4742
The Best American Science and Nature Writing
Journalism Q167 .B48
The Best American Short Stories of the Century
PS648.S5 B4 1999
The Best American Sports Writing of the Century
Journalism PS509.S65 B48 1999
100 Best Novels of the 20th Century
Two lists of the Best 100 Novels of the 20th Century, one selected by readers, and one selected by The Modern Library.
NPR 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century
Top 10 American Poems of the 20th Century
Sample of Ten popular American poems from the 20th Century.
Great Poets of the 20th Century
From The Guardian.
American Poets of the 21st Century
Information on popular 21st Century American Poets from Wesleyan University Press.

Literary Awards

Nobel Prizes in Literature
A list by name of every winner since 1901, with links to information about the authors including their acceptance speech, literary lectures, and award photos.
The Pulitzer Prizes
Documents 80 years of American intellectual and artistic excellence in journalism, letters, drama and music. Samples of winners' writings online as well as author bibliographies.
The American Book Awards
A group of annual awards distributed by the Before Columbus Foundation, devoted to celebrating America's diverse literary tradition.
The National Book Awards
National Book Awards are given yearly to American authors in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature categories. The National Book Foundation's website lists winners and finalists for each award.
Academy Book Awards
A collection of poetry awards offered by the Academy of American Poets
Poet Laureate - Library of Congress
Prestigious title awarded annually by the Librarian of Congress to a distinguished contemporary poet, charged with raising poetry awareness.
PEN Literary Awards
A collection of the 20 best contemporary short stories from each year.
The Pushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize is an annual publication from the Pushcart Press that features stories, poems, essays, and memoirs from small magazines and presses.