Arranged in a dictionary format. Each volume is a biographical-bibliographical guide and overview for a particular area of western literature.
Entries range from brief notices of secondary figures to comprehensive treatments of major figures.
There is a cumulative index of authors' names covering all DLB volumes in the last volume of the series. 50 Afro-American writers before the Harlem Renaissance Vol. 33 Afro-American writers after 1955 Vol. 41 Afro-American poets since 1955 Vol. 130 American short-story writers since World War II Vol.