Kurschners Almanac of German Literature 2002/2003 2v (English, Spanish, Hardcover)

The 63rd edition of "Ku rschners Deutscher Literatur-Kalender" contains a total of 15,205 entries on people and institutions. The well-established record of contemporary German literature now provides entries on 10,933 authors, 10,626 of which are articles with bio-bibliographical details. The number of articles has thereby been increased by more than 2,000 since the last edition.

Writers of belletristic literature in the German language are presented without critical literary appraisal, regardless of their nationality and their geographical place of residence and sphere of influence. Articles provide information which includes address, biographical data, membership in associations and literary societies, literary awards and prizes, and list some 140,000 publications by the writers covered.

The comprehensive indexes found in the appendix have also been revised and updated: they now list 635 literary translators (with a language index), 1,632 publishers of belletristic literature, 603 literary awards with the prize-winners of recent years, 578 associations, literary societies, centers for literature and similar establishments, 443 literary journals and periodicals, 67 literary agencies, the literary editorials of 42 radio and television stations, and the literary supplements of 30 popular newspapers and journals.

The first "Almanac of German Literature "was for 1879 and, under the supervision of Joseph Ku rschner, soon established itself as the directory of German writers in the years that followed. Ku rschner introduced the practice of mailing questionnaires, still in use today. This ensured that many were included in the work and information was kept up to date.Within a few years Ku rschner managed to create an encyclopedic work listing thousands of writers. It became an essential reference tool not only for authors but for all involved in literature. This was in part due to the numerous additional sections, some of which have proved vital sources of information right up to the present day.

Thanks to these additional sections the Almanac has developed beyond a directory of writers into a cultural record of the times, a "Who's Who" of publishers, printers, book binders, paper suppliers, antiquarians, agencies and periodicals etc.