This new reference encyclopedia provides 848 articles on literatures from around the world produced in the Spanish language. The work uses language, rather than nation-state, other political entity or geography, as the basis for the subjects covered. All genres of literature are treated in the work, including fiction, poetry, theater, documentary, and testimonial literature, as well as writings on history, philosophy, music, film, media and popular culture, political protest, revolution and war, exploration, and travel. Themes in literature are covered, including modernism, postmodernism, realism, social realism, surrealism, costumbrismo, romanticism, eroticism, feminism, identity, the avant-garde, and many more. Articles also address the literature of groups including Afro-Hispanics, Chicanos, Cuban-Americans and other Latinos in the United States, exiles, indigenous peoples, gays and lesbians, literature for children, and the Islamic and Judeo heritage in Spanish literature, as well as the literatures of all of the countries in the Spanish-speaking world today. In terms of periods covered, the work provides a solid overview of the Spanish literature of past centuries (the baroque, the Golden Age, colonialism, discovery and conquest), while maintaining an emphasis on modern literatures from the twentieth century to the present. A substantial portion of the text is devoted to individual articles on important writers for all periods and countries.

The work is intended for non-specialists in the study of literature and language, and articles are intentionally free of the jargon and special vocabulary of literary criticism. Bibliographies accompanying articles emphasize works available in English as well as Spanish. References and publication information is provided for all literary works that are available in English translation. Appendixes provide a listing of articles by century, a listing by geographic areas, a glossary of literary and cultural terms that might not be familiar to the general reader, a bibliography of print and electronic resources, and a comprehensive index.

World Literature in Spanish is an excellent addition to the available reference materials for the subject. University library collections tend to more specialist-oriented works focusing on specific geographical areas, genres or national/regional literatures, or historical periods. For instance, the Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature 1900–2003 by Balderston and Gonzalez (Routledge, 2004) is a specialized one volume work focused on a specific world region and the period of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Verity Smith’s Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature ((Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997) is a scholarly work also limited to New World writers. Latino Literature: A Guide to Reading Interests, edited by Sara Martinez (Libraries Unlimited, 2009), is a “readers’ advisory” volume with selections arranged by genre and aimed at a public library/high school audience.

The current work fills a gap by providing a huge amount of information on the rich compendium of literature from around the world (Spain, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, the United States, the Philippines) created in the Spanish language. The volumes are accessible and useful to English-only as well as bilingual readers. I would recommend this work for all university and college libraries and for public and school libraries that serve communities of Latino, Chicano, and Spanish-origin immigrant communities.