Research the life of your chosen poet.

• Use biographical Internet sites.
• Use biographical reference works in your library.

Take notes for use in your biographical poem about your author!

Internet Sites

• Find-a-Poet (from The Academy of American Poets)
• Biography.com
• American Authors (from Gonzaga University)
• Selected American Authors (from usinfo.org)
• Representative Poetry Online
• Voice of the Shuttle (use search window and type in poet's last name)
• Modern American Poetry
• American Poems - Poets
• Gale- Free Resources - Poet's Corner
• Biography Center
• Distinguished Women of Past and Present
• Lives, the Biography Resource

Use Google or another search tool for more information about specific poets. Include the keywords "biography" and "poet" in addition to the poet's name.

For example, use the following search string to find information about Shel Silverstein:

Shel Silverstein poet biography

Ask-a-Librarian Service
(Available as a cooperative service of Maryland libraries)
AskUsNow

BCPS Subscription Databases (Fee-Based)

Click here to connect to the full list of BCPS Fee-Based databases. (Obtain logins and passwords for these databases from your library media specialist)

Recommended databases for biography:

• LION
• SIRS Discoverer
• eLibrary  (Search in the Books category)
• American History (ABC-CLIO)
  

Baltimore County Public Library Databases
(You will need a BCPL library card barcode number to access these databases.)

• Biography Resource Center
• Encyclopedia Americana
• Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia
• MiddleSearch Plus
• Literature Resource Center

• Something About the Author(Gale)
• Concise Dictionary of American Biography(Charles Scribner's Sons)
• World Authors (H.W.Wilson)
• Encyclopedia of World Biography(Gale)
• Contemporary Authors(Gale)
• Current Biography(H.W.Wilson)
• Dictionary of Hispanic Biography(Gale)
• Who's Who Among Black Americans(Gale)