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The IB Prescribed Reading List introduces students to a diverse range of authors, periods, and cultures from which they can choose literary texts such as prose and poetry. This post will outline the prescribed reading list for IB English for both the Literature and Language & Literature courses.
IB English Prescribed Reading List
Last Name | First Name | Country/Region | Literary Form | Period/Century |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Abani | Chris | Nigeria, USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Adams | Abigail | USA | Prose: non-fiction | 18-19 |
Adamson | Robert | Australia | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Adcock | Fleur | New Zealand | Poetry | 20-21 |
Adichie | Chimamanda Ngozi | Nigeria, USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 21 |
Agbaje | Bola | Nigeria, UK | Drama | 21 |
Aidoo | Ama Ata | Ghana | Drama, Poetry, Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Albee | Edward | USA | Drama, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Alexie | Sherman | USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Ali | Monica | Bangladesh, UK | Prose: fiction | 21 |
Alvarez | Julia | Dominican Republic, USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Anam | Tahmima | Bangladesh, UK | Prose: fiction | 21 |
Angelou | Maya | USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Anthony | Michael | Trinidad and Tobago | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Anzaldúa | Gloria | USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Arnold | Matthew | UK | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Atwood | Margaret | Canada | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Austen | Jane | UK | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Aw | Tash | Malaysia, UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 21 |
Awoonor | Kofi | Ghana | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Baingana | Doreen | Uganda | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 21 |
Baldwin | James | USA | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Bambara | Toni Cade | USA | Prose: fiction | 20 |
Baxter | James K | New Zealand | Drama, Poetry | 20 |
Bechdel | Alison | USA | Prose: non-fiction | 21 |
Beckett | Samuel | Ireland | Drama, Prose: fiction | 20 |
Behn | Aphra | UK | Drama, Poetry, Prose: fiction | 17 |
Bender | Aimee | USA | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Bird | Isabella | UK | Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Blake | William | UK | Poetry | 18-19 |
Boland | Eavan | Ireland | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Bradstreet | Anne | USA | Poetry | 17 |
Brathwaite | (Kamau) Edward | Barbados | Poetry | 20-21 |
Brodber | Erna | Jamaica | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Bronte | Emily | UK | Poetry, Prose: fiction | 19 |
Brooks | Gwendolyn | USA | Poetry | 20 |
Barrett Browning | Elizabeth | UK | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Brutus | Dennis | South Africa, Zimbabwe | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Bulawayo | NoViolet | Zimbabwe | Prose: fiction | 21 |
Butler | Octavia E | USA | Prose: fiction | 20 |
Byatt | AS | UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Cambridge | Ada | Australia | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 19-20 |
Capote | Truman | USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Carey | Peter | Australia | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Carr | Marina | Ireland | Drama | 20-21 |
Carter | Martin | Guyana | Poetry | 20 |
Carter | Angela | UK | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Chaucer | Geoffrey | UK | Poetry | 14 |
Chaudhuri | Nirad C | India | Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Chin | Marilyn | Hong Kong, USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Cho | Zen | Malaysia, UK | Prose: fiction | 21 |
Chopin | Kate | USA | Prose: fiction | 19 |
Churchill | Caryl | UK | Drama | 20-21 |
Clifton | Lucille | USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Coetzee | JM | Australia, South Africa | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Coleridge | Samuel Taylor | UK | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 18-19 |
Conrad | Joseph | Poland, UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 19-20 |
Crawford | Isabella Valency | Canada | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Crozier | Lorna | Canada | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Cruz | Victor Hernandez | Puerto Rico | Poetry | 20-21 |
D'Aguiar | Fred | Guyana, UK | Drama, Poetry, Prose: fiction | 20 |
Dalrymple | William | UK | Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Dangarembga | Tsitsi | Zimbabwe | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Danticat | Edwidge | Haiti, USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Das | Kamala | India | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Davies | Robertson | Canada | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Davis | Jack | Australia | Drama, Poetry | 20 |
Dawe | Bruce | Australia | Poetry | 20-21 |
Defoe | Daniel | UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 17-18 |
De Krester | Michelle | Sri Lanka, New Zealand | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Delany | Samuel | USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Desai | Anita | India | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Deshpande | Shashi | India | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Dessaix | Robert | Australia | Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Diaz | Junot | Dominican Republic, USA | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Dick | Philip K | USA | Prose: fiction | 20 |
Dickens | Charles | UK | Prose: fiction | 19 |
Dickinson | Emily | USA | Poetry | 19 |
Didion | Joan | USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Donne | John | UK | Poetry | 16-17 |
Douglass | Frederick | USA | Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Dove | Rita | USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Duffy | Carol Ann | UK | Drama, Poetry | 20-21 |
Dylan | Bob | USA | Poetry | 20-21 |
Dumont | Marilyn | Canada | Poetry | 20-21 |
Eckermann | Ali Cobby | Australia | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 21 |
Eliot | TS | UK, USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Eliot | George | UK | Prose: fiction | 19 |
Emecheta | Buchi | Nigeria, UK | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Equiano | Olaudah | Nigeria, UK | Prose: non-fiction | 18 |
Erdrich | Louise | USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Farah | Nurrudin | Somalia | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Faulkner | William | USA | Prose: fiction | 20 |
Fielding | Henry | UK | Drama, Prose: fiction | 18 |
Finch | Anne | UK | Poetry | 17-18 |
Flanagan | Richard | Australia | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Forster | EM | UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Frame | Janet | New Zealand | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Franklin | Benjamin | USA | Prose: non-fiction | 18 |
Frost | Robert | USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Lim | Shirley Geok-lin | Malaysia, USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Ghosh | Amitav | India | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Gibson | William | Canada | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Giovanni | Nikki | USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Glancy | Diane | USA | Drama, Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Glaspell | Susan | USA | Drama, Prose: fiction | 20 |
Goodison | Lorna | Jamaica | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Gordimer | Nadine | South Africa | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Gray | Robert | Australia | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Greene | Graham | UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Grenville | Kate | Australia | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Guare | John | USA | Drama | 20-21 |
Hardy | Thomas | UK | Poetry, Prose: fiction | 19 |
Hariharan | Githa | India | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Harjo | Joy | USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Harris | Claire | Canada, Trinidad and Tobago | Poetry | 20-21 |
Harwood | Gwen | Australia | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Hawthorne | Nathaniel | USA | Prose: fiction | 19 |
Hayes | Terrance | USA | Poetry | 20-21 |
Hazzard | Shirley | Australia, USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Head | Bessie | Botswana, South Africa | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Heaney | Seamus | Ireland | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Hong Kingston | Maxine | USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Hove | Chenjerai | Zimbabwe | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Howe | Marie | USA | Poetry | 20-21 |
Hughes | Langston | USA | Drama, Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Hughes | Ted | UK | Drama, Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Hurston | Zora Neale | USA | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Ihimaera | Witi | New Zealand | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Ishiguro | Kazuo | UK | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Jacobs | Harriet | USA | Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Jamie | Kathleen | UK | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Jen | Gish | USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Ha Jin |
| China, USA | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Jones | Gail | Australia | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Jonson | Ben | UK | Drama, Poetry | 16-17 |
Joyce | James | Ireland | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Kane | Sarah | UK | Drama | 20 |
Karnad | Girish | India | Drama | 20-21 |
Kay | Jackie | UK | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Kempe | Margery | UK | Prose: non-fiction | 14-15 |
Kincaid | Jamaica | Antigua and Barbuda, USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
King | Thomas | Canada | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
King Jr | Martin Luther | USA | Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Komunyakaa | Yusef | USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Lahiri | Jhumpa | Italy, USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Lamar | Kendrick | USA | Poetry | 21 |
Lamming | George | Barbados | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Larkin | Philip | UK | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Laurence | Margaret | Canada | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Lawson | Henry | Australia | Poetry, Prose: fiction | 19-20 |
Lee | Li-Young | Indonesia, USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Lee | Chang-Rae | Korea, USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Le Guin | Ursula K | USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Lennon | John | UK | Poetry | 20 |
Li | Yiyun | China, USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 21 |
Livesay | Dorothy | Canada | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Lochhead | Liz | UK | Drama, Poetry | 20-21 |
Lorde | Audre | USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Lowe | Hannah | UK | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 21 |
Macdonald | Helen | UK | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Mahapatra | Jayanta | India | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Malouf | David | Australia | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Mamet | David | USA | Drama, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Mansfield | Katherine | New Zealand | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Marlowe | Christopher | UK | Drama | 16 |
Marshall | Owen | New Zealand | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
McBride | Eimear | Ireland | Prose: fiction | 21 |
McCann | Colum | Ireland | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
McCarthy | Cormac | USA | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
McCraney | Tarell Alvin | USA | Drama | 21 |
McEwan | Ian | UK | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Mda | Zakes | South Africa | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Miller | Kei | Jamaica, UK | Drama, Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 21 |
Miller | Arthur | USA | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Milton | John | UK | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 17 |
Mistry | Rohinton | Canada, India | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Mitchell | David | UK | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Mitchell | Joni | Canada | Poetry | 20-21 |
Mohamed | Nadifa | Somalia, UK | Prose: fiction | 21 |
Moodie | Susanna | Canada | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Morris | Jan | UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Morrison | Toni | USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Mukherjee | Bharati | India, USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Muldoon | Paul | UK | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Munro | Alice | Canada | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Murray | Les | Australia | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Murray-Smith | Joanna | Australia | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Nabokov | Vladimir | Russia, USA | Drama, Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Naipaul | VS | Trinidad and Tobago, UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Narayan | RK | India | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Neilson | John Shaw | Australia | Poetry | 20 |
Nguyen | Viet Thanh | USA, Vietnam | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 21 |
Nichols | Grace | Guyana, UK | Poetry | 20 |
Nissim | Ezekiel | India | Poetry | 20 |
Noonuccal | Oodgeroo | Australia | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Nottage | Lynn | USA | Drama | 21 |
Nowra | Louis | Australia | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Nye | Naomi Shihab | USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
O'Brien | Tim | USA | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
O'Connor | Flannery | USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Okri | Ben | Nigeria | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Ondaatje | Michael | Canada, Sri Lanka | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
O'Neill | Heather | Canada | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Orwell | George | UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Osundare | Niyi | Nigeria | Drama, Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Oyeyemi | Helen | Nigeria, UK | Drama, Prose: fiction | 21 |
Ozeki | Ruth | Canada, USA | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Padmanabhan | Manjula | India | Drama, Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Parks | Suzan-Lori | USA | Drama, Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Pinter | Harold | UK | Drama, Poetry, Prose: fiction | 20 |
Plath | Sylvia | USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Poe | Edgar Allan | USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Pollock | Sharon | Canada | Drama | 20-21 |
Poon | Wena | Singapore, USA | Prose: fiction | 21 |
Porter | Dorothy | Australia | Poetry | 20-21 |
Ramanujan | AK | India | Poetry | 20 |
Rankine | Claudia | Jamaica, USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Rhys | Jean | Dominica, UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Rich | Adrienne | USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Rivera | José | Puerto Rico, USA | Drama | 20-21 |
Rossetti | Christina | UK | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Rotimi | Ola | Nigeria | Drama, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Rowlandson | Mary | USA | Prose: non-fiction | 17 |
Roy | Arundhati | India | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Ruhl | Sarah | USA | Drama, Poetry | 21 |
Rushdie | Salman | India, UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Said | Edward | Palestine, USA | Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Saunders | George | USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Scott | Dennis | Jamaica | Drama, Poetry | 20 |
Shaffer | Peter | UK | Drama | 20 |
Shakespeare | William | UK | Drama, Poetry | 16-17 |
Shamsie | Kamila | Pakistan, UK | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Shaw | George Bernard | UK | Drama, Prose: non-fiction | 19-20 |
Shelley | Percy Bysshe | UK | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Shields | Carol | Canada | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Sidhwa | Bapsi | Pakistan, USA | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Sidney | Philip | UK | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 16 |
Silko | Leslie Marmon | USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Slessor | Kenneth | Australia | Poetry | 20 |
Smith | Zadie | UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Smith | Ali | UK | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Sondheim | Stephen | USA | Drama, Poetry | 20-21 |
Soyinka | Wole | Nigeria | Drama, Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Stark | Freya | UK | Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Stead | Christina | Australia | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Stevens | Wallace | USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Stoppard | Tom | UK | Drama | 20-21 |
Swift | Jonathan | Ireland | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 17-18 |
Sykes | Roberta | Australia | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Tan | Shaun | Australia, China | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Thesiger | Wilfred | UK | Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Thien | Madeleine | Canada | Prose: fiction | 21 |
Thomas | Dylan | UK | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Thompson | Judith | Canada | Drama | 20-21 |
Thoreau | Henry David | USA | Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Toomer | Jean | USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Twain | Mark | USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Urquhart | Jane | Canada | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Vonnegut | Kurt | USA | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Vu | Chi | Australia, Vietnam | Drama, Prose: fiction | 21 |
Vuong | Ocean | USA, Vietnam | Poetry, Prose: fiction | 21 |
wa Thiong'o | Ngũgĩ | Kenya | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Walcott | Derek | St. Lucia | Drama, Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Walker | Alice | USA | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Wallace | David Foster | USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Ward | Jesmyn | USA | Prose: fiction | 21 |
Ware | Chris | USA | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Wertenbaker | Timberlake | UK | Drama | 20-21 |
Wharton | Edith | USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Wheatley | Phillis | USA | Poetry | 18 |
White | Patrick | Australia | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Whitehead | Colson | USA | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Whitman | Walt | USA | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 19 |
Williams | Roy | UK | Drama | 20-21 |
Williamson | David | Australia | Drama | 20-21 |
Wilson | August | USA | Drama | 20-21 |
Winterson | Jeannette | UK | Prose: fiction | 20-21 |
Winton | Tim | Australia | Drama, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
Wollstonecraft | Mary | UK | Prose: non-fiction | 18 |
Wong | Alison | New Zealand | Poetry | 21 |
Woolf | Virginia | UK | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Wright | Judith | Australia | Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Wright | Richard | USA | Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20 |
Wroth | Mary | UK | Poetry | 17 |
Yamauchi | Wakako | USA | Drama | 20 |
Yap | Angeline | Singapore | Poetry | 20-21 |
Yeats | William Butler | Ireland | Drama, Poetry, Prose: non-fiction | 19-20 |
Yu | Ouyang | Australia, China | Poetry, Prose: fiction, Prose: non-fiction | 20-21 |
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