J. A. Cuddon was a writer, school teacher and academic. Best known for his Dictionary of Literary Terms, he also produced the large Dictionary of Sport and Games, as well as several novels, plays and travel books. He also edited two anthologoies of supernatural fiction. He died in 1996.

M.A.R. Habib received his doctorate from the University of Oxford, and is Professor of English at Rutgers University. He is the author of seven books, including A History Of Literary Criticism: From Plato to the Present (2005), and editor of the Cambridge History of Literary Criticism, Vol. VI (2013). He is currently writing a book entitled Hegel and the Foundations of Modern Literary Theory.

'An indispensable work of reference' Times Literary Supplement

The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory is firmly established as a key work of reference in the complex and varied field of literary criticism. Now in its fifth edition, it remains the most comprehensive and accessible work of its kind, and is invaluable for students, teachers and general readers alike.

- Gives definitions of technical terms (hamartia, iamb, zeugma) and critical jargon (aporia, binary opposition, intertextuality)

- Explores literary movements (neoclassism, romanticism, vorticism) and schools of literary theory

- Covers genres (elegy, fabliau, pastoral) and literary forms (haiku, ottava rima, sonnet)