Entrants include poets, essayists, playwrights, and novelists. The range of authors represented is wide and embraces not only the familiar names found in literature survey classes, such as James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, G. B. Shaw, and Anthony Trollope, but many "popular" authors like Agatha Christie, Ian Fleming, and Rafael Sabatini. Children's authors are also given their due, with articles on J. M. Barrie, A. A. Milne, Beatrix Potter, and J. K. Rowling, to name a few. Although most of those included count one of the British Isles as their birthplace, there are many representatives from countries that are part of the British Commonwealth, among them Margaret Atwood, J. M. Coetzee, Michael Ondaatje, and Salman Rushdie. Current literary stars like Martin Amis, Roddy Doyle, Ian McEwan, and Zadie Smith are also included.
Each article presents an overview of the life and works of its subject. Both the suggestions for further reading and the selected bibliographies feature fairly recent, easily available titles.