A York Notes Companion for students of contemporary literature, this volume looks at the literature of our own times, shaped by recent experiences from millennial anxieties to the events of 9/11. Placing texts within a cultural and critical context, the book discusses emerging genres such as multicultural and post-colonial writing, contemporary theatre, autobiography and the neo-Victorian novel. Established writers such as A. S. Byatt, Salman Rushdie, and Carol Ann Duffy are featured alongside the newer voices of Zadie Smith, Alan Hollinghurst and Sarah Waters in a volume which offers an essential overview of the contemporary literary scene in Britain and further afield.