08/05/2026
The first review!
E. M. Forster: A Bibliography of Critical Studies, Translations, and Adaptations,
Krzysztof Fordoński, Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Warszawa 2025 (Open Access, 196)
Anna Kwiatkowska, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland
Krzysztof Fordoński’s E. M. Forster: A Bibliography of Critical Studies, Translations, and Adaptations (2025) is an ambitious contribution to Forster studies that aims at consolidating
years of dispersed scholarship into a single, accessible resource. It compiles scholarly studies on the British writer, Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970), from 1975 up to the year 2025.
Apart from listing literary reviews and analysis, the volume includes translations into over 40 languages and various adaptations in the fields of film, theatre, music, or television. As a Forster scholar myself, I can see the Bibliography as a comprehensive research tool for all those who need to find their way through the vast and increasingly interdisciplinary body of scholarship surrounding Forster. Importantly, the publication caters not only for experienced
researchers refining their work but also for newcomers to the field who are beginning their research.
Fordoński’s project responds to a clear scholarly demand. Since the late twentieth century, Forster criticism has expanded significantly. This constantly growing body of Forster-related texts reflects the shifts that in the meantime have occurred in literary theory and cultural studies. Among them, there are postcolonial readings of A Passage to India, q***r reinterpretations of Maurice, and renewed attention to adaptation studies. Yet, this expansion has also resulted in fragmentation. Earlier bibliographies, especially those compiled in the mid- to the late twentieth century, can no longer adequately represent the field’s current scope. And clearly, Fordoński’s volume addresses this gap by focusing primarily on
academic scholarship published from 1975 onwards. This limitation to published scholarship, however, does not mean a lesser scope of coverage. The incorporations of translations and adaptations apparently broaden the field and at the same time illustrate its
redefinition.
As for the structure, the bibliography is both logical and user-oriented. The volume is divided into three main sections that group sources according to a medium-based principle: critical studies (written scholarship), translations (linguistic re-mediations of texts), and adaptations (transformations into other media such as film or theatre). This tripartite organization shows a certain tendency in Forster studies, namely that Forster’s legacy extends beyond stricte
literary criticism. Nevertheless, the first section (13-146), on critical studies, forms the core of the book. It catalogues a wide range of academic publications, including monographs, journal articles, and edited volumes. The entries are arranged alphabetically, by author,
allowing for straightforward, user-friendly navigation. Section two (147-186), devoted to translations of Forster’s literary and non-literary texts, covers over forty languages. Such a range highlights the international reach of Forster’s work. When it comes to section three (187-196), dedicated to adaptations, it is the shortest, yet equally interesting. This part is arranged thematically and broadens the presented scope further by documenting various representations and re-interpretations of Forster’s oeuvre or works inspired by said oeuvre in the field of music, film, television, and theatre. One of the volume’s key strengths lies in its scale. Fordoński displays an impressive commitment to inclusivity. He brings together materials from diverse geographical and
intellectual contexts. Among the conferred sources there are English language canonical studies as well as lesser-known critical works of non-English traditions. Subsequently, such an approach encourages a more global perspective which in turn corresponds with the questions Forster pursued in his texts, namely the questions of empire, culture, and crosscultural encounter. What is more, the amount of international scholarship featuring in all
three sections implicitly invites readers to reconsider Forster not merely as a British author but as a figure of transnational significance.
Another notable feature of the volume is the inclusion of various types of adaptations. They apparently indicate a rich afterlife enjoyed by Forster’s works. By documenting these adaptations alongside critical studies, Fordoński acknowledges the interplay between academic criticism and popular reception. The adaptations section undeniably enhances the bibliography’s interdisciplinary claim and makes it relevant not only to literary scholars but
also to researchers in film and media studies.
One more aspect of the book that needs to be highlighted is its accessibility. As an open access publication, it not only removes many of the barriers that traditionally limit the use of specialized reference works, but also invites readers to widen their research through links to online sources added to listed titles whenever it was possible. By making the bibliography freely available, Fordoński contributes to global scholarship and supports the ongoing
internationalization of Forster studies. Importantly, such an easy access to the data can be helpful to both, established scholars and those researchers who are just embarking on new Forster-related projects. For the former, e-bibliography provides a convenient means of verifying references and discovering materials that might otherwise remain obscure, whereas for the latter, it offers an indispensable starting point that enabling them to situate their work within existing scholarship. In any case, this online publication facilitates connections between different aspects of criticism.
When compared to the previous bibliographies dedicated to Forster, his life and his oeuvre, this volume, as Fordoński notes himself in the Introduction, is characterized by the absence of annotations. It seems quite understandable considering the scale of the completed project, however, incorporation of a selection of annotations or thematic indexing might be considered in future editions to heighten steering through the material. Nevertheless, at its present form, the volume offers entries in a concise, reference-oriented format. Additionally, this approach allows for the inclusion of a greater number of items and maintains the book’s function as a bibliographic tool, a tool that is apparently quite powerful. For it not only presents research trends, but also participates in shaping literary canons. Thus, Fordoński, by deciding what gets included, how it is categorized, and how it is accessible, certainly goes
beyond recording scholarship; he actively organizes the field for us, that is scholars, researchers or Forster enthusiasts.
As a result, the reading of the bibliography is twofold. First, we can look at it simply as an excellent source of feedback on frequently cited authors, recurring journals devoted to the writer as well as well-represented topics, or, conversely, the areas that are neglected and therefore wait to be expanded (like ecocritical readings or digital humanities approach), since the bibliography incorporates marginalized voices, lesser-known publications, or non traditional formats which can help diversify the canon and open up the field. Second, Fordoński’s rich collection of Forsterian data, thanks to its temporal framing, invites pondering over the shift that has occurred in interpretative patterns. The focus on post-1975
studies of the work and life of Forster allows for detecting the impact of newer theoretical approaches, like postcolonialism, q***r theory, adaptation studies.
And last but not least, Fordoński effectively continues from where Frederick P. W. McDowell stopped. He replaces, however, McDowell’s highly commenting, documentary and thus interpretative approach with an enumerative one. Such a way of presentation reflects best the reality of information overload. As we can read in the Introduction to Fordoński’s volume, the bibliography is composed of nearly 2,000 entries and it is
continuously growing: “In the recent years, their number has settled at approximately 50 publications yearly (2021 was exceptional with 72, while in 2024 there were exactly 50), or one almost every week. The present bibliography includes 1,880 entries but, regardless of
all efforts, it is still incomplete as new publications continue to appear”. It becomes harder and harder to keep pace with the steady proliferation of scholarship on Forster, whose critical
reception continues to expand across disciplines, languages, and media, making any attempt at bibliographic completeness necessarily provisional.
All in all, E. M. Forster: A Bibliography of Critical Studies, Translations, and Adaptations by Krzysztof Fordoński represents a significant and timely contribution to the field. It succeeds in its primary aim of consolidating a vast and dispersed body of scholarship, offering researchers a reliable and comprehensive reference instrument. Ultimately, the bibliography testifies to the enduring relevance of E. M. Forster and to the continued vitality
of the scholarly discussions surrounding his work. It is likely to become an essential resource for anyone engaged in the study of Forster and his legacy.
Anna Kwiatkowska
The book is available at
The volume contains three bibliographies of the English writer Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970): the bibliography of scientific publications on the works of the writer, published from 1975, the bibliography of the translations into over forty languages
