The focus of this article is literature in the English language from anywhere, not just the literature of England, so that it includes writers from Scotland, the whole of Ireland, Wales, as well as literature in English from former British colonies, including the US. But until the early 19th century, it just deals with literature from Britain and Ireland written in English; then America starts to produce major writers. In the 20th century America and Ireland produced many of the most significant works of literature in English, and after World War II writers from the former British Empire also began to produce major works of literature.
A fuller discussion of literature in English from countries other than the UK and Ireland can be found in see also below.
For a discussion of literature from England in other languages than English, see British literature.