All About Epigraphs

Most writers have a favorite book (or several) that contributed to their evolution as a writer and sometimes even served as a source of inspiration. Some choose to pay homage by including an epigraph—a phrase, a quote, or sometimes even a poem from those book(s)—at the beginning of their own book.

Epigraphs serve a dual purpose; they establish the context for a story as well as foreshadow the themes and subjects that will appear in the writer’s own work.

Functions of an Epigraph

Epigraphs perform a variety of functions.

• They offer glimpses of the work that is about to unfold.
• They prepare the ground for more prominent themes that will occur in the text.
• Sometimes, they provide additional information in order to help readers understand the text.
• Epigraphs engender a sense of being connected to something deeper and lend credibility to the topic.

An epigraph—profound, humorous, thought-provoking, or even frivolous—may set the mood or tone for a piece of work, but it usually goes unmentioned in the text.

Authors intending to add an epigraph to their work not only need to choose their source carefully but also find out if permission is needed to quote from it. They may also need to consult their publisher to decide where the epigraph should be placed and how to format it.

This is because an epigraph is one of the first things readers see. A poorly formatted or irrelevant epigraph can be misleading and even lead to bad reviews.

Read on to know more about how epigraphs are placed and formatted.

Epigraphs: Placement and Format

There aren’t really any special rules for using epigraphs; authors can quote a song, a poem, a novel, or even make up their own epigraphs. But if quoting from another’s work, it’s best to get permission to use the quotation.

Here are some tips for formatting a literary epigraph:

1. Indent it from the left, similar to a block quotation.
2. Use quotation marks around the borrowed lines/phrases.
3. Insert the original author’s name on the right side, below the quote, with an em dash preceding it.
4. In most cases, epigraphs should appear on the page succeeding the copyright page; if this page has a dedication, it can be placed on the next available page. This is for an epigraph applicable to the whole book. It can alternatively also be placed at the head of a chapter or other major division in a book, below the chapter title or number. An epigraph for a story must be placed below the story’s title.

Epigraphs: Choosing the Right One

There are many different reasons to use epigraphs. Here are a few things to keep in mind while searching for the right source:

• Look for works that are thematically related to your own work. Works with overlapping or similar themes can help readers know what to expect.
• Consider if there is a need to establish information. Sometimes, epigraphs are needed to provide contextual or expository information, such as information about the time period or subject of your book.

If your book alludes to particular works, you might want to consider using a quote from one of those works as an epigraph.

5 Notable Examples of Epigraphs in Literary Works

Here are a few popular examples of epigraphs from noted pieces in literature:

1. The Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot – “Mistah Kurtz-he dead.” – Mistah Kurtz is a character from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
2. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky – “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it dies, it bringeth forth much fruit.” – From The Bible, John 12:24
3. No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe – “We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, /But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, /With an alien people clutching their gods. I should be glad of another death.” – From T. S. Eliot’s Journey of the Magi
4. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway – “No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.” – From John Donne’s Meditation XVII Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions
5. The British Museum is Falling Down by David Lodge – “I would be a Papist if I could. I have fearenough, but an obstinate rationality prevents me.” – From Dr Johnson

Some might consider the role and purpose of an epigraph to be an insignificant one. It can, however, give readers a quick preview of the author’s ideas as presented in the book and whet their appetite.