An afterword is a
literary device
A narrative technique (known for literary fictional narratives as a literary technique, literary device, or fictional device) is any of several specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they want
—in other words, a stra ...
that is often found at the end of a piece of
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
. It generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or of how the idea for the book was developed.
An afterword may be written by someone other than the
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
of the book to provide enriching comment, such as discussing the work's historical or cultural context (especially if the work is being reissued many years after its original publication).
See also
*
Conclusion
*
Epilogue
An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the w ...
*
Foreword
*
Postface
A postface is the opposite of a preface, a brief article or explanatory information placed at the end of a book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of p ...
*
Postscript
References
{{Book structure
Book design
Literature