Madison Smartt Bell is the author of twelve novels and two short story collections. All Souls' Rising was a finalist for the 1995 National Book Award and the 1996 PEN/Faulkner Award. It won the 1996 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for the best book of the year dealing with matters of race. He has written essays and reviews for Harper's, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times Book Review, the Village Voice, and many other publications.