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Madison Smartt Bell

マディソン・スマート・ベル

Madison Smartt Bell

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1957-08-01 （Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Nashville, Tennessee → New York City, New York → London, United Kingdom → Baltimore, Maryland

Career

Occupations
novelist, author, professor
Active Years
1983-
Affiliations
Goucher College

Education

Princeton University
Country: United States
Won the Ward Mathis Prize and the Francis LeMoyne Page award while at Princeton
Hollins University
Country: United States
Won the Andrew James Purdy fiction award while at Hollins

Awards

National Book Award (Finalist)
1995
Work: All Souls' Rising
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: Finalist
PEN/Faulkner Award (Finalist)
1996
Work: All Souls' Rising
Organization: PEN/Faulkner
Result: Finalist
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1996
Work: All Souls' Rising
Organization: Anisfield-Wolf Foundation
Result: Winner
Strauss Living Award
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

All Souls' Rising

1995 historical fiction

The first book of Bell's Haiti trilogy, focusing on Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution; explores revolution and human complexity through multiple perspectives.

revolutionracefreedom and violencehistorical reconstruction

Master of the Crossroads

2000 historical fiction

Second installment of the Haiti trilogy, depicting the turmoil of the revolutionary period and the conflicts of its leaders.

power strugglesethics of revolutionindividual vs collective

The Stone That the Builder Refused

2004 historical fiction

The third book of the Haiti trilogy, concluding the series by addressing the aftermath of revolution, memory, and social reconstruction.

memoryconsequencessocial rebuilding

Toussaint Louverture: A Biography

2007 biography

A detailed biography of Toussaint Louverture, providing scholarly and literary treatment following the Haiti trilogy.

biographyleadershiprevolutionary history

Child of Light: A Biography of Robert Stone

2020 biography

A biography chronicling the life and work of novelist Robert Stone.

literary biographywriter's life

Bibliography

  • The Washington Square Ensemble
  • Waiting For The End Of The World
  • Straight Cut
  • Zero db
  • The Year Of Silence
  • Soldier's Joy
  • Barking Man
  • Doctor Sleep
  • Save Me, Joe Louis
  • All Souls' Rising
  • Ten Indians
  • Master of the Crossroads
  • Anything Goes
  • The Stone That the Builder Refused
  • Devil's Dream
  • The Color of Night
  • Zig Zag Wanderer
  • Behind the Moon
  • Toussaint Louverture: A Biography
  • Child of Light: A Biography of Robert Stone
  • Narrative Design: A Writer's Guide to Structure
  • Lavoisier in the Year One: The Birth of a New Science in an Age of Revolution
  • Charm City: A Walk Through Baltimore

Style & Themes

Literary Style
detailed historical description combined with intense psychological characterizationmulti-perspective narrative structure
Recurring Motifs
revolution and violencerace and libertymoral conflict

Legacy

An American contemporary writer acclaimed for his Haiti trilogy; he has contributed both literarily and academically through historical fiction and biography.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters (award-related)

Archives

  • Princeton University Archives (Madison Smartt Bell Papers)
  • East Carolina University Manuscript Collection (Stuart Wright Collection)

In Popular Culture

  • The Haiti trilogy is often referenced in scholarly discussions and teaching on the Haitian Revolution

Trivia

  • He is married to poet Elizabeth Spires; both have taught at Goucher College.
  • His papers are held at Princeton University and at East Carolina University.
  • All Souls' Rising won the Anisfield-Wolf Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award.