J. Madison Davis

After publishing numerous short stories and articles in periodicals from Early American Life to Shakespeare Quarterly to Seattle Review , J. Madison Davis published his first novel, The Murder of Frau Schütz , in 1988. It was voted one of the five Best First mysteries by the Mystery Writers of America and received an Edgar Allan Poe Scroll award. His next book was White Rook , and his third Bloody Marko , which was called "superb" by the New York Times . His novel Red Knight continued the characters of White Rook and was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award for best novel by an Oklahoma writer. His fifth novel, And the Angels Sing, was also nominated for the Oklahoma Book Award. His next novel, The Vertigo Murders, was done in association with Universal Studios and the estate of Alfred Hitchcock. Law and Order: Dead Line , published in association with the television series (Dick Wolf Productions) reached the status of number two best selling e-book, just behind The DaVinci Code , with Palm Digital Media. His original mystery The Van Gogh Conspiracy was published in September 2005 after having reached tenth on the e-book best seller list.
     He has also published several non-fiction books, including Dick Francis , Conversations with Robertson Davies , Stanislaw Lem: A Reader's Guide , and Critical Essays on Edward Albee (with Philip C. Kolin). His Shakespeare Name Dictionary (with A. Daniel Frankforter) was published in 1995.   Murderous Schemes , an anthology of mystery stories edited with Donald Westlake, was published by Oxford University Press in 1996 and called “the best book of its kind this year” by the Wall Street Journal . His latest non-fiction publications are an essay and a section of the book The New York Times on The Sopranos, 3 rd edition, and essays in World Literature Today and the International Journal of Humanities . He has also worked on the film adaptation of his first novel for a production to be filmed in Germany.
     Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, Davis grew up in Bladensburg, Maryland (suburban Washington, D. C.). He was active in track and field as well as amateur theater, and worked in the Prince George's County Zoning Enforcement office as an inspector. A Greek major at Franklin and Marshall College, he graduated with a B. A. in Anthropology from the University of Maryland. He pursued his interest in writing by earning an M. A. in the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars (1975), and a Ph. D. in English (1979) from the University of Southern Mississippi Center for Writers. He has taught in the English departments of Allegany Community College, Southern Mississippi, and Penn State in Erie.
     Davis was elected president of the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers in 1993 and reelected in 1995. He is currently the Regional Vice-President for North America in the world organization. He has served as the senior professor in the Professional Writing Program of the University of Oklahoma's Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communications since 1991, teaching fiction, non-fiction, and screen writing. He has served as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the college and as a member of the Faculty Senate. He has been one of five finalists for the Gaylord College’s teaching award several times and won the Rufus G. Hall teaching award from the College of Liberal Studies in spring 2002.