Rafi Zabor is an American novelist and music journalist known for his critically acclaimed work blending literary fiction with jazz culture. His novel "The Bear Comes Home," which follows the surreal journey of a saxophone-playing bear, earned him the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award in 1998 and was named one of the Los Angeles Times's Best Books of the Year. Zabor is also working on the second volume of his autobiographical series "I, Wabenzi."
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Zabor brings a musician's sensibility to his writing, having worked as a jazz drummer and contributed music journalism to publications like Musician, Playboy, and the Village Voice. His diverse interests extend beyond music, as evidenced by his cultural reporting on dervishes in Istanbul for Harper's. Zabor's prose reflects his deep engagement with improvisational artistry and existential themes, often merging the mundane with the fantastical. He continues to reside in Brooklyn, where he remains active in both literary and musical circles.