Tag Archive for: Edgars

Mystery Short Story Nominations

/in /by

by Paula Gail Benson
This time of year, it’s great to be able to celebrate some of the
best in mystery short stories with the nominations for recognition by the
Mystery Writers of America (which presents the Edgar awards, named after Edgar
Allan Poe) and Malice Domestic (which presents the Agathas, named after Agatha
Christie). The Edgars are determined by MWA member judges and presented at a
Gala Banquet, held this year at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
pauldavidsoncrime.com
Following are the 2019 Edgar Best Short Story nominees:
“Rabid – A Mike Bowditch Short
Story” by Paul Doiron (Minotaur Books).
“Paranoid Enough for Two” – The Honorable
Traitors by John Lutz (Kensington Publishing).
“Ancient and Modern” – Bloody Scotland by
Val McDermid (Pegasus Books).
“English 398: Fiction Workshop” –
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Art Taylor (Dell Magazines).
“The Sleep Tight Motel” – Dark Corners Collection by
Lisa Unger (Amazon Publishing).
Gigi Pandian’s 2017 Agatha Best Short Story Award
The Agathas are nominated by
persons registered to attend the annual Malice Domestic conference in Bethesda,
Maryland, and will be selected by a ballot of those who attend the conference. The
awards will be presented at the banquet on May 4, 2019. This
year’s nominees provide a range of time periods and characters to contemplate
and savor. For the first time, a wife and husband (Tara Laskowski and Art Taylor) have been nominated for the award. Here are the links to each story:
“All
God’s Sparrows” by Leslie Budewitz (Alfred
Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
“A Postcard for the Dead” by
Susanna Calkins in Florida Happens (Three Rooms Press)
“Bug
Appetit” by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery
Magazine)
“The Case of the Vanishing Professor” by
Tara Laskowski (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
“English 398: Fiction Workshop” by
Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
Please
read and enjoy!

Looking Forward to Mystery Short Story Award Season

/in /by
by Paula
Gail Benson
The time
is quickly approaching for recognizing short story excellence in the mystery
field. The following authors have been nominated for Agathas for their short
stories, an award presented at the Malice Domestic conference at the end of
April:

Best
Short Story
“Double Deck the Halls” by Gretchen Archer (Henery
Press)
“Whose Wine is it Anyway”
by Barb Goffman in 50 Shades of Cabernet (Koehler Books)
“The Night They Burned Miss Dixie’s
Place” by Debra Goldstein in Alfred Hitchcock’s
Mystery Magazine (May/June 2017)
“The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn”
by Gigi Pandian (Henery Press)
“A Necessary Ingredient”
by Art Taylor in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Seat
(Down & Out Books)

Please
notice that each of the nominated stories has a link that will allow you to
read it. Let me assure you that you’ll enjoy each one. Next month, we’ll have
an interview with the authors.

In
2013, I surveyed the awards given to mystery short stories in a post for
Writers Who Kill. Here’s a link to that post: http://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/2013/08/awards-for-writing-mystery-short-stories.html

For
a comprehensive list of crime fiction awards given internationally, please
click on this link.
http://awards.omnimystery.com/mystery-awards.html

Here’s
an update of national awards given to mystery short stories:

Agatha

The
Agatha Awards have been presented since 1988 by Malice Domestic at its annual
conference. The awards recognize the traditional mystery written in the style
of Agatha Christie, having no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous
violence.

Nominees
are selected by ballot from persons registered for the conference by December
31.
Nomination
forms are tallied by the Agatha Committee. The top five choices in each
category are placed on the ballot. Attendees vote by secret ballot at the
conference and the awards are presented at the banquet. The awards are
porcelain tea pots.
Anthony

The
Anthony awards, named for Anthony Boucher (writer, critic, and a founder of the
Mystery Writers of America) have been presented since 1986 at the annual
Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. The Anthonys feature a Best Anthology
category as well as best short story. In Toronto, the Anthonys included a
category for Best Novella for a work of 8,000-40,000
words. B.J. Stevens posthumously won the inaugural award for
“The Last Blue Glass.”

Nominating
ballots are emailed to the registered attendees. Awards are determined by the
persons attending Bouchercon.
Black Orchid Novella

Entries
of 15,000 to 20,000 words submitted by May 31 are eligible for the Black Orchid
Novella Award. The winner is announced at the The Wolfe Pack’s (a society
devoted to Nero Wolfe) Annual Banquet. The award winning story has often been
published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

Derringer

The
Derringer Awards, named after the palm-sized handgun, have been presented since
1997 by the Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS). Presentations are made in
March. Members and editors may submit stories for an initial blind
consideration by volunteer judges who select five nominees in each category. To
be eligible to vote for the awards, a person must join the SMFS by December 31.

The
awards are presented by category: (1) best story of 1000 words or less; (2)
best story of 1001 to 4000 words; (3) best story of 4001 to 8000 words; and (4)
best story of 8001 to 17,500 words. 



Best Flash Story (Up to 1,000
words)
Best Short Story (1,001 to 4,000
words)
Best Long Story (4,001 to 8,000
words)
Best Novelette (8,001 to 20,000
words)


See
the following web page for the complete selection procedure: https://shortmystery.blogspot.com/2008/08/smfs-derringer-awards-procedure.html 


Edgar 
The
Edgar Allan Poe Awards have been presented annually since 1946 by the Mystery
Writers of America. Authors who submit their stories for consideration must
meet the requirements for active status in the MWA whether or not they are
members of MWA. For more information, see:



Short stories
are considered works up to 22,000 words from approved magazines, periodicals,
anthologies, and websites. Submissions meeting the requirements may be made
online at:

The Robert L. Fish
Memorial Award is presented for the best first published mystery short story by
a previously unpublished author.



Macavity

Each year since 1987, members of the Mystery Readers International organization
vote and present the Macavity awards in four categories. The Macavity award is
named for T.S. Eliot’s  “mystery
cat” in the Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. For more information,
see: http://mysteryreaders.org/macavity-awards/


Shamus

Honoring
publications since 1981, the Shamus awards, created by Robert J. Randisi, have
been presented by the Private Eye Writers of America. PWA committee members
select the nominees and winners in a manner similar to the Edgar selections. A
“private eye” is considered the protagonist of a mystery who is a professional
investigator, but not a police officer or government agent. For more
information, see: http://www.privateeyewriters.com/shamus_awards.html



Silver Falchion

For
the last two years, an award for the best anthology or collection has been
presented at Killer Nashville, which honors recipients with the Silver
Falchion. For more information, see: https://killernashville.com/awards/silver-falchion-award/


Thriller

Presented since 2006 by the
International Thriller Writers, the Thrillers are announced at the annual
Thrillerfest conference. Short stories of up to 35,000 words are considered so
that novellas qualify for submission. An entry must be published in print or
e-zine format during the previous year. For more information, see: http://thrillerwriters.org/programs/award-nominees-and-winners/