It's almost time for the Edgars
I'll also be pleased to see Charles Ardai receive his Ellery Queen Award. Ardai is an entrepreneur, a publisher, an editor, and an award-winning author who changed the look of American crime fiction when he founded Hard Case Crime with Max Phillips. He's thoughtful, he's intelligent, and he's a nice guy to boot.
I'll get to see Jon and Ruth Jordan accept the Raven Award for outstanding contributions to crime fiction in an area other than creative writing, and, as I wrote when they won an Anthony Award at Bouchercon in 2009, "I feel quite sure that no one has deserved an award more."
Jon and Ruth publish Crimespree Magazine, and they organize Bouchercons. They are friends to authors everywhere, inspirations to all who know them, and they live in the world's coolest house: over the family machine shop, housing more books than the Library of Congress, with fresh sausage on the stove 24 hours a day, a bathtub filled with beer, and nooks and crannies even they probably have never seen.
The awards dinner happens Wednesday, April 29, at the Grand Hyatt in New York, and it's just part of a slew of events this week and next; here's a page with links to everything that's happening. Here's a bit about the Jordans, Ellroy, and their fellow special-award winners. And here's a complete list of nominees, including Stuart Neville, whose Final Silence is up for the best-novel Edgar.
© Peter Rozovsky 2015
Labels: Charles Ardai, Crime Spree, Edgar Awards, Edgar Awards 2015, Hard Case Crime, James Ellroy, Jon Jordan, Mystery Writers of America, Ruth Jordan
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 12:23 AM
8 Comments:
Consult that crystal ball -- who will be the winner for novel?
And -- if you know how it really works -- share what you know about the nomination and voting process for the Edgars? Is it somewhat stacked and corrupted like some other book awards (e.g., Pulitzer, NBCC, NBA, Pen-Faulkner, Booker, etc.), or is it a squeaky clean prize system?
Sounds like great fun. But as usual the list always leaves me feeling both excited and frustrated. I don't think I've read any of the books on it.
Seana: That give you more possibilities the next time you look for some crime fiction to read.
R.T.: Someone (maybe you) once asked what I knew about the voting procedures. The answer is not much.
I did share a table at the dinner one year with an author I know who chaired the committee for one of of the awards. He told me a bit about how things were done (If I recall right, this involved each member of the committee reading a certain number of books, then the committee getting together to narrow the list down.)
But I don't know if some uber-committee oversees all the awards. I don't know of any big voting controversies, but I suspect that sine the voters come from within the crime-fiction community, professional and personal jealousies have played a part in the voting from time to time. I am not sure this can be eliminated from any human endeavor.
Off topic to say that Patti Abbott has a feature on her blog right now asking what one book of Westlake's should someone read. I know you and some of your readers are in a good position to contribute to this comment thread. It is HERE.
I'll take a look. Thanks.
(Westlake is never off-topic.)
Thank you for providing the news update about the awards. And thanks also for providing the news about Patti Abbott's blog question.
As someone new to crime fiction blogging, I have been exploring different sites today. And I will be back!
Perhaps you and your many followers will find time to visit me at "crimes in the library."
http://crimesinthelibrary.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the note, and good luck with your site.
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