Since
1998, the Short Mystery Fiction Society has awarded the annual Derringers—named for
the popular pocket pistol—to outstanding published stories. The current awards
recognize outstanding stories published during 2020.
These are the official 2021 Derringer Award Winners:
FLASH (ranges up to 1,000 words)
TIE:
Blackwell, C.W.
“Memories of Fire.” Pulp
Modern Flash. August 3, 2020.
Richardson,
Travis. “War Words.” Punk
Noir Magazine. December 3, 2020.
SHORT (ranges from 1,001 to 4,000 words)
TIE:
Jones, Eleanor
Cawood. “The Great Bedbug Incident and the Invitation of Doom." Chesapeake Crimes: Invitation to Murder.
Woodson, Stacy.
“River.” The
Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell.
LONG (ranges from 4,001 to 8,000 words)
Chen, Sarah M.
“Hotelin’.” Shotgun Honey: Volume #4: Recoil.
NOVELETTE (ranges from 8,001 to 20,000 words)
Taylor, Art. “The
Boy Detective and the Summer of ’74.” Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. January/February 2020.
The Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for
Lifetime Achievement is annually awarded to an outstanding living writer of
short mysteries, selected by a five-member panel. This year's
recipient:
Brendan DuBois.
Brendan DuBois.
The full list of the finalists for this year can be found here.
Due to the pandemic we can't predict yet whether there will be a Derringer ceremony at Bouchercon in New Orleans in August. If not the winners will receive their medals through the mail. Congratulations to all!
There was supposed to be an official go/no go announcement by the end of April 2021. That has not happened.
ReplyDeleteI just looked and they have updated the website to say that if the convention is NOT in person, they will refund everything. If it is in person, one has to cancel before July 1 to only lose $25. After July 1st, you lose the entire registration fee.
KRT