The Short Mystery Fiction Society is pleased to announce the 2025 recipient of the
EDWARD D. HOCH MEMORIAL GOLDEN DERRINGER FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
Art Taylor
This year’s recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement is Art Taylor. Jon L. Breen has accurately described Art as “one of the finest short-story writers to come to prominence in the twenty-first century.” His many awards include an Edgar, an Anthony, four Agathas, four Macavitys, and four Derringers. Art brings to the mystery story an unusually rich sense of character and theme; his stories are not merely puzzles to be solved, but insightful and engaging meditations on the mystery of life itself. He is also one of the finest scholars of the history of mystery fiction, particularly in its short form, and unfailingly generous in his support for other writers, including through his continuation of the “First Two Pages” blog series begun by B. K. Stevens.
Art Taylor's words on this honor:
"I’ll admit to being of two minds about receiving this year’s Golden Derringer Award. Thrilled by the honor, of course, but also stumbling over that phrase lifetime achievement—scrambling suddenly to take stock of where I’m at, what I’ve accomplished, what more I might have accomplished, and what possibilities still await (hopefully!) in the further lifetime ahead. To be honest, a lifetime achievement suggests I at least know what I’m doing, but—another admission—each blank page still leaves me scratching my head a-fresh: What now? What next?
Whatever my struggles or status, however, I hope my work as a writer, an editor, and especially as a teacher have helped inspire and encourage other writers, at all stages, who have endeavored to find their own way past that blank page and into a short story—both throughout our mystery community and especially in the Short Mystery Fiction Society, to whom I’m so overwhelmingly grateful for this award."
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| Image by Bethany Maines |
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