January 1 to May 1, SMFS members as of December 31 of the previous year decide the Derringer Awards.
May 2 to December 31, anyone can join the SMFS by free subscription to:
https://groups.io/g/shortmystery
Subscribe by December 31, 2020 to be eligible to submit, judge, and vote for the 2021 Derringers.
Members take part in any SMFS activity they wish, to the extent they wish. Membership is maintained free of charge and only lapses if one unsubscribes or is banned.
The Derringer Awards consider any mystery or crime stories that
first appeared in English in the past year. Each January, these stories may be
submitted by their publishers or by SMFS members. February–April, members judge
and vote to honor one story up to 1,000 words; one 1,001–4,000; one
4,001–8,000; and one 8,001–20,000 words. May 1, these winners are announced
along with a living writer chosen by five-member executive panel to receive
our Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement.
When possible the five honorees receive their
Derringer medals during Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention. If you'd like to donate toward the cost of future medals,
please contact Robert Lopresti, President.
To date, there has been one member anthology. Flash and Bang was published by Untreed Reads in October 2015 and features nineteen tales by SMFS members.
The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog is the official public record of our activities and policy. It also features 's publication news, links to writers' resources and market news, in addition to other content and is open to members' guest posts.
Continue reading this page for bios of our current leadership, descriptions of how our awards are decided, and photos and video from previous award ceremonies. You can also search the blog using the box in the right sidebar.
OFFICERS
Elected to serve two-year terms, the SMFS president and vice president are the main representatives of the Society and the genre to the public. They moderate Shortmystery and are part of the selection committee for the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer and Short Mystery Fiction Hall of Fame.
Interested in running for office? Here's more information.
The 2024-26 Officers are:
Joseph S. Walker, President
Joseph S. Walker (https://jswalkerauthor.com/) has been nominated for the Edgar, Derringer, and Shamus Awards, and is a two-time winner of the Al Blanchard Award. His fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Mystery Tribune, and a number of other magazines and anthologies. In 2023 his story “Crime Scene” became the first to be selected for both The Best American Mystery and Suspense and The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year (marking his third consecutive appearance in this volume). He lives in Indiana.
To date, there has been one member anthology. Flash and Bang was published by Untreed Reads in October 2015 and features nineteen tales by SMFS members.
The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog is the official public record of our activities and policy. It also features 's publication news, links to writers' resources and market news, in addition to other content and is open to members' guest posts.
Continue reading this page for bios of our current leadership, descriptions of how our awards are decided, and photos and video from previous award ceremonies. You can also search the blog using the box in the right sidebar.
OFFICERS
Elected to serve two-year terms, the SMFS president and vice president are the main representatives of the Society and the genre to the public. They moderate Shortmystery and are part of the selection committee for the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer and Short Mystery Fiction Hall of Fame.
Interested in running for office? Here's more information.
The 2024-26 Officers are:
Joseph S. Walker, President
Joseph S. Walker (https://jswalkerauthor.com/) has been nominated for the Edgar, Derringer, and Shamus Awards, and is a two-time winner of the Al Blanchard Award. His fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Mystery Tribune, and a number of other magazines and anthologies. In 2023 his story “Crime Scene” became the first to be selected for both The Best American Mystery and Suspense and The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year (marking his third consecutive appearance in this volume). He lives in Indiana.
Linda Kay Hardie, Vice President
Linda Kay Hardie is a freelance writer in Reno, Nevada. She writes short stories in many genres including horror, dark fantasy, and crime, but not romance. She tried once, and everyone ended up dead. Tragic. She also writes recipes and is the reigning Spam champion for Nevada (yes, the tasty treat canned mystery meat). Her writing has won awards dating back to fifth grade, with first place for an essay on fire safety. In 2022, she was honored with the Sierra Arts Foundation Literary Arts Award for fiction. Her latest published stories appear in AI, Robot from JayHenge Publishing, Tales of the Apocalypse from Three Ravens Press, and The Perp Wore Pumpkin from Misti Media. For details, see https://www.amazon.com/author/lindakayhardie
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DERRINGER AWARDS
Independent of the Officers, the Society's Derringer Awards process is administered by an annually-elected Coordinator and Assistant Coordinator.
Paula Messina, 2025 Derringer Awards Coordinator
When she isn’t writing essays or humorous and historical fiction, Paula Messina likes to explore America’s first public beach. Her work appears in various publications, including Devil’s Snare: Best New England Crime Stories 2024, Wolfsbane: Best New England Crime Stories 2023, THEMA, and The Ekphrastic Review. She’s writing a mystery novel set in Boston’s North End during 1944. An award-winning public speaker, she is the fiction and non-fiction editor for Indelible Literary and Arts Journal. Her voice can be heard on LibriVox.org where she records poems and prose in the public domain.
Mark Schuster, 2025 Assistant Derringer Awards Coordinator
Mark lives in Illinois. He enjoys reading stories.
Interested in running for Awards Coordinator, Assistant Coordinator, volunteering as a Derringer Judge, or voting on the Derringers? Here's more information.
Presented by electronic certificate at their 1998 inception, the Derringers have taken physical form since Bouchercon 2009 (Indianapolis, IN), when then-VP Jim Doherty created and presented plaques:
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| L to R: 2009 Golden Derringer recipient Clark Howard, 2009 Derringer winner for Best Flash Story Ruth McCarty, editors Linda Landrigan and Janet Hutchings, Jim Doherty (Photo courtesy of Ruth McCarty) |
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| At Bouchercon 2010 (San Francisco, CA) Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine editor Janet Hutchings (L) accepted on behalf of 2010 Best Long Story Derringer winner Doug Allyn (Photo by Robert S. Levinson) |
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| Photo by Art Taylor |
In January 2015, Society members donated toward medals to make up for plaques undelivered 2009–14 and to become the physical Derringers from Bouchercon 2015 (Raleigh, NC) forward:
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| 2012 Golden Derringer recipient Bill Pronzini |
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| Photo by 2015 Derringer presenter Art Taylor |
The medals' centerpiece art is a brightening of John Moody's 2003 member t-shirt art, re-lettered in 2014's League Spartan Bold.
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| 2015 Best Long Story Derringer winner Hilary Davidson (Photo by Travis Richardson) |
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| Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine editor Janet Hutchings on behalf of 2015 Golden Derringer recipient James Powell (Photo by Travis Richardson) |
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| 2016 Derringer presentation at Bouchercon (New Orleans, LA) L to R: Best Flash winner Vy Kava, Best Short Story winner Meg Opperman, Best Long Story and Best Novelette winner John M. Floyd, presenter O'Neil De Noux, Golden Derringer recipient Michael Bracken (Photo by Aidan Russell) |
Temple Walker's video of Michael Bracken's acceptance speech
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