Edgar Awards Explained

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America^[1] which is based in New York City.^[2] Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film, and theater published or produced in the previous year.

Active author categories

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award

The Robert L. Fish Memorial Award was established in 1984 to honor the best first mystery short story by an American author. The winners are listed below.

Year! scope="col" width="20%"

Author	Title	Publication
2008		""	Still Waters	^[3]
2009		"Buckner's Error"	Queens Noir	^[4]
2010		""	Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine	^[5]
2012		""	Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine	^[6]
2013		"When They Are Done With Us"	Staten Island Noir	^[7]
2014		""	Criminal Element's Malfeasance Occasional	^[8]
2015		"Getaway Girl"	Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine	^[9] ^[10]
2016		"Chung Ling Soo's Greatest Trick"	Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine	^[11] ^[12]
2017		""	Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine	^[13]
2018		"The Queen of Secrets"		^[14]
2019		"How Does He Die This Time?"		^[15]
2020		"There’s a Riot Goin' On"	Milwaukee Noir	^[16]
2021		""	Tampa Bay Noir	^[17]
2022		"Analogue"	Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine	^[18]
2023		"Dogs in the Canyon"	Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine	^[19]
2024			Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, May-June 2023	^[20]

Lilian Jackson Braun Award

The Lilian Jackson Braun Award was established in 2022 to honor Lilian Jackson Braun and is presented in the "best full-length, contemporary cozy mystery as submitted to and selected by a special MWA committee."^{[21] [22]}

Year! scope="col" width="40%"

Author	Title
2023		Buried in a Good Book
2024		Glory Be

G. P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award

See main article: G.P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award. The G. P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award was established in 2019 to honor Sue Grafton and is presented to "the best novel in a series featuring a female protagonist."^[23] The winners are listed below.

Grand Master Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Grand Master Award was established in 1955. The award "acknowledges important contributions to the genre as well as for a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality."^[24]

The Grand Master Award winners follow:^[25]

• 1955: Agatha Christie
• 1958: Vincent Starrett
• 1959: Rex Stout
• 1961: Ellery Queen
• 1962: Erle Stanley Gardner
• 1963: John Dickson Carr
• 1964: George Harmon Coxe
• 1966: Georges Simenon
• 1967: Baynard Kendrick
• 1969: John Creasey
• 1970: James M. Cain
• 1971: Mignon G. Eberhart
• 1972: John D. MacDonald
• 1973: Alfred Hitchcock, Judson Philips
• 1974: Ross Macdonald
• 1975: Eric Ambler
• 1976: Graham Greene
• 1978: Daphne du Maurier, Dorothy B. Hughes, Ngaio Marsh
• 1979: Aaron Marc Stein
• 1980: W. R. Burnett
• 1981: Stanley Ellin
• 1982: Julian Symons
• 1983: Margaret Millar
• 1984: John le Carré
• 1985: Dorothy Salisbury Davis
• 1986: Ed McBain
• 1987: Michael Gilbert
• 1988: Phyllis A. Whitney
• 1989: Hillary Waugh
• 1990: Helen McCloy
• 1991: Tony Hillerman
• 1992: Elmore Leonard
• 1993: Donald E. Westlake
• 1994: Lawrence Block
• 1995: Mickey Spillane
• 1996: Dick Francis
• 1997: Ruth Rendell
• 1998: Elizabeth Peters
• 1999: P. D. James
• 2000: Mary Higgins Clark
• 2001: Edward D. Hoch
• 2002: Robert B. Parker
• 2003: Ira Levin
• 2004: Joseph Wambaugh
• 2005: Marcia Muller
• 2006: Stuart Kaminsky
• 2007: Stephen King
• 2008: Bill Pronzini
• 2009: James Lee Burke, Sue Grafton
• 2010: Dorothy Gilman
• 2011: Sara Paretsky
• 2012: Martha Grimes
• 2013: Ken Follett, Margaret Maron
• 2014: Robert Crais, Carolyn Hart
• 2015: Lois Duncan, James Ellroy
• 2016: Walter Mosley
• 2017: Max Allan Collins, Ellen Hart
• 2018: Jane Langton, William Link, Peter Lovesey
• 2019: Martin Cruz Smith
• 2020: Barbara Neely
• 2021: Jeffery Deaver
• 2021: Charlaine Harris
• 2022: Laurie R. King
• 2023: Michael Connelly, Joanne Fluke
• 2024: Katherine Hall Page, R. L. Stine

Raven Award

See main article: Raven Award. The Raven Award was established in 1953 to honor "outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside of the realm of creative writing."^[26]

Ellery Queen Award

The Ellery Queen Award was established in 1983 "to honor outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry." The winners are listed below.

Year	Author	Information
2010	and Robert Rosenwald	Poisoned Pen Press	^[27]
2012		Connecticut Post/Hearst Media News Group	^[28]
2013	Akashic Books	American book publisher
2015		Co-founder of Hard Case Crime	^[29]
2016
2017		Executive VP, associate publisher, and editor in chief of G.P. Putnam's Sons	^[30]
2019		Editor of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine	^[31]
2021
2022		Soho Press – Soho Crime
2023
2024		Kensington Books

Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award

The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award was established in 2001.

Active story categories

Fact Crime

See main article: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime.

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime was established in 1948.

Critical/Biographical Work

See main article: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work. The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work was established in 1977.

Novel

See main article: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel. The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel was established in 1954.

Paperback or eBook Original

See main article: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original. The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original was established in 1970.

First Novel

See main article: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel.

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel was established in 1946.

Young Adult Novel

See main article: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Novel.

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Novel was established in 1989.

Juvenile

See main article: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile.

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile was established in 1961.

Short Story

See main article: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Short Story. The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Short Story was established in 1951.

Episode in a Television Series

See main article: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Episode in a TV Series.

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Episode in a TV Series was established in 1952.

Discontinued categories

Book Jacket

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Book Jacket was established in 1955 and discontinued in 1975.

Foreign Film

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Foreign Film was established in 1949 and discontinued in 1966.

Motion Picture Screenplay

See main article: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay.

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay was established in 1946 and discontinued in 2009.

Mystery Criticism

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Outstanding Mystery Criticism was established in 1946 and discontinued in 1967.

Play

See main article: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Play.

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Play was established in 1950 and is irregular.

Radio Drama

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Radio Drama was established in 1946 and discontinued in 1960.

Special Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Special Award was established in 1949 and is irregular.

Television Feature or Miniseries

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Television Feature of Miniseries was established in 1972 and discontinued in 2007.

See also

• Edogawa Rampo Prize

External links

• (includes nominees)
• Mystery Writers of America
• Edgar Allan Poe Awards at IMDb

Notes and References

1. Neimeyer, Mark. "Poe and Popular Culture", collected in The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge University Press, 2002. . p. 206.
2. Web site: Contact the National Office of Mystery Writers of America. 2013-04-21. 2018-04-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20180427002929/http://www.theedgars.com/intouch.html. dead.
3. Web site: May 2, 2008 . Awards: The Edgars; Arthur C. Clarke Prize . 2022-12-10 . . 2022-09-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220920163103/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=668 . live .
4. Web site: May 1, 2009 . Awards: Edgars; Arthur C. Clarke . 2022-12-10 . . 2023-06-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230603051613/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=913 . live .
5. Web site: 2010-04-30 . Awards: Edgars; Triangle; Campiello Europe . 2022-09-15 . . 2022-12-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221210230817/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1175 . live .
6. Web site: 2012 Nominees and Winners . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121103021135/http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html . 2012-11-03 . Edgar Awards.
7. Web site: 2013 Nominees and Winners . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131102175427/http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html . 2013-11-02 . Edgar Awards.
8. Web site: 2014 Nominees and Winners . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141110070118/http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html . 2014-11-10 . Edgar Awards.
9. Web site: 2015 Nominees and Winners . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151108155610/http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html . 2015-11-08 . Edgar Awards.
10. Web site: May 1, 2015 . Awards: Edgar Winners; Ridenhour Book . 2022-12-10 . . 2022-09-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220921232035/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2498 . live .
11. Web site: 2016 Nominees and Winners . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161105001852/http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html . 2016-11-05 . Edgar Awards.
12. Web site: May 2, 2016 . Awards: Edgar Winners . 2022-12-11 . . 2022-09-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220915213833/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2744 . live .
13. Web site: 2017 Nominees and Winners . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20171107133154/http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html . 2017-11-07 . Edgar Awards.
14. Web site: 2018 Nominees and Winners . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20181110031229/http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html . 2018-11-10 . Edgar Awards.
15. Web site: 2019 Nominees and Winners . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190818102836/http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html . 2019-08-18 . Edgar Awards.
16. Web site: 2020-05-05 . Edgar Allan Poe Awards 2020 winners announced . 2020-05-05 . Books+Publishing . en-AU . 2020-05-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200506234347/https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2020/05/05/149977/edgar-allan-poe-awards-2020-winners-announced/ . live .
17. Web site: 2021 Edgar Allan Poe Award Winners . . 2021-05-09 . 2021-04-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210429182947/https://mysterywriters.org/2021-edgar-allan-poe-award-winners/ . live .
18. Web site: 2022-04-28 . 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Award Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240506175516/https://mysterywriters.org/2022-edgar-allan-poe-award-winners-announced/ . 2024-05-06 . 2023-05-01 . Mystery Writers of America.
19. Web site: 2023-04-24 . MWA Announces 2023 Edgar Award Winners . 2023-05-01 . . 2023-05-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230501202421/https://mysterywriters.org/mwa-announces-2023-edgar-award-winners/ . live .
20. Web site: May 4, 2024 . 2024 Edgar Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240502174228/https://mysterywriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/EdWinners2024.pdf . May 2, 2024 . May 4, 2024 . Edgar Awards.
21. Web site: 2022-06-16 . MWA Announces the Lilian Jackson Braun Award . 30 December 2022 . . en . 2022-12-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221230170856/https://mysterywriters.org/mwa-announces-the-lilian-jackson-braun-award/ . live .
22. Web site: Edgar Award Category Information . 2022-12-15 . . en . 2022-12-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221214170201/https://mysterywriters.org/edgars/edgar-award-category-information/ . live .
23. Web site: February 21, 2019 . G.P. Putnam's Sons Launches Sue Grafton Memorial Award . February 2, 2022 . . February 2, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220202103216/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=2189 . live .
24. Web site: November 24, 2020 . Awards: MWA Grand Master, Raven Winners . 2022-12-10 . . 2022-12-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221210230423/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3873 . live .
25. Web site: Edgars Award . 2024-05-07 . Stop, You're Killing Me!.
26. Web site: "Major Mystery Prizes and Awards" (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine) . 2021-09-06 . 2022-06-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220617224916/https://www.elleryqueenmysterymagazine.com/about-ellery-queen/major-mystery-prizes-and-awards/ . live .
27. Web site: December 10, 2009 . Awards: MWA's Grand Master, Raven and Ellery Queen Honors . 2022-12-11 . . 2022-12-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221211002735/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1072 . live .
28. Web site: 2011-11-22 . Awards: MWA Honors; Royal Society Science Book . 2022-12-15 . . 2022-12-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221215021854/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1610 . live .
29. Web site: December 15, 2014 . Awards: MWA's Grand Master, Raven, Ellery Queen . 2022-12-10 . . 2022-12-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221210203612/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2406 . live .
30. Web site: November 30, 2016 . Awards: MWA Grand Masters, Raven & Ellery Queen . 2022-12-10 . . 2022-12-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221210203609/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2890 . live .
31. Web site: November 28, 2018 . Awards: MWA Special Edgars . 2022-12-10 . . 2022-12-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221210203607/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3384 . live .