Category Archives: awards

The 2012 Davitt Award Winners Are…

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The Davitt Awards are sponsored by Sisters in Crime Australia and are named in honour of Ellen Davitt (1812-1879) who wrote Australia’s first mystery novel, FORCE AND FRAUD in 1865. Awards are given annually to crime writing by women in several categories:

This year’s winners were announced at a gala dinner tonight (1 September) in Melbourne,

The first award of the night was for Best True Crime and it went to journalist and author Liz Porter for COLD CASE FILES in which old cases from Australia, the UK and the US are re-opened in the light of new forensic techniques.

Next came the award for Best Young Fiction book which was apparently fiercely contested. Ursula Dubosarsky’s THE GOLDEN DAY was highly commended by the judges but the winner of this category was Meg McKinlay for SURFACE TENSION

The next award was for Best Adult Novel. Carolyn Morwood’s DEATH AND THE SPANISH LADY was highly commended by judges but the award went to Sulari Gentill for A DECLINE IN PROPHETS. As this particular book was also on my list of five most impressive Australian crime novels for last year I can heartily concur with the judges’ decision on this occasion. It is historical crime fiction set in 1930′s Australia (and beyond) and it is a delight to read, combining thoughtfully drawn characters, a wonderful sense of time and place and a ripper of a story.

The new category for this year of Best Debut Novel went to Jaye Ford for her novel BEYOND FEAR. Ford is yet another journalist-turned-crime-writer and penned a book with loads of strong female characters and snappy pace which I liked a lot.

The final award of the night was the Reader’s Choice Award. All the books in all the other categories are eligible for this award and all members of Sisters in Crime Australia are able to vote for it (and apparently 550 of us did). This year the award was shared by Jaye Ford’s BEYOND FEAR and Y.A. Erskine’s THE BROTHERHOOD!. Both great books and THE BROTHERHOOD was another of my five most impressive Aussie crime novels of last year.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to all the writers of all the eligible books. Even from my limited reading of the books in these categories I can attest to the fact that Australian women’s crime writing is in great form.

Information in this post was provided by Vim & Zest Communications and the ever-helpful twitterverse, especially @angsavage to whom I offer a particular thanks for the vicarious thrills provided via #davittawards

Ned Kelly Awards 2012: The Winners Are…

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We’re a bit late with the announcement this year but have finally caught up with the news (thanks twitter) of the winners of this year’s Ned Kelly Awards which were handed out at a ceremony at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival yesterday. As neither of your Fair Dinkum correspondents has read any of the winning books there’s not a lot else to do but provide the names of the winners (in red).

BEST FICTION

Publisher’s blurb for PIG BOY 

On Damon Styles’s eighteenth birthday, he is expelled from school. But it’s what happens afterwards that changes everything.

Now Damon must come up with a plan. It’s the only way he can think straight. First, get his firearms licence. Then, see if the Pigman will give him a job – pig hunting will teach Damon what he needs to know. And he’d better get a lock for his wardrobe so his mother won’t find what he’s hiding.

Damon’s taking matters into his own hands – but so is the town of Strathven.

A confronting, powerful story for young adults in the vein of J.C. Burke’s CBCA award-winner The Story of Tom Brennan.

BEST FIRST FICTION

  • Claire Corbett, WHEN WE HAVE WINGS
  • Peter Twohig, THE CARTOGRAPHER
  • Kim Westwood, THE COURIER’S NEW BICYCLE

Publisher’s blurb for THE CARTOGRAPHER

Melbourne, 1959. An 11-year-old boy witnesses a murder as he spies through the window of a strange house. God, whom he no longer counts as a friend, obviously has a pretty screwed-up sense of humour: just one year before, the boy had looked on helplessly as his twin brother, Tom, suffered a violent death.

Now, having been seen by the angry murderer, he is a kid on the run. With only a shady grandfather, a professional standover man and an incongruous local couple as adult mentors, he takes refuge in the dark drains and grimy tunnels beneath the city, transforming himself into a series of superheroes and creating a rather unreliable map to plot out places where he is unlikely to cross paths with the bogeyman.

A bold, captivating and outrageously funny novel about a boy who refuses to give in and the numerous shifty, dodgy and downright malicious bastards he has to contend with on his grand adventure of loss and discovery, THE CARTOGRAPHER is an astounding, fresh and unforgettably poignant novel you′d be a mug to miss!

TRUE CRIME

  • Eamonn Duff, SINS OF THE FATHER
  • Michael Duffy, CALL ME CRUEL
  • Liz Porter, COLD CASE FILE

Publisher’s blurb for SINS OF THE FATHER

A reckless father, his dark past, an Adelaide drug trafficker and the Gold Coast beauty school dropout who kept her mouth shut. This is the explosive untold story of Schapelle Corby and how she took the rap for her father’s drug syndicate.

The result of a three year investigation, Sins of the Father returns to the beginning of Australia’s most famous drug case, to a time when nobody had ever heard the name Schapelle Corby. Finally, the missing pieces of the jigsaw fall into place as we are led, step by step, through the important weeks, days and hours leading up to her dramatic arrest.

Shedding new light on her long-held claims of innocence, this is the book Schapelle’s army of supporters do not want you to read.

Twitter didn’t seem to know who’d won the short story award but it did remind me that long-time Australian crime writer Gabrielle Lord was recognised at last night’s ceremony with a lifetime achievement award. Lord’s first standalone crime novel was 1980′s FORTRESS (which I featured in a post at my other blog a couple of years ago) and she has since written many other standalone novels as well as two short crime series. Most recently she released a series of 12 thrillers for young adults called Conspiracy 365. A new book was released each month of 2010. Gabrielle Lord is due to release a new crime novel for adults, DEATH BY BEAUTY, next month.

Congratulations to all the winners.

The 2012 Davitt Awards – Shortlist

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Bookseller & Publisher reports today that the shortlists for this year’s Davitt Awards, presented by Sisters in Crime Australia for crime books written by Australian women, have been announced.

The shortlisted titles in the Adult fiction category are:

Adult fiction

Having read only half of the shortlisted novels I’m probably not qualified to pass comment on which of these should win the award but of those I have read I would vote for Sulari Gentill’s A DECLINE IN PROPHETS but I will try to read the remaining titles before the awards are announce on 1 September.

Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors.

Short Story Prizes A-Plenty

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If you’re an Australian woman you have until the end of this month to enter Sisters in Crime Australia‘s Crime & Mystery Short Story Competition. In its 19th year there are two new award categories including a total of $1500 worth of prizes being sponsored by Melbourne’s famous Athenaeum Library for the best short story containing the words “body in the library”! The complete list of categories is

  • HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS 1st Prize: $1000 (plus the coveted Scarlet Stiletto trophy)
  • KILL CITY 2nd Prize: $400
  • THE CATE KENNEDY 3rd Prize: $350
  • ALLEN & UNWIN Young Writer’s Award: $500
  • ATHENAEUM LIBRARY Body in the Library Award: $1000, Runner-up: $500
  • THE KERRY GREENWOOD, Malice Domestic Award: $500
  • THE CLAN DESTINE PRESS, Cross-genre Award: $300
  • THE CATHERINE LEPPERT, Best Environmental Theme Award: $250
  • BENN’S BOOKS Best Investigative Story Award: $200 voucher
  • SCRIPTWORKS Great Film Idea Award: $200
  • PULP FICTION Funniest Crime Award: $150 voucher

Unlike other English-language markets Australia does not have a strong tradition of short story writing so it is terrific to see this competition still going strong and gaining new sponsors. For the writers among you here is the entry form which you must submit, along with your story, by 31 August 2012. For the readers you might like to check out the two collections of previous winners and entrants to the competition.

Ned Kelly Awards 2012 – The Shortlist

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The shortlists for three categories of the Ned Kelly Awards were announced earlier today and are repeated below. As you’ll see we’ve only reviewed one of these here at Fair Dinkum HQ so I suppose we have some catching up to do (though of the three novels in the best fiction category one is a YA title and the other is, according to the three people I polled who have read it, not something that would ordinarily be considered crime fiction so I don’t feel too bad that they didn’t make it to my radar). The winners will be announced at the end of this month (I think)

TRUE CRIME

    Liz Porter, Cold Case File, Pan Macmillan

    Michael Duffy, Call Me Cruel, Allen & Unwin

    Eamonn Duff, Sins of the Father, Allen &Unwin

BEST FIRST FICTION

    Kim Westwood, The Courier’s New Bicycle, Harper Collins

    Peter Twohig, The Cartographer, Harper Collins

    Claire Corbett, When We Have Wings, Allen & Unwin

BEST FICTION

The 2012 Davitt Awards are just around the corner

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The Davitt Awards are sponsored by Sisters in Crime Australia and are named in honour of Ellen Davitt who wrote Australia’s first mystery novel, FORCE AND FRAUD in 1865. Voting is now open for the 13th annual awards for the best crime books by Australian women published in Australia in 2011 and there are 49 books competing in five categories:

  • the best adult novel
  • the best children’s / young adult novel
  • the best true crime
  • best debut (any category)
  • and the Reader’s Choice award (voted by members of Sisters in Crime and can be from any category)

Here at Fair Dinkum Crime we really only read novels in the first category, for which the eligible titles this year are

  • Sydney Bauer, THE 3RD VICTIM
  • A.A. Bell, HINDSIGHT
  • Claire Corbett, WHEN WE HAVE WINGS
  • Sandy Curtis, FATAL FLAW
  • Miranda Darling, THE SIREN’S SONG
  • Virginia Duigan, THE PRECIPICE
  • Y A Erskine, THE BROTHERHOOD
  • Helen Fitzgerald, THE DONOR
  • Jaye Ford, BEYOND FEAR
  • Sulari Gentill, A DECLINE IN PROPHETS
  • Carol Gibson, CLICK CLICK, YOU’RE DEAD
  • H.M. Goltz, DEATH BY SUGAR
  • Kerry Greenwood, COOKING THE BOOKS
  • Judy Johnson, THE SECRET FATE OF MARY WATSON
  • Sylvia Johnson, WATCH OUT FOR ME
  • Adriana Koulias, THE SIXTH KEY
  • Phyllis King, ed., SCARLET STILETTO: THE SECOND CUT [Readers Choice vote by SinC members only]
  • Carolyn Morwood, DEATH AND THE SPANISH LADY
  • Jennifer Rowe, LOVE HONOUR & O’BRIEN
  • Kim Westwood, THE COURIER’S NEW BICYCLE
  • Nicole Watson, THE BOUNDARY
  • Helene Young, SHATTERED SKY
  • Tracey O’Hara, DEATH’S SWEET EMBRACE

Links are to the 9 reviews I’ve posted of the 23 eligible titles. As a member of Sisters in Crime I’m eligible to vote for the Reader’s Choice category for which voting closes on 1 August. I’m probably not going to finish any more of the eligible books by then so my vote will be going to the book I fell in love with earlier this year. It’s a very close run thing though as there are several more titles in that list which I think are outstanding and none of the ones I read is a dud. So in my humble opinion crime writing by Australian women is in darned good shape.

The Awards will all be presented on 1 September and I won’t be able to attend but will hopefully be able to follow along on twitter as I did last year.

Ned Kelly Awards – Longlists for 2012

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The various Ned Kelly Awards longlists for 2012 have been announced.

Whichever way you look at it, we have a bit of reading to do.
Which have you read?

Best First Fiction

Boyd Anderson Ludo

Allan Barbeler An Absence of Discretion

Andrez Bergen Tobacco Stained Mountain Goat

Claire Corbett When We Have Wings

Virginia Duigan The Precipice

Y.A. Erskine The Brotherhood

Maggie Groff Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerrilla Knitter’s Institute

Sylvia Johnson Watch Out For Me

Melanie Joosten Berlin Syndrome

Stuart Littlemore Harry Curry: Counsel of Choice

Noel Mealey Murder and Redemption

Daniel O’Malley The Rook

Alastair Sarre Prohibited Zone

Peter Twohig The Cartographer

Kim Westwood The Courier’s New Bicycle

Gas Wylde Casino Kurnell

Best Fiction

Lenny Bartulin De Luxe

A.A. Bell Hindsight

Honey Brown After The Darkness

J.C. Burke Pig Boy

Peter Corris Comeback

Miranda Darling Siren’s Sting

Garry Disher Whispering Death

Jaye Ford Scared Yet?

Kerry Greenwood Cooking the Books

Brett Hoffmann The Race

Katherine Howell Silent Fear

Stephen M Irwin The Broken One

Malcolm Knox The Life

Adriana Koulias The Sixth Key

Nansi Kunze Dangerously Placed

Tobsha Learner The Map

Stuart Littlemore Harry Curry: Counsel of Choice

Colleen McCullough The Prodigal Son

Barry Maitland Chelsea Mansions

Kel Robertson Rip Off

Michael Robotham The Wreckage

Jennifer Rowe Love, Honour & O’Brien

Kirsten Tranter A Common Loss

Peter Twohig The Cartographer

Kim Westwood The Courier’s New Bicycle

Felicity Young A Dissection of Murder

Best True Crime

Hilary Bonney The Double Life of Herman Rockefeller

Peter Corris Mad Dog

Eamonn Duff Sins of the Father

Michael Duffy Call Me Cruel

Lucy Frost Abandoned Women

Fiona Harari A Tragedy in Two Acts

Rochelle Jackson Partners and Crime

Rachael Jane Chin Nice Girl

Kevin Morgan Detective Piggot’s Casebook

Kevin Morgan Gun Alley

James Morton and Susanna Lobez Gangland Melbourne

James Morton and Susanna Lobez Gangland Sydney

Stephen Orr The Cruel City

Liz Porter Cold Case File

Mark ‘Chopper’ Read Road To Nowhere

Kay Schubert Perfect Stranger

Adam Shand Outlaws

David Spiteri The Prez

The SD Harvey Short Story

TBA

The Scarlet Stiletto Awards 2011

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Australia does not have the same thriving culture of short story outlets as the US and UK, and the crime fiction genre seems even less well served than other genres. I don’t have any evidence other than my own observations but the romance and science-fiction genres do appear to both foster this kind of writing (via regular competitions and locally produced anthologies) as well as finding outlets in more mainstream publications. I suspect it is budding writers of the genre who suffer most from the absence of this outlet which is why it is so important that Sisters in Crime Australia runs an annual short story competition from which it gives the Scarlet Stiletto Awards.

The awards are for stories written by Australian women and featuring a strong female protagonist with the main purpose to support and unearth new talent. To date the awards have received 2181 entries and many of the previous winners have gone on to become published novelists which indicates just how important this method of fostering new writing is. There are now, in the 18th year of the awards being presented, multiple award categories.

The 2011 Awards were presented in Melbourne last night (25 November) and a partial list of winners is below (basically what I could find trawling twitter):

  • Special commendations to Suzanne Gaskell (Vic), Amanda Carmen-Cromer (Tas), Robin Story (QLD), Marian Cox (NT), Kerry James (Vic), Amanda Wrangles (Vic)
  • Allen & Unwin Young Writers Award: Sarah Robinson-Hatch (13 years old!) & Mary Evans
  • Judges Award: Kim Westwood
  • Scriptworks Great Film Idea Award: Fiona Drury
  • Pulp Fiction Award for Funniest Crime Story: Sarah Evans (mother of the co-winner of the young writers award)
  • Benn’s Books Best Investigative Award: Anne Cost
  • Olvar Wood Late Starters Award (50+): Anne Cost
  • Clandestine Press Cross-Genre Award: Liz Filleul
  • Cate Kennedy Award for Best New Talent: Margeurite Johnson
  • Kerry Greenwood Malice Domestic Award: Vicky Daddo

And for The Scarlett Stiletto trophy itself

  • Third prize: Carmela Salomon
  • Second prize Liz Filleul
  • First Prize: Angela Savage for a story entitled TEAR DROP TATTOO

Fair Dinkum Crime congratulates all the winners and we look forward to reading the stories when the annual anthology becomes available.

post updated 27/11/11 thanks to @angsavage

The 2011 Davitt Award Winners Are…

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The Davitt Awards are sponsored by Sisters in Crime Australia and are named in honour of Ellen Davitt (1812-1879) who wrote Australia’s first mystery novel, FORCE AND FRAUD in 1865. Awards are given annually to crime writing by women in 4 categories:

  • the best adult novel
  • the best young fiction book
  • the best true crime
  • and the Reader’s Choice award, voted by members of Sisters in Crime.

This year’s winners were announced at the Sisters in Crime conference SheKilda on Saturday night, 8 October.

Best Adult Novel went to Katherine Howell for her novel COLD JUSTICE which tells the story of the investigation into the 19 year old murder of a teenage boy in a Sydney suburb. For more about the book you can check out my review and Kerrie‘s. We both rated this one very highly.

Best Young Fiction went to Penny Matthews for A GIRL LIKE ME. I’m afraid I don’t know much about this one as YA is not really my thing but if any of our readers have read it please do leave us some comments

Best True Crime went to Colleen Egan for her book MURDERER NO MORE about the acquittal of Andrew Mallard who had been convicted and jailed for murder on the basis of a forced confession and other dodgy evidence. Mallard spent 11 years in jail. I haven’t read the book but have watched a television documentary about this case and the work that Egan (a journalist) and others did on Mallard’s behalf and that was certainly a sobering look at what can go wrong with the justice system

The Reader’s Choice Award went to P. M. Newton for her debut novel THE OLD SCHOOL. You might remember I put a fair amount of thought into my vote (as a member of Sisters in Crime I was eligible to vote in this category) and while I didn’t select this book I am very happy that it won as it too is an excellent read. You can see my review here and take a look at Kerrie’s too. I just hope this doesn’t go to Pam’s head too much and take her focus away from the second book which some of us are waiting very impatiently for :)

Congratulations to all the winners. I haven’t read all the books in all the categories but from those I’ve read I can say that women’s crime writing in Australia is in fine shape and I look forward to another great year ahead.

If you’re looking for something to read here’s the full list of adult novels eligible for the Davitt award this year with links to reviews here at Fair Dinkum where available

  • Sydney Bauer, Matter of Trust (PanMacmillan Australia)
  • A A Bell, Diamond Eyes (HarperCollins)
  • Honey Brown, The Good Daughter (Penguin Books Australia)
  • Miranda Darling, Troika Dolls (Allen & Unwin)
  • Marianne Delacourt, Sharp Turn (Allen & Unwin)
  • Ilsa Evans, Sticks and Stones (PanMacmillan Australia)
  • Kathryn Fox, Death Mask (PanMacmillan Australia)
  • Sulari Gentill, A Few Right Thinking Men (Pantera Press)
  • Leah Giarrantano, Watch the World Burn (Random House Australia)
  • H M Goltz, Mastermind (Atlas Productions)
  • Kerry Greenwood, Dead Man’s Chest (Allen & Unwin)
  • Anna Haebich, Murdering Stepmothers: The Execution of Martha Rendell (University of Western Australia Press)
  • Katherine Howell, Cold Justice (PanMacmillan Australia)
  • Katherine Howell, Violent Exposure (PanMacmillan Australia)
  • Wendy James, Where Have You Been? (University of Western Australia Press)
  • Maggie Joel, The Second Last Woman in England (Murdoch Books)
  • Louisa Larkin, The Genesis Flaw (Murdoch Books)
  • P D Martin, Kiss of Death (PanMacmillan Australia)
  • Colleen McCullough, Naked Cruelty (HarperCollins) (well I’m half way through it)
  • P M Newton, The Old School (Penguin Books Australia)
  • Malla Nunn, Let the Dead Lie (PanMacmillan Australia)
  • Leigh Redhead, Thrill City (Allen & Unwin)
  • Angela Savage, The Half-Child (Text)
  • Felicity Young, Take Out (Fremantle Press)
  • Helene Young, Border Watch (Hachette Australia)

More Award News for Aussie Crime Fiction

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The Asher Literary Award is named after Mrs Helen Waltraud Rosalie Asher who came to Australia as a post-WWII German refugee from fascism. The award is won by a female author of a literary work which carries an anti-war message or theme. The 2011 winner was announced yesterday (1 September) in Melbourne and one of two joint winners this year is P.M. Newton for THE OLD SCHOOL. The other winner is Roberta Lowing for RUIN, a poetry collection exploring the tragedy of the Iraq War.  Among the many social and political themes THE OLD SCHOOL tackles with sensitivity and intelligence is the long-lasting fallout from the Vietnam War.

Fair Dinkum Crime congratulates Pam (PM) on her well deserved win.