1 October 2024 – For immediate release

Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) is pleased to announce the opening of the 2025 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing.

This year’s categories are:

• The Miller-Martin Award for Best Crime Novel sponsored by the Boreal Benefactor with a $1000 prize
• Best Crime First Novel, sponsored by Melodie Campbell with a $1000 prize
• Best Crime Novel Set in Canada sponsored by Shaftesbury with a $500 prize
• The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery sponsored by Jane Doe with a $500 prize
• Best Crime Novella sponsored by Carrick Publishing with a $200 prize
• Best Crime Short Story
• The Best French Language Crime Book
• Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book
• The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm (Hamilton) with a $300 prize
• Best Unpublished Crime Novel manuscript written by an unpublished author sponsored by ECW Press with a $500 prize

All prizes are awarded in Canadian Funds

The Shortlist will be announced on April 25^th, 2025.

Winners will be announced May 30^th, 2025. 

Full details about the competition can be found on the Crime Writers of Canada’s website: About the CWC Awards of Excellence

CWC is grateful for the support of Our Awards Sponsors

• Shaftesbury is an award-winning creator and producer of original content for television, film, and digital. Building on a library of award-winning children’s programs, Shaftesbury has an extensive slate of new child and family programming.
• Canadian book publisher ECW Press is one of the most diversified independent publishers in North America. ECW Press has published close to 1,000 books that are distributed throughout the English-speaking world and translated into dozens of languages.
• Based in Toronto, Canada, Carrick Publishing was formed in 2010 by Donna and Alex Carrick. With over 20 titles, Carrick Publishing works closely with established and new authors to bring their work to readers.
• David Simpson a lawyer in Hamilton and the Districts of, Brant, Halton, Haldimand and Niagara, has a tradition of over fifty years of legal services. He sponsors “The Brass Knuckle” Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book in memory of true-crime author Robert Gordon Knuckle (1935-2019).
• Melodie Campbell is the author of 17 books, 60 short stories, and is the recipient of ten awards, including the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence. She has taught fiction writing since 1992 and maintains a special interest in encouraging new writers.
• Jane Doe chooses to remain anonymous.
• Boreal Benefactor, a Canadian author, chooses to remain anonymous.

About Crime Writers of Canada

Crime Writers of Canada was founded in 1982 as a professional organization designed to raise the profile of Canadian crime writers. Our members include authors, publishers, editors, booksellers, librarians, reviewers, and literary agents as well as many developing authors. Past winners of the Awards have included such major names in Canadian crime writing as Mario Bolduc, Gail Bowen, Stevie Cameron, Howard Engel, Barbara Fradkin, Louise Penny, Peter Robinson and Eric Wright.  We would like to thank our sponsors and volunteers, and the many participating publishers, authors and judges for their continued support.

-end-

For more information about the Awards of Excellence, contact Ludvica Boota at awards@crimewriterscanada.com

To enquire about becoming an Awards sponsor, contact the CWC Awards Chair, Hyacinthe Miller, at awards@crimewriterscanada.com

Coming in October, we have 2 webinars with Access Copyright. 

Artificial Intelligence and Copyright: A Primer (Tuesday, October 8, 7:00 pm EDT)

How does Artificial Intelligence (AI) intersect with copyright? Whether you are experimenting with generative AI as part of your writing practice, or are simply curious about this evolving technology, this session will provide a snapshot of some of the legal issues at play. Learn more from Access Copyright, the non-profit that represents over 14,000 Canadian writers, visual artists, publishers, and their works.

What is Access Copyright and why you should affiliate (if you haven’t already)? (Tuesday, October 29, 7:00 pm EDT)

For over 35 years, Access Copyright has been a vital part of Canada’s cultural infrastructure, helping to ensure that royalties are paid when published works are copied. Discover how the organization represents the reproduction rights of Canadian writers, visual artists and publishers, and facilitates ethical content sharing by Canadian organizations. As well, learn why you should affiliate with our organization (it’s free!) and how to join our community of 14,000 Canadian creators and publishers.

Webinars are a members-only event. All CWC members will receive a Zoom invitation by email.

WORD VANCOUVER

It’s Word's 30th year in Vancouver. This year’s festival is on Saturday September 28th 2024, from 11AM - 5PM at Robson Square in downtown Vancouver.

CWC will be sharing a table with Sisters in Crime-Canada West, and we're looking for volunteers to take a shift at the table, to represent CWC and answer questions about the organization. It's also an opportunity to sell your books during your shift. If you're interested in doing a one or two-hour shift, please let me know asap at winonakent@gmail.com Please also indicate your preferred times. There will be info sheets and bookmarks for you to hand out.

WORD VANCOUVER - PANEL AND AD

CWC BC/YT region is presenting a panel: A Crime Writer’s Secrets; Inspiration, Characters, and Location, 3:30 PM 4:30 PM on the 28th.

Three bestselling Lower Mainland authors with three different outlooks on mystery and crime-writing, ranging from dark and thought-provoking to historical intrigue to outright comedy. Join us for a lively conversation where A.J. Devlin, S.M. Freedman, and Iona Whishaw chat about their inspiration, their locations (British Columbia!), and their characters and entertain us with short readings.

Location: Rink Room

Moderator: Erik D’Sousa

Full info is here:

https://www.wordvancouver.ca/m...

Thanks to Bob Harris for designing the poster on our homepage.

Please join Irene Fantopoulos for the release of her new book Luck of the Draw.

Sunday, September 29 · 2 - 4pm EDT at Duke of Kent, 2315 Young Street, Toronto

Irene will be joined by special guests: Douglas Schmidt, Carrie Oreskovich, and Hope Thompson. Irene and guest authors will be reading excerpts from their work.

Dianne Bickers will be the MC for the afternoon.

Advance copies of Luck of the Draw are available here. Books will also be available for purchase at the venue.

Food and drinks will be available for purchase.

Follow Irene at www.irenefantopoulos.com. For information please email ifproductions2023@gmail.com

Irene is the author of the psychological thriller All the Evil Scatters and the spicy romance Burden of Proof.

Judy Penz Sheluk won a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award in the Best Non-fiction category for her book "Finding YOUR Path to Publication: A Step-by-Step Guide" (Superior Shores Press).

The award aims to recognize the best books from the previous year, including novels, novellas, collections, anthologies, and non-fiction that encompass elements of mystery, thriller, suspense, action, and romance across various genres. In the case of non-fiction, the award considers books that are relevant to writers in general.

“I figured I was a long shot. I didn’t really expect it. I still can’t believe it. I haven't gotten the award in my hands yet. It’s going to be sent to me. I think once I get it in my hands it'll feel more real,” Sheluk said in an interview with SooToday.

Read the full article at SooToday. 

CWC is recruiting 27 jurors and 5 alternate jurors who are passionate and willing to support CWC and the Awards of Excellence. Sitting on a 3-panel team, jurors begin reading in November and end with the collaborative selection of the finalists and winners in May. All submissions will be in digital format.

We are seeking jurors who are:

• knowledgeable about mystery and crime fiction and/or nonfiction depending on category (more about that below)
• willing to spend the time required to read the entries in their category
• prepared to provide 1-3 sentence assessments of the material they read
• proficient in the language of the award category they will be judging (English or French)
• willing to read ebooks.

We welcome past and present CWC Professional and Associate Members who wish to volunteer; however, jurors are not required to be CWC members. They can be librarians, editors, booksellers, teachers, writers, members of the justice system, genre afficionados, etc.

For more information contact awards@crimewriterscanada.com

Deadline to volunteer: 30 October 2024

The Awards Manager will notify you in late November, once the Jury Section Committee has assigned juror applicants to the 2025 awards categories.

Not ready to be a judge but still interested in volunteering for the Awards?

Are you not submitting to the 2025 Awards?

Are you able to commit to 5 hours over the next 3 months?

Then consider putting your name forward for the Super-Secret Special Committee.

For more information contact the CWC Jury Chair at awardsjudging@crimewriterscanada.com

Download 2025 Jurors Brief (PDF)

Crime Writers Canada took over the Vancouver Public Library on Tuesday, August 20th. We heard readings from Daniel Kalla, Charlotte Morganti, Joanna Vander Vlugt, Craig Bowlsby, and Erik D'Souza. Special thanks to Bob Harris and Winona Kent for organizing the event and to Jim Goddard, our official photographer.

Hear first-hand about the fun and challenges of writing as part of a team from four talented authors in this Crime Writers of Canada panel discussion.

Moderator Jass Ajula.

Read More

Joyce Woollcott recently won the Best First Sentence award at Thrillerfest in New York and received a critique from award-winning novelist and teacher Tosca Lee. At Killer Nashville she made the Claymore Awards Top Picks List and the Silver Falchion Top Picks List for her second book, Blood Relations. She was shortlisted for her first book in the series A Nice Place to Die in 2023. She has just learned that she has been shortlisted at the Claymore Awards for her unpublished new work in progress, A Desolate Grave.

Congratulations, Joyce!