Events & Announcements

Saturday, June 15th, from 1-5 p.m.

The last event, held in March 2020 (just before the pandemic shut everything down) was a great success. There were eleven of us, and we had lots of time to network as well as speak about and sell our books. For this event, the library is inviting eight authors to participate. Peter Pontsa and Hyacinthe Miller are coordinating on behalf of Regional Representative Jass Aujla.

Here is an overview of the afternoon:

1 to 2 p.m. – author setup. Depending on the space available, we may need to share tables for promoting/selling our books.

2 to 3:15 p.m. – Welcome and author presentations

• For each author, the librarian plans to: read the author's brief bio (30 seconds), give them a few minutes to briefly outline their writing process or biggest challenge approaching their latest book (2 minutes), then ask the author their first-choice question as submitted (5 minutes).

• We will have max 8 minutes per author. Starting with a question means the author is prepared, plus, their answers helped generate discussion with the audience members during the presentation and afterwards.

• If time allows, the librarian will cycle back to the beginning of the author presenters and ask their second-choice questions.

• There will be a handout/ program for attendees to take away with them, which will contain the author details.

• Authors are invited to donate swag – a book, bookmark, postcard, etc. for a draw. The library will assemble baskets and prepare ballots for the prizes.
  

3:15 - 3:45 p.m. Question & Answer period with the audience
3:45 – 4:15 p.m. Refreshments, networking, book sales

If you are interested in participating, please email board-chair@crimewriterscanada.com with the subject line – New Tecumseth Public Library Author Showcase, by May 10^th.

Once the list of participants has been finalized, authors will be asked for a 50-word bio, headshot, photo of your book cover, two questions for the librarian to ask, and an indication of what you would contribute to the draw. If we have more authors interested in participating, we will organize another Showcase at a later date.

Due to a number of circumstances, we are rescheduling the AGM from May 30^th to June 20, 2024. You will receive the meeting package – agenda, minutes of 2023 AGM, proxy voting form, review Report on Motion re: AM voting by May 30^th. Signing up to attend the AGM will be a breeze this year, as that functionality is included on the new website.

In advance of that, an has been sent to all active members with details of the call for nominations Call for Nominations. Background information is included on the Roles & Responsibilities page. We have an excellent group of directors from across Canada, and you can look forward to joining an energetic, creative team planning the future of CWC. The board and committees hold monthly business meetings.

Here are the vacancies for which we are seeking volunteers:

• Chair (Professional Author Member) – term ending
• Treasurer (PAM or Associate member) – vacant
  
• Alberta/NWT (PAM or Associate member) – 1 position
  
• Saskatchewan (PAM or Associate member) – 1 position
  
• Ontario: Southwestern/Northern/GTA (PAM or Associate member) – 1 position
  
• Ontario: Central/Eastern/Ottawa (PAM or Associate member) – 1 position
  
• Atlantic Provinces (PAM or Associate member) – 1 position

We also have several committees needing members: Marketing & Promotions, Fundraising, Membership, Jury Selection and Awards. The latter two committees are well established, so there would be a short learning curve. The others are new.

The coming years will be exciting ones for Crime Writers of Canada as we build a stronger foundation for the future. Volunteer to join the CWC team – there will always be experienced folks around to support you and ease your transition to your new role. We’d love to have you bring your skills and ideas to the table.

Please send your expression of interest to Cathy Fynn at ed@crimewriterscanada.com. Cathy will forward that information to our Nominating Committee Chair.

Cathy Fynn
Executive Director
Crime Writers of Canada

Crime Writers of Canada members will be reading at the MOTIVE Festival in Toronto on June 8 and 9. Hear the latest is crime fiction and support our CWC authors.

The following writers will be reading from their work:

Learn More

Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) is pleased to announce the Shortlists for the 2024 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. Since 1984, Crime Writers of Canada has recognized the best in mystery, crime, suspense fiction, and crime nonfiction by Canadian authors, including citizens abroad and new residents.

On behalf of CWC, Hyacinthe Miller, Board Chair, wishes to congratulate all the finalists.

Winners will be announced on Wednesday, May 29^th, 2024.

Maureen Jennings is this year’s recipient of the 2024 Grand Master Award.

Established in 2014, the Grand Master (GM) Award recognizes a Canadian crime writer with a substantial body of work that has garnered national and international recognition.

Maureen Jennings is not only just about the best crime novelist in Canada, she’s among the best writers anywhere - a national and international treasure. —LONDON FREE PRESS

Maureen Jennings, a long-time Crime Writers of Canada member, is a prolific author of non-fiction, short stories and book series featuring Christine Morris, Detective Murdoch, and D.I. Tom Tyler. The Detective William Murdoch television series, set in Victorian era Toronto, was optioned in 2003 by Shaftesbury Films. Murdoch Mysteries are shown in over 120 countries and feature innovative crime-solving techniques, social justice subplots and surprise guest appearances.

In 2011, she was awarded the Grant Allen award for her on-going contribution to Canadian crime writing. Maureen has received eight Award of Excellence nominations from CWC for best novel and short story. In 2014, the 180th anniversary of the city of Toronto, the Toronto Star named her one of 180 people whose influence has raised the city’s profile.

Published by Cormorant Books, her latest project The Paradise Café series is set in Depression-era Toronto and features Private Investigator Charlotte Frayne.

She is an exceptional talent, a generous mentor and strong supporter of Canadian crime and mystery writers. CWC is proud to honour Maureen Jennings with the 2024 Grand Master Award.

THE 2024 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE SHORTLISTS

The Peter Robinson Award for Best Crime Novel sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize
Robyn Harding, The Drowning Woman, Grand Central Publishing
Shari Lapena, Everyone Here is Lying, Doubleday Canada
Scott Thornley, Middlemen, House of Anansi Press
Sam Wiebe, Sunset and Jericho, Harbour Publishing
Loreth Anne White, The Maid's Diary, Montlake

Best Crime First Novel, sponsored by Melodie Campbell, with a $1000 prize

Jann Arden, The Bittlemores, Random House Canada
Lisa Brideau, Adrift, Sourcebooks
Charlotte Morganti, The End Game, Halfdan Press
Amanda Peters, The Berry Pickers, Harper Perennial
Steve Urszenyi, Perfect Shot, Minotaur

The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada, sponsored by Charlotte Engel and Crime Writers of Canada, with a $500 prize

Gail Anderson-Dargatz, The Almost Widow, Harper Avenue/HarperCollins
Renee Lehnen, Elmington, Storeyline Press
Cyndi MacMillan, Cruel Light, Crooked Lane
Joan Thomas, Wild Hope, Harper Perennial/HarperCollins
Melissa Yi, Shapes of Wrath, Windtree Press

The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize

Gail Bowen, The Legacy, ECW Press
Vicki Delany, Steeped in Malice, Kensington Books
Vicki Delany, The Game is a Footnote, Crooked Lane Books
Nita Prose, The Mystery Guest, Viking
Iona Whishaw, To Track a Traitor, TouchWood Editions

Best Crime Short Story

M.H. Callway, Wisteria Cottage, Wildside Press (for Malice Domestic)
Marcelle Dubé, Reversion, Mystery Magazine
Mary Keenan The Canadians (Killin' Time in San Diego), Down & Out Books
donalee Moulton, Troubled Water, Black Cat Weekly (Wildside Press)
Zandra Renwick, American Night, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

The Best French Language Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)

Jean-Philippe Bernié, La punition, Glénat Québec
Chrystine Brouillet, Le mois des morts, Éditions Druide
Catherine Lafrance, Le dernier souffle est le plus lourd, Éditions Druide
André Marois, La sainte paix, Héliotrope
Jean-Jacques Pelletier, Rien, Alire

Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book, sponsored by Shaftesbury Films with a $500 prize (Fiction and Nonfiction)

Kelley Armstrong, Someone is Always Watching, Tundra Books
Cherie Dimaline, Funeral Songs for Dying Girls, Tundra Books
Rachelle Delaney, The Big Sting, Tundra Books
Clara Kumagai, Catfish Rolling, Penguin Teen Canada
Kevin Sands, Champions of the Fox, Puffin Canada

The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm (Hamilton), with a $300 prize

Josef Lewkowicz and Michael Calvin, The Survivor: How I Survived Six Concentration Camps and Became a Nazi Hunter, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Michael Lista, The Human Scale, Véhicule Press
David Rabinovitch, Jukebox Empire, Rowman & Littlefield
Bill Waiser and Jennie Hansen, Cheated, ECW Press
Carolyn Whitzman, Clara at the Door with a Revolver, UBC Press, On Point Press

Best Unpublished Crime Novel manuscript written by an unpublished author

Tom Blackwell, The Patient
Craig H. Bowlsby, Requiem for a Lotus
Sheilla Jones and James Burns, Murder on Richmond Road: An Enquiry Bureau Mystery
Nora Sellers, The Forest Beyond
William Wodhams, Thirty Feet Under

Winners will be announced on the Crime Writers of Canada website on May 29^th, 2024.

CWC is grateful for the support of Our Award Sponsors

• Toronto-based Rakuten Kobo Inc. is one of the world’s fastest-growing e-Reading services, offering more than 5 million eBooks and magazines to millions of users around the world. It also offers a variety of e-Readers and top-ranking apps, enabling people to read more—on any device they choose.
• 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.
• 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.

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 writers. Past winners of the Awards have included well-recognized names in Canadian crime writing such 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 contest judges for their continued support.

-end-

Full details about the competition can be found on the Crime Writers of Canada’s website: www.crimewriterscanada.com

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

To enquire about becoming an Award sponsor, contact the CWC Chair, Hyacinthe Miller, at board-chair@crimewriterscanada.com

Left Coast Crime is an annual mystery convention sponsored by mystery fans, both readers and authors. This year, BC-Yukon rep, Winona Kent and CWC member AJ Devlin, co-hosted a Bloody Caesar event in the hotel's bar. It was extremely well-attended by Canadian authors and reader-fans, who also invited their American friends. A respectable contingent of Canadian authors attended the event, most of whom are current CWC members. A number of CWC members were also on panels. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet some writers for the first time, and to connect and chat and catch up with old friends. It also got top marks from the members as a CWC event.

CWC member Dianne Scott’s first mystery Final Look has been nominated for the Kobo Emerging Writers Award in the Mystery category. This book won the CWC Arthur Ellis Award for best unpublished crime manuscript. Dianne says she’s very appreciative of the CWC award and that it encouraged her to self-publish her manuscript.

Read the announcement

Explore the ins and outs of five paths to publication: traditional, independent, hybrid/assisted, self-publishing, and social publishing.

Learn More

CWC member Marcelle Dubé has been nominated for a 2024 Derringer Award for her story, REVERSION, (Mystery Magazine, April 2023). Marcelle writes mystery and speculative fiction novels and short stories. She is the winner of the 2021 Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence for short fiction. Her short stories have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies.

The shortlist will be announced on Friday April 26^th, 2024 @ 12 AM ET. The winners will be announced on Wednesday May 29^th, 2024 @12 AM ET.

Learn More

You are invited to the launch of The Orphan, an historical mystery novel, by Sylvia Maultash Warsh.

THE ORPHAN

"The Orphan is...a gripping story, a vivid capturing of an historical period, with well drawn characters, and to top it off, exquisite depictions of the natural world. Highly recommended."
--Maureen Jennings, the author of the Murdoch Mysteries and the Paradise Cafe Mystery series

Please join us on Sunday May 5th, 2024, 2:00 pm
Sleuth of Baker Street Bookstore 907 Millwood Road
Toronto, ON, Canada, M4G 1X2