It was a great surprise and great honor to hear that I’ve won this year’s Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and I’m even more touched by their kind words for my writing and for my work for the community. Quoting here from the announcement at the SMFS Blog:
This year’s recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement is Art Taylor. Jon L. Breen has accurately described Art as “one of the finest short-story writers to come to prominence in the twenty-first century.” His many awards include an Edgar, an Anthony, four Agathas, four Macavitys, and four Derringers. Art brings to the mystery story an unusually rich sense of character and theme; his stories are not merely puzzles to be solved, but insightful and engaging meditations on the mystery of life itself. He is also one of the finest scholars of the history of mystery fiction, particularly in its short form, and unfailingly generous in his support for other writers, including through his continuation of the “First Two Pages” blog series begun by B. K. Stevens.
(Note: unfortunately I learned that you don’t win an actual derringer, golden or otherwise; the image above is just for illustration purposes.)
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners as well, including Janet Hutchings, my former editor at Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, who was awarded the Silver Derringer for Editorial Excellence, and Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman, co-editors of Murder, Neat: A SleuthSayers Anthology, for winning the debut Best Anthology Derringer (pleased to have a story of my own in that collection). And this year’s winners in each category include:
FLASH
“Kargin the Necromancer” by Mike McHone
(Mystery Tribune, December 15, 2024)
SHORT STORY
“The Wind Phone” by Josh Pachter
(Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, September/October 2024)
LONG STORY
“Heart of Darkness” by Tammy Euliano
(Scattered, Smothered, Covered & Chunked: Crime Fiction Inspired by Waffle House, Down & Out Books)
NOVELETTE
“The Cadillac Job” by Stacy Woodson
(Chop Shop Episode 1, Down & Out Books, January 1, 2024)
Thanks to Derringer Coordinators Paula Messina and Mark Schuster and all the judges for the fine work this year.