The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, are a group of
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
literary awards, presented annually by the
Crime Writers of Canada for the best Canadian crime and
mystery writing published in the previous year. The award is presented during May in the year following publication.
Originally, the awards were named for Arthur Ellis, the pseudonym of several of Canada's official hangmen, the first and most famous being
Arthur B. English. The award statuette was designed by actor and theatre designer
Peter Blais.
In 2021 the Crime Writers of Canada announced that they were retiring Arthur Ellis's name from the awards, renaming them to their current name.
Best Novel
Best First Novel
Best Novella
Best Crime Book in French
Best Juvenile or Young Adult Crime Book
Best Crime Nonfiction
Best Crime Short Story
Best Unpublished First Novel – "Unhanged Arthur"
First awarded in 2007 as part of the CWC mandate to recognize and promote the careers of promising new crime writers.
Howard Engel Award
Derrick Murdoch Award
This is a special achievement award for contributions to the genre of crime and mystery writing, awarded at the discretion of the president of the Crime Writers of Canada. When first presented in 1984, it was known as the Chairman's Award; it was later renamed in honour of its first recipient, Derrick Murdoch. Since 2013, it has only been presented in years when the new biennial Grand Master Award, listed below, is not presented.
*1984 – Derrick Murdoch
[
*1985 – Tony Aspler][Arthur Ellis Award – Derrick Murdoch Award](_blank)
''Crime Writers of Canada'', (retrieved 11/21/2012)
*1986 – Margaret Millar
*1987 – The CBC CBC may refer to:
Media
* Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico
* Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster
** CBC Television
** CBC Radio One
** CBC Music
** ...
Drama Department[
*1989 – not presented][
*1990 – Eric Wilson][
*1993 – not presented][
*1994 – not presented][
*1999 – Ted Wood][
*2002 – James Dubro and Caro Soles][
*2004 – Cheryl Freedman][
*2006 – ]Mary Jane Maffini
Mary Jane Maffini is a Canadian Mystery fiction, mystery writer. She has crafted three mystery series and written 12 novels.
''The Ladies Killing Circle'' and ''RendezVous Crime'' anthologies feature some of her stories, and Chatelaine (magazi ...
[Mark Medley, "Arthur Ellis Awards practically criminal". '']National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only. '', June 1, 2012.
*2013 – Lyn Hamilton
*2014 – not presented
*2015 – Sylvia McConnell[
*2016 – not presented][
*2017 – ]Christina Jennings
Shaftesbury Films is a film, Television program, television and Web series, digital media production company founded by Christina Jennings in 1987. It is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Background
Shaftesbury is a creator and producer of ori ...
*2018 – not presented[Deborah Dundas, "Robinson and Barclay snag coveted crime-writing awards: The Arthur Ellis Awards include bragging rights and a macabre statue". '']Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division.
...
'', May 27, 2018.
*2019 – Vicki Delany
Grand Master Award
The Grand Master Award is presented every two years as a lifetime achievement award, to a crime writer with a distinguished and successful national and international career.
*2014 – Howard Engel[
*2016 – Eric Wright][Erin Knoll]
"Peter Kirby, Ausma Zehanat Khan win Arthur Ellis Awards for crime writing"
CBC Books, July 17, 2016.
*2018 – Gail Bowen[
*2020 – Peter Robinson][
*2022 – ]Louise Penny
Louise Penny (born July 1, 1958) is a Canadian author of mystery novels set in the Canadian province of Quebec centred on the work of francophone Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec. Penny's first career was as a radio broa ...
Best Genre Criticism/Reference
The award for Best Genre Criticism or Reference has only been presented twice.
*1991 – Donald A. Redmond, ''Sherlock Holmes Among the Pirates''[
*1992 – Wesley A. Wark, ''Spy Fiction, Spy Films and Real Intelligence'']["Best murder mystery". '']Financial Post
The ''Financial Post'' is a financial news website, and business section of the ''National Post'', both publications of the Postmedia Network. It started as an English Canadian business newspaper, which published from 1907 to 1998. In 1998, the ...
'', June 8, 1992.
Best Play
The award for Best Play has only been presented once.
*1994 – Timothy Findley
Timothy Irving Frederick Findley, (October 30, 1930 – June 20, 2002) was a Canadian novelist and playwright. , '' The Stillborn Lover''[
]
References
External links
Crime Writers of Canada
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530085813/https://www.crimewriterscanada.com/awards/arthur-ellis-awards/about , date=May 30, 2019
Awards established in 1984
1984 establishments in Canada
First book awards
Canadian fiction awards
Short story awards
Mystery and detective fiction awards