The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

which is based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Named after American writer

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

(1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the best in

mystery fiction Mystery is a genre fiction, fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains wiktionary:mysterious, mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually prov ...

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

, and

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

published or produced in the previous year.

Active author categories

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award

The Robert L. Fish Memorial Award was established in 1984 to honor the best first mystery

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

by an American author. The winners are listed below.

Lilian Jackson Braun Award

The Lilian Jackson Braun Award, established in 2022 in honor of

Lilian Jackson Braun Lilian Jackson Braun (June 20, 1913June 4, 2011) was an American writer known for her light-hearted series of ''The Cat Who...'' mystery novels. ''The Cat Who'' books features newspaper journalist Jim Qwilleran and his two Siamese cats, Koko (sh ...

, is presented for the "best full-length, contemporary

cozy mystery Cozy mysteries (also referred to as cozies) are a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur offstage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small socially-intimate community. Cozies thus s ...

G. P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award

The G. P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award was established in 2019 to honor

Sue Grafton Sue Taylor Grafton (April 24, 1940 – December 28, 2017) was an American author of detective novels. She is best known as the author of the "alphabet series" ('' "A" Is for Alibi'', etc.) featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the ...

and is presented to "the best novel in a series featuring a female protagonist." The winners are listed below.

Grand Master Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Grand Master Award was established in 1955. The award "acknowledges important contributions to the genre as well as for a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality." The Grand Master Award winners follow: *1955:

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

*1958:

Vincent Starrett Charles Vincent Emerson Starrett (; October 26, 1886 – January 5, 1974), known as Vincent Starrett, was a Canadian-born American writer, newspaperman, and bibliophile. Biography Charles Vincent Emerson Starrett was born above his grandfathe ...

*1959:

Rex Stout Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886–October 27, 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and ...

*1961:

Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1928 by the American detective fiction writers Frederic Dannay (1905–1982) and Manfred Bennington Lee (1905–1971). It is also the name of their main fictional detective, a mystery writer in New York City ...

*1962:

Erle Stanley Gardner Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970) was an American author and lawyer, best known for the Perry Mason series of legal detective stories. Gardner also wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces as well as a series of no ...

*1963:

John Dickson Carr John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and ...

*1964:

George Harmon Coxe George Harmon Coxe (April 23, 1901 – January 31, 1984) was an American writer of crime fiction. He created the series featuring crime scene photographer Jack "Flashgun" Casey, which became a popular radio show airing through to the 1940s. ...

*1966:

Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 12/13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer who created the fictional detective Jules Maigret. One of the most prolific and successful authors of the 20th century, he published around 400 ...

*1967:

Baynard Kendrick Baynard Hardwick Kendrick (April 8, 1894 – March 22, 1977) was an American mystery novelist. He wrote whodunit novels about Duncan Maclain, a blind private investigator who worked with his two German shepherds and his household of assistants ...

*1969:

John Creasey John Creasey (17 September 1908 – 9 June 1973) was an English author known mostly for detective and crime novels but who also wrote science fiction, romance and westerns. He wrote more than six hundred novels using twenty-eight different p ...

*1970: James M. Cain *1971: Mignon G. Eberhart *1972: John D. MacDonald *1973:

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

Judson Philips Judson Pentecost Philips (August 10, 1903 – March 7, 1989) was an American writer who wrote more than 100 mystery and detective novels under the pseudonyms Hugh Pentecost and Philip Owen, as well as under his own name. As Judson Philips, ...

*1974:

Ross Macdonald Ross Macdonald was the main pseudonym used by the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar (; December 13, 1915 – July 11, 1983). He is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in Southern California and featur ...

*1975:

Eric Ambler Eric Clifford Ambler OBE (28 June 1909 – 23 October 1998) was an English author of thrillers, in particular spy novels, who introduced a new realism to the genre. Also working as a screenwriter, Ambler used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for books ...

*1976:

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

*1978:

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Gerald du Maurier, Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her gra ...

, Dorothy B. Hughes,

Ngaio Marsh Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh ( ; 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand mystery writer, writer. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Marsh is known as one of the Detective fiction#Golden Age detective novel ...

*1979: Aaron Marc Stein *1980:

W. R. Burnett William Riley Burnett (November 25, 1899 April 25, 1982) was an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for the crime novel ''Little Caesar'', the film adaptation of which is considered the first of the classic American gangster mo ...

*1981: Stanley Ellin *1982:

Julian Symons Julian Gustave Symons (originally Gustave Julian Symons, pronounced ''SIMM-ons''; 30 May 1912 – 19 November 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature. He was born ...

*1983:

Margaret Millar Margaret Ellis Millar (née Sturm; February 5, 1915 – March 26, 1994) was a Canadian-American mystery and suspense writer. Born in Berlin, Ontario (the city would change its name to Kitchener in 1916), she was educated at the Kitchener-Wate ...

*1984:

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. A "sophist ...

*1985: Dorothy Salisbury Davis *1986:

Ed McBain Evan Hunter (born Salvatore Albert Lombino; October 15, 1926 – July 6, 2005) was an American author of crime and mystery fiction. He is best known as the author of '' 87th Precinct'' novels, published under the pen name Ed McBain, which ar ...

*1987:

Michael Gilbert Michael Francis Gilbert (17 July 1912 – 8 February 2006) was an English solicitor and author of crime fiction. Early life and education Gilbert was born on 17 July 1912 in Billinghay, Lincolnshire, England, to Bernard Samuel Gilbert, a writ ...

*1988: Phyllis A. Whitney *1989:

Hillary Waugh Hillary Baldwin Waugh (June 22, 1920 – December 8, 2008) was a pioneering American mystery novelist. In 1989, he was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. Pseudonyms used by Waugh included Elissa Grandower, Harry Walker and H ...

*1990:

Helen McCloy Helen McCloy (June 6, 1904 New York – December 1, 1994 Woodstock, NY), pseudonym Helen Clarkson, was an American mystery writer, whose series character Dr. Basil Willing debuted in ''Dance of Death'' (1938). Willing believes, that "every crimi ...

*1991:

Tony Hillerman Anthony Grove Hillerman (May 27, 1925 – October 26, 2008) was an American author of detective novels and nonfiction works, best known for his mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Several of his w ...

*1992:

Elmore Leonard Elmore John Leonard Jr. (October 11, 1925August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story author and screenwriter. He was, according to British journalist Anthony Lane, "hailed as one of the best crime writers in the land". His earliest no ...

*1993: Donald E. Westlake *1994:

Lawrence Block Lawrence Block (born June 24, 1938) is an American crime writer best known for two long-running New York-set series about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and the gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Block was named a Grand Ma ...

*1995:

Mickey Spillane Frank Morrison Spillane (; March 9, 1918July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, called the "king of pulp fiction". His stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 ...

*1996:

Dick Francis Richard Stanley Francis (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England. After wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winn ...

*1997:

Ruth Rendell Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries. Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.The Oxford Companion ...

*1998:

Elizabeth Peters Barbara Louise Mertz (September 29, 1927 – August 8, 2013) was an American author who wrote under her own name as well as under the pseudonyms Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels. In 1952, she received a PhD in Egyptology from the Universi ...

*1999:

P. D. James Phyllis Dorothy James White, Baroness James of Holland Park (3 August 1920 – 27 November 2014), known professionally as P. D. James, was an English novelist and life peer. Her rise to fame came with her series of detective novels featuri ...

*2000:

Mary Higgins Clark Mary Higgins Clark (born Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins; December 24, 1927 – January 31, 2020) was an American author of suspense novels. Each of her 51 books was a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of her ...

*2001: Edward D. Hoch *2002:

Robert B. Parker Robert Brown Parker (September 17, 1932 – January 18, 2010) was an American writer, primarily of fiction within the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works include the 40 novels written about the fictional private detective Spenser. ...

*2003:

Ira Levin Ira Marvin Levin (August 27, 1929 – November 12, 2007) was an American novelist, playwright, and songwriter. His works include the novels '' A Kiss Before Dying'' (1953), '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1967), '' The Stepford Wives'' (1972), '' This Perf ...

*2004:

Joseph Wambaugh Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh Jr. (January 22, 1937 – February 28, 2025) was an American writer known for his fictional and nonfictional accounts of police work in the United States. Many of his novels are set in Los Angeles and its surroundings an ...

*2005:

Marcia Muller Marcia Muller (born September 28, 1944) is an American author of mystery and thriller novels. Muller has written many novels featuring her ''Sharon McCone'' female private detective character. ''Vanishing Point'' won the Shamus Award for '' ...

*2006: Stuart Kaminsky *2007:

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

*2008:

Bill Pronzini Bill Pronzini (born April 13, 1943) is an American writer of detective fiction. He is also an active anthologist, having compiled more than 100 collections, most of which focus on mystery, western, and science fiction short stories. Pronzini is ...

*2009:

James Lee Burke James Lee Burke (born December 5, 1936) is an American author, best known for his Dave Robicheaux series. He has won Edgar Awards for his novels ''Black Cherry Blues'' (1990), ''Cimarron Rose'' (1998), and ''Flags on the Bayou'' (2024). He has ...

*2010:

Dorothy Gilman Dorothy Edith Gilman (June 25, 1923 – February 2, 2012) was an American writer. She is best known for the Mrs. Pollifax series. Begun in a time when women in mystery meant Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and international espionage meant young ...

*2011:

Sara Paretsky Sara Paretsky (born June 8, 1947) is an American author of detective fiction, best known for her novels focused on the protagonist V. I. Warshawski. Life and career Paretsky was born in Ames, Iowa. Her father was a microbiologist and moved the ...

*2012:

Martha Grimes Martha Grimes (born May 2, 1931) is an American writer of detective fiction. She is best known for a series featuring Richard Jury, a Scotland Yard inspector, and Melrose Plant, an aristocrat turned amateur sleuth. Early life and education Marth ...

*2013:

Ken Follett Kenneth Martin Follett (born 5 June 1949) is a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 198 million copies of his works. His books have been sold in over 80 countries. Follett's commercial breakthrough came with ...

, Margaret Maron *2014:

Robert Crais Robert Crais (pronounced ; born June 20, 1953) is an American author of detective fiction and former screenwriter. Crais began his career writing scripts for television shows such as '' Hill Street Blues'', '' Cagney & Lacey'', '' Quincy'', '' M ...

, Carolyn Hart *2015:

Lois Duncan Lois Duncan Steinmetz (April 28, 1934 – June 15, 2016), known as Lois Duncan, was an American writer, novelist, poet, and journalist. She is best known for her Young adult fiction, young-adult novels, and has been credited by historians as a pi ...

James Ellroy Lee Earle "James" Ellroy (born March 4, 1948) is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, ...

*2016:

Walter Mosley Walter Ellis Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is an American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. He has written a series of best-selling historical mysteries featuring the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private in ...

*2017:

Max Allan Collins Max Allan Collins (born March 3, 1948) is an American mystery writer, noted for his graphic literature. His work has been published in several formats, such as his '' Ms. Tree'' series and his '' Road to Perdition'' series was the basis for a fi ...

Ellen Hart Ellen Hart (born August 10, 1949) is the award-winning mystery author of the Jane Lawless and Sophie Greenway series. Born in Maine, she was a professional chef for 14 years. Hart's mysteries include culinary elements similar to those of Diane ...

*2018: Jane Langton,

William Link William Theodore Link (December 15, 1933 – December 27, 2020) was an American film and television screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with Richard Levinson. Biography Early life Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...

Peter Lovesey Peter Harmer Lovesey (10 September 1936 – 10 April 2025), also known by his pen name Peter Lear, was a British writer of Historical mystery, historical and Detective fiction, contemporary detective novels and short stories. His best-known ser ...

*2019:

Martin Cruz Smith Martin Cruz Smith, born Martin William Smith (November 3, 1942), is an American writer of mystery and suspense fiction, mostly in an international or historical setting. He is best known for his series featuring Russian investigator Arkady Renko ...

*2020:

Barbara Neely Barbara Ann Neely (often self-stylized as BarbaraNeely; November 30, 1941 – March 2, 2020) was an African-American novelist, short story writer and activist who wrote murder mystery, murder mysteries. Her first novel, ''Blanche on the Lam'' (1 ...

*2021:

Jeffery Deaver Jeffery Deaver (born May 6, 1950) is an American mystery and crime writer. He has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a J.D. degree from Fordham University and originally started working as a journalist. He lat ...

*2021:

Charlaine Harris Charlaine Harris Schulz (born November 25, 1951) is an American author who specializes in mysteries. She is best known for her book series '' The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', which was adapted as the TV series '' True Blood''. The television sh ...

*2022: Laurie R. King *2023:

Michael Connelly Michael Joseph Connelly (born July 21, 1956) is an American author of Detective fiction, detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring Los Angeles Police Department, LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and cr ...

, Joanne Fluke *2024:

Katherine Hall Page Katherine Hall Page (born July 7, 1947) is an American writer of cozy mysteries. Page has written twenty-five books in her ''Faith Fairchild'' series and four ''Christie and Company'' juvenile mysteries. Between 1990 and 2005, Page won three Agatha ...

, R. L. Stine *2025:

Laura Lippman Laura Lippman (born January 31, 1959) is an American journalist and author of over 20 detective fiction novels. Her novels have won multiple awards, including an Agatha Award, seven Anthony Awards, two Barry Awards, an Edgar Award, a Gumshoe Aw ...

, John Sandford

Raven Award

The Raven Award was established in 1953 to honor "outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside of the realm of creative writing."

Ellery Queen Award

The Ellery Queen Award was established in 1983 "to honor outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry." The winners are listed below.

Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award

The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award was established in 2001.

Active story categories

Fact Crime

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime was established in 1948.

Critical/Biographical Work

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work was established in 1977.

Novel

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel was established in 1954.

Paperback or eBook Original

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original was established in 1970.

First Novel

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel was established in 1946.

Young Adult Novel

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best

Young Adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

Novel was established in 1989.

Juvenile

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile was established in 1961.

Short Story

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Short Story was established in 1951.

Episode in a Television Series

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Episode in a TV Series was established in 1952.

Discontinued categories

Book Jacket

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best

Book Jacket The dust jacket (sometimes book jacket, dust wrapper or dust cover) of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back book ...

was established in 1955 and discontinued in 1975.

Foreign Film

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Foreign Film was established in 1949 and discontinued in 1966.

Motion Picture Screenplay

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay was established in 1946 and discontinued in 2009.

Mystery Criticism

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Outstanding Mystery Criticism was established in 1946 and discontinued in 1967.

Play

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Play was established in 1950 and is irregular.

Radio Drama

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best

Radio Drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

was established in 1946 and discontinued in 1960.

Special Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Special Award was established in 1949 and is irregular.

Television Feature or Miniseries

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Television Feature or Miniseries was established in 1972 and discontinued in 2007.

References

External links

* (includes nominees)
Mystery Writers of America

Edgar Allan Poe Awards
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

{{Edgar Awards Awards established in 1946 Mystery and detective fiction awards American literary awards Edgar Allan Poe English-language literary awards Edgar Awards

Active author categories

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award

Lilian Jackson Braun Award

G. P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award

Grand Master Award

Raven Award

Ellery Queen Award

Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award

Active story categories

Fact Crime

Critical/Biographical Work

Novel

Paperback or eBook Original

First Novel

Young Adult Novel

Juvenile

Short Story

Episode in a Television Series

Discontinued categories

Book Jacket

Foreign Film

Motion Picture Screenplay

Mystery Criticism

Play

Radio Drama

Special Award

Television Feature or Miniseries

See also

References

External links