Hammett Prize
Encyclopedia
The Hammett Prize is awarded annually by the International Association of Crime Writers, North American Branch (IACW/NA) to a Canadian or US citizen or permanent resident for a book in English in the field of crime writing. It is named after crime-writer Dashiell Hammett
and was established in 1991.
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...
and was established in 1991.
Past winners
- 1991 - Maximum Bob by Elmore LeonardElmore LeonardElmore John Leonard Jr. , better known as Elmore Leonard, is an American novelist and screenwriter. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.Among his...
(Delcorte) - 1992 - Turtle Moon by Alice HoffmanAlice HoffmanAlice Hoffman is an American novelist and young-adult and children's writer, best known for her 1996 novel Practical Magic, which was adapted for a 1998 film of the same name...
(PutnamG. P. Putnam's SonsG. P. Putnam's Sons was a major United States book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group.-History:...
) - 1993 - The Mexican Tree Duck by James CrumleyJames CrumleyJames Arthur Crumley was the author of violent hardboiled crime novels and several volumes of short stories and essays, as well as published and unpublished screenplays...
(Mysterious Press) - 1994 - Dixie City Jam by James Lee BurkeJames Lee BurkeJames Lee Burke is an American author of mysteries, best known for his Dave Robicheaux series. He has won an Edgar Award for Black Cherry Blues and Cimarron Rose . The Robicheaux character has been portrayed twice on screen, first by Alec Baldwin and then Tommy Lee Jones...
(Hyperion) - 1994 - Under the Beetle's Cellar by Mary Willis WalkerMary Willis Walker-Writing career:Walker began writing in her mid-forties, which she characterized as " 'pretty late to start' ". She spent two years writing her first published thriller, Zero at the Bone, which was published in 1991. Her second Texas-based mystery, Red Scream, was Walker's first to...
(Doubleday) - 1996 - Rose by Martin Cruz SmithMartin Cruz SmithMartin Cruz Smith is an American mystery novelist.-Early life and education:Born Martin William Smith in Reading, Pennsylvania, he was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing in 1964...
(Random HouseRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
) - 1997 - Trial of Passion by William DeverellWilliam DeverellWilliam Herbert Deverell is a Canadian novelist, activist, and criminal lawyer. He is among the most well known authors of crime fiction in Canada; the recipient of the 1997 and 2006 Arthur Ellis Awards for best Canadian crime novel, and the Dashiell Hammett Prize for literary excellence in crime...
(McClelland & Stewart) - 1998 - Tidewater Blood by William HoffmanWilliam Hoffman (author)William Hoffman was an American writer who published thirteen novels and four books of short stories. He lived in Charlotte Court House, Virginia....
(Algonquin) - 1999 - Havana BayHavana Bay (novel)Havana Bay is a crime novel by Martin Cruz Smith, set in Cuba. It is the fourth novel to feature Investigator Arkady Renko, and it won the 1999 Hammett Prize...
by Martin Cruz SmithMartin Cruz SmithMartin Cruz Smith is an American mystery novelist.-Early life and education:Born Martin William Smith in Reading, Pennsylvania, he was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing in 1964...
(Random House) - 2000 - The Blind AssassinThe Blind AssassinThe Blind Assassin is an award-winning, bestselling novel by the Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It was first published by McClelland and Stewart in 2000. Set in Canada, it is narrated from the present day, referring back to events that span the twentieth century.The work was awarded the Man...
by Margaret AtwoodMargaret AtwoodMargaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
(Doubleday/McClelland & Stewart) - 2001 - Kingdom of ShadowsKingdom of ShadowsKingdom of Shadows is a novel by Alan Furst. It won the 2001 Hammett Prize.-Plot summary:The story is set in Europe between April 1938 and July 1939, a time of ever-increasing fear and apprehension throughout the continent. Nicholas Morath is an expatriate Hungarian in his forties and the...
by Alan FurstAlan FurstAlan Furst is an American author of historical spy novels set just prior to and during the Second World War.-Biography:...
(Random House) - 2002 - Honor's Kingdom by Owen Parry (Morrow)
- 2003 - The Seduction of Water by Carol Goodman (BallantineBallantine BooksBallantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
) - 2004 - Prince of Thieves: A Novel by Chuck HoganChuck HoganChuck Hogan is an American author. He is the author of Prince of Thieves: A Novel, a work upon which Ben Affleck's Academy Award-nominated film The Town is based on. The work won the 2005 Hammett Prize and was called one of the ten best novels of the year by Stephen King...
(Scribner) - 2005 - Alibi: A Novel by Joseph KanonJoseph KanonJoseph Kanon is an American author, best known for thriller and spy novels set in the period immediately after World War II.-Biography:...
(Henry Holt) - 2006 - The Prisoner of Guantánamo by Dan FespermanDan FespermanDan Fesperman is a reporter for The Baltimore Sun and a published author of several thrillers. The plots were inspired by the author's own international assignments in countries such as Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Germany.- List of works :...
(Knopf) - 2007 - The Outlander by Gil AdamsonGil AdamsonGil Adamson is a Canadian writer. She won the Books in Canada First Novel Award in 2008 for her 2007 novel The Outlander.Adamson's first published work was Primitive, a volume of poetry, in 1991...
(House of Anansi) - 2008 - The Turnaround by George PelecanosGeorge PelecanosGeorge P. Pelecanos is a Greek-American author. Many of his works are in the genre of detective fiction and set primarily in his hometown of Washington, D.C. He is also a film and television producer and a television writer...
(Little, Brown) - 2009 - The Manual of Detection by Jedediah BerryJedediah BerryJedediah Berry is an American writer. He is the author of a novel, The Manual of Detection .-Background and education:Berry was born in Randolph, Vermont, and spent his childhood in Catskill, New York. He attended Bard College, and earned a graduate degree from the MFA Program for Poets & Writers...
(The Penguin Press) - 2010 - The Nearest Exit by Olen SteinhauerOlen SteinhauerOlen Steinhauer is an American novelist who authored The Tourist, a New York Times Best Seller.- Life :Steinhauer was born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and grew up in Virginia. He attended university at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania and The University of Texas, Austin...
(St.Martin's/Minoutar)