NEW YORK, June 19, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The
Strand Magazine is pleased to announce the nominations for the 2021
Strand Critics Awards.
Authors Walter Mosley,
Alyssa Cole, Lisa Unger, and Ian
Rankin headline this year's Critics Award nominees.
Receiving Lifetime Achievement Awards will be Stephen King, Joyce
Carol Oates, and Alexander McCall
Smith.
Josh Stanton of Blackstone
Publishing will receive the Publisher of the Year Award.
Recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction and
publishing, the 2021 Strand Critics Awards are judged by a select
group of book critics and journalists. This year's judges include
talent from NPR, USA Today, The LA
Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
And the nominees are . . .
Best Mystery Novel (2020)
Snow by John Banville (Hanover
Square Press)
You Again by Debra Jo Immergut
(Ecco)
Trouble Is What I Do by Walter
Mosley (Mulholland Books)
The Missing American by Kwei Quartey
(Soho Crime)
A Song for the Dark Times by Ian
Rankin (Little, Brown and Company)
Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay
(William Morrow)
Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa
Unger (Park Row)
Best Debut Novel (2020)
Amnesty by Aravind Adiga
(Scribner)
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam (Ecco)
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa
Cole (William Morrow)
Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline
(William Morrow)
A Burning by Megha Majumdar
(Knopf)
A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G.
Summers (The Unnamed Press)
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas (Custom House)
"This year's panel chose a diverse set of authors," said
Andrew F. Gulli, managing editor of
The Strand Magazine. "Many of these authors are new and exciting
voices in our genre, and it's wonderful to see them get the
recognition they deserve."
Past recipients of Critics Awards include Michael Connelly, Laura
Lippman, Richard Price,
Megan Abbott, George Pelecanos, Joseph
Finder, Lauren Beukes, and
William Landay.
The Strand Magazine's Publisher of the Year Award recognizes
excellence in publishing.
This year's recipient is Josh
Stanton, CEO of Blackstone Publishing. Stanton took the helm
at Blackstone ten years ago, and during his tenure sales have more
than tripled. He has also overseen the evolution of Blackstone not
only as one of the largest audiobook publishers in the United States, but also as a publisher of
bestselling print and digital books, recently releasing highly
successful mystery novels by Meg
Gardiner, Brian Freeman,
Catherine Ryan Howard, and
Sara Foster.
"Josh and the team at Blackstone are simply phenomenal," said
Managing Editor Gulli. "Their recipe for success should serve as a
guide to all businesses seeking to expand and forge excellent
relationships with authors, vendors, publishers, and
customers."
"I would like to express my deepest gratitude to The Strand,"
Stanton said. "It's truly an honor to be chosen, and I'm humbled to
receive this award. This recognition is a testament to our entire
Blackstone team and all their amazing efforts and creativity. I'd
like to thank the entire company because each one of you is as much
a part of this accolade as I am."
Past recipients of the Strand Publisher of the Year Award
include Tom Doherty and Bronwen Hruska.
The Strand Magazine's Lifetime Achievement Awards go to
Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, and Alexander McCall Smith.
Aptly dubbed the "King of Horror," Stephen King is a true renaissance man of
storytelling. Over the past 50 years, he has mastered and melded
genres, from supernatural and crime to sci-fi and Western. King is
also one of the most prolific authors of our time, with over 60
published novels and roughly 200 short stories. Yet with millions
of books in print and a readership around the world, his writing
remains as fresh and inventive as when Carrie (1974) first put him
on the literary map.
"This is a beautiful thing," King said of the award. "And I'm
most appreciative. Looks like I'm in great company!"
When her first novel, With Shuddering Fall, published in 1964,
26-year-old Joyce Carol Oates was
lauded as an exciting voice in fiction—and that has not changed.
Consistently striking at the heart of the human experience, she has
written over 70 novels, scores of short stories and poems,
countless critical reviews, a heartbreaking memoir, and has edited
several anthologies, plays, and essays. Oates has long been a force
to be reckoned with, and an inspiration to aspiring writers
everywhere.
"I'm honored to be a recipient of the Strand Lifetime
Achievement Award with its distinguished history," Oates said. "As
a writer who spends much time in solitude, and especially during
this perilous pandemic year when immersion in a world of fiction
has been both a way of remaining sane and a way of trying to
comprehend the insanity roiling about us, I am particularly
grateful for the thoughtfulness and generosity of the critics who
have thought of me in this regard. Thank you enormously! All
writers need encouragement—and this is very encouraging."
The release of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in 2002
catapulted Alexander McCall Smith to
the top of the bestseller lists. He's continued the series of
charming mysteries set in Botswana
and has started several other highly successful series, including
the 44 Scotland Street books, The Sunday Philosophy Club series,
and numerous children's books. A true humanitarian, McCall Smith has lent his support to several
charitable causes, including rabies control and safeguards for the
environment, as well as contributed to the Christian Book Sale, a
charity that raises funds for disaster relief.
"I am immensely honored by this award from The Strand Magazine,"
McCall Smith said. "This is a
magazine with a great reputation and a great history, and it is
such an honor to be associated with it in this way. I look forward
to my continuing association with the splendid cultural institution
that is the Strand Magazine."
Past lifetime achievement award-winners include Tess Gerritsen, Walter
Mosley, Heather Graham,
Jonathan Gash, J.A. Jance,
Clive Cussler, Jeffery Deaver, and Elmore Leonard.
The Strand Critics Awards will be held virtually in early
September.
Media Contact
andrew gulli, The Strand, +1 (248) 5693503,
agulli@strandmag.com
SOURCE The Strand