Tuesday 16 November 2010

Tony Hillerman Prize from Minotaur Books

One of the treats at Bouchercon 41 held in October in San Francisco was attending the Minotaur Books cocktail party organized by Hector DeJean [pictured in centre between J A Konrath, aka Jack Killborn and Ken Bruen]. Minotaur Books are tremendous publishers of crime and thrillers, and we were delighted when Hector sent Shots the following information -

WORDHARVEST Writers Workshops and Thomas Dunne Books/ Minotaur Books announced today that Liberty, Indiana resident Tricia Fields' novel The Territory has won in the fourth year of the Tony Hillerman Prize.

Tricia Fields was born in Hawaii but has spent most of her life in small town Indiana, where she lives in a log cabin on a farm with her husband and two daughters. Set in West Texas, The Territory captures the Southwest's inimitable landscape and the current border issues as they affect the regular people living in a remote town near the Rio Grande.

The Tony Hillerman Prize is awarded annually to the best unpublished mystery set in the Southwest written by a first-time author. Previous winners include Roy Chaney, author of The Ragged End of Nowhere, and Christine Barber, author of The Replacement Child and The Bone Fire.

Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee mysteries, set on the Navajo reservation, were the first "regional" mysteries to become national bestsellers. His work has been praised by reviewers and the Navajo Nation for its ability to combine Navajo traditions and beliefs with a well-told mystery story. Hillerman's writing reflects his appreciation for the natural wonders and stark beauty of the American Southwest and its people, particularly the Navajo. His books have been translated into many languages and frequently make the New York Times bestseller list. At age 83, Hillerman passed away on October 26, 2008.


Anne Hillerman, Tony Hillerman's daughter, launched the first Tony Hillerman Writers Conference: Focus on Mystery in 2004 through the business which she co-founded (with Jean Schaumberg), WORDHARVEST Writers Workshops. The conference highlights the art and craft of the mystery and features prominent published mystery writers.

Thomas Dunne Books and Minotaur Books are imprints of
St. Martin's Press, which is a subsidiary of Macmillan.

Photo © 2008 Ali Karim featuring J A Konrath [aka Jack Kilborn] with Hector DeJean and Ken Bruen taken at Bouchercon Baltimore

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