Acknowledging Mosley as a Master

The Mystery Writers of America (MWA) has announced that Walter Mosley, author of the Easy Rawlins and Leonid McGill detective novels, will be the recipient of its 2016 Grand Master Award. That prize, which “represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing and was established to acknowledge important contributions to this genre,” is set to be presented to Mosley during the Edgar Awards banquet, scheduled for Thursday, April 28, in New York City.

Mosley responded to the news this way: “Receiving the Grand Master Award is the apex of my career as a crime writer; as a writer. It is, joyfully, one of the seminal events of my life.” Previous MWA Grand Master winners include Lois Duncan and James Ellroy, Robert Crais and Carolyn Hart, and Ken Follett and Margaret Maron.

Two other varieties of commendations are also to be handed out during the April Edgars event: a couple of Raven Awards (“recognize[ing] outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing”) will go to Margaret Kinsman, the former executive editor of Clues: A Journal of Detection, as well as to the organization Sisters in Crime; and Janet Rudolph, director of the fan-based Mystery Readers International, editor of Mystery Readers Journal, and creator of the Mystery Fanfare blog, will be given the 2016 Ellery Queen Award, honoring “outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry.”

Congratulations to all of these prize beneficiaries!

(Hat tip to The Gumshoe Site.)