Saturday, July 14, 2018

The Big Easy Falls Hard for Minnesotans

Minnesota author Ellen Hart has won the 2018 Pinckley Prize for Distinguished Body of Work. Hart is the author of the Jane Lawless (A Whisper of Bones) and Sophie Greenway (No Reservations Required) mystery series. As explained in a news release from the Women’s National Book Association of New Orleans, Louisiana (WNBA-NO), which established the Pinckley Prize in 2012:
Hart’s novels deal with LGBT issues and have received six prestigious Lambda Literary Awards. In 2017, she was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, its highest honor; she is the first LGBT writer to achieve this recognition. Hart lives in Eden Prairie, Minn.

The judges praised Hart’s persistence over a long and distinguished publishing career, her generosity to other writers, and her success in creating believable and lovable characters.
Meanwhile, another Gopher State resident, Marcie Rendon, will receive the Pinckley Prize for Debut Novel for her book Murder on the Red River (Cinco Puntos Press). “An enrolled member of the White Earth Nation,” explains the Pinckley Prize Web site, “Rendon is a playwright, poet, and freelance writer. She has published four non-fiction children’s books … Rendon is a community arts activist who supports other native artists/writers/creators in pursuing their art. The judges, facing a formidable field of entries this year, were impressed with Rendon’s sense of place and her creation of an unforgettable character who forges her own way in a challenging world.”

These two commendations will be presented on Saturday, October 6, during a ceremony at the George and Joyce Wein New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Center in New Orleans. Both winners will receive “a $2,500 cash award, as well as a beautiful paper rosette fashioned from the pages of their books, created by New Orleans artist Yuka Petz.”

The Pinckley Prize is named in honor of Diana Pinckley (1952-2012), a founding member of the WNBA-NO and a longtime director of University Relations at Tulane University.

Past winners of these prizes are listed here.

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Neither Eden Prairie MN or the White Earth Nation are located in the Badger State. You're possibly thinking of the friendlier, cuter and possibly smarter Gopher (though much worse at football).

J. Kingston Pierce said...

Hah! I stand corrected. You'd think that, after having visited Minnesota more than a dozen times in recent years, I would know better than to confuse Gopher with Badger. The reference is fixed now.

Cheers,
Jeff