Mosley’s Rack of Rewards Expands

Walter Mosley—author of the Easy Rawlins and Leonid McGill mysteries—will receive this year’s John Seigenthaler Legends Award, to be presented on April 1 during the 2020 Killer Nashville convention (provided that event is not cancelled like so many others).

A press release says this prize is named after John Seigenthaler, “a well-known editor, publisher, writer, TV personality, First Amendment champion, advocate for writers, and longtime supporter of Killer Nashville. Like its namesake, the annual Killer Nashville John Seigenthaler Legends Award is bestowed upon an individual within the publishing industry who has championed First Amendment Rights to ensure that all opinions are given a voice, has exemplified mentorship and example to authors, supporting the new voices of tomorrow, and/or has written an influential canon of work that will continue to influence authors for many years to come.”

The same alert observes that in addition to Mosley having been named, in 2016, as a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, “he has won numerous awards, including an Edgar Award for Best Novel, the Anisfield-Wolf Award, a Grammy, a PEN USA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and several NAACP Image awards.”