Celebrating Female Crime Writers: Fremantle Press Sponsors the Scarlet Stiletto Awards
Fremantle Press creator Angela Savage; Spinning Around: The Kylie Playlist, is one of many writers to have benefited from the Sisters in Crime Scarlet Stiletto Awards for Australian women’s best short crime and mystery stories. Now in its 31st year the prize pool has increased to a record $13,400 with Fremantle Press the co-sponsor of third prize along with Sun Bookshop.
Professor Emerita Christina Lee, judges’ coordinator and winner of two trophies, said that the Scarlet Stiletto Awards were remarkable in their ability to uncover outstanding criminal talent.
“Winning a Scarlet Stiletto Award has often been a springboard to a literary career. To date, 4582 stories have been entered, with 34 Scarlet Stiletto Award winners – including category winners – going on to have novels published,” she said.
“Well-known authors who got their start with the Scarlet Stiletto Awards include Kennedy, Tara Moss, Aoife Clifford, Ellie Marney, Angela Savage and Anna Snoekstra. For Dervla McTiernan, just being shortlisted in 2015 gave her the impetus to finish five drafts of her first novel, The Rúin, and put her on the road to becoming a global publishing sensation.”
Publisher Georgia Richter said Fremantle Press was proud to support an award which had uncovered multiple bestselling female writers and helped them gain recognition world of crime writing. ‘We encourage all Western Australian women who dream of a career in crime writing to polish up their work and enter. There are some superb crime writers in WA and we love to see our talented local authors getting recognition of this kind.’
The first prize winner takes home $2000, donated by Swinburne University of Technology, plus the coveted trophy, a scarlet stiletto shoe with a steel stiletto heel plunging into a mount. The shortlist will be announced in October, with the awards being presented at a gala ceremony in Melbourne in late November.
The full list of this year’s awards is:
Swinburne University Award: 1st Prize: $2000
Simon & Schuster Award: 2nd Prize: $1000
Sun Bookshop & Fremantle Press Award: 3rd Prize: $750
Allen & Unwin Award for Best Young Writer (under 19): $1000
Monash University Award for Best Campus Crime Story: $600
Melbourne Athenaeum Library ‘Body in the Library’ Award: $1250 ($750 runner-up)
Every Cloud Award for Best Mystery with History Story: $1000
HQ Fiction Award for Best Thriller: $1000
Clan Destine Press Award for Best Cross-genre Story: $750
Kerry Greenwood Award for Best Malice Domestic Story: $750
Viliama Grakalic Art and Crime Award: $750
Cate Kennedy Award for Best Story Inspired by a Forensic Clue: $500
ScriptWorks Award for a Great Film Idea: $500
Liz Navratil Award for Best Story with a Disabled Protagonist Award: $500
Writers Victoria Award for the Story with the Most Satisfying Retribution: Choice of online course plus membership, worth $300.
Closing date for the awards is 31 August 2024. The entry fee is $25, or $20 for Sisters in Crime members. Maximum length is 5000 words.
The competition is open to all women, whether cisgender, transgender or intersex, who are citizens/residents of Australia.
To download information and a list of FAQs, go to:
https://www.sistersincrime.org.au/the-scarlet-stiletto-awards/
