Barry Award

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The Barry Award is an American literary prize awarded annually in several categories . The award was launched in 1997 by the crime magazine Deadly Pleasures , which is aimed at fans of the crime and mystery genre . Awards will be given to the best English-language novels and short stories published in the USA and Canada in the previous year . The award is named after Barry W. Gardner (1939-1996), a retired fire chief from Dallas and well-known reviewer of detective novels for Deadly Pleasures and other magazines such as The Armchair Detective , Mostly Murder or Mystery News .

Categories and voting procedures

The Barry Award is presented annually in six categories. Since the first award in 1997, the best novel (published as hardcover ), best first novel and paperback novel have been awarded. In 2000, the Best British Detective Novel category was introduced, reserved for works published in Great Britain . Awards for the best short story and the best thriller were introduced as additional categories in 2004 and 2005 . In 2010 the novel of the decade (Mystery / Crime Novel of the Decade) was awarded for the first time . The first winner was the Swedish journalist and writer Stieg Larsson with his award-winning novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (dt. Blindness ). An award is no longer given for works of non-fiction , as is practiced, for example, with the better-known Edgar , Anthony or Agatha Awards .

To take part in the award ceremony, a copy of the book or short story must be sent to the editorial team of Deadly Pleasures , who will review the title in advance if it meets the requirements. The winners are awarded by a jury made up of members of the magazine's editorial team who do not follow an organized reading program and are not obliged to read the same titles that are often selected on the basis of word of mouth . After a preselection, there are usually six title contenders in each category, from which the jury will determine the winner.

The award winners have been announced regularly since 2004 at the annual Anthony Boucher Memorial World Mystery Convention , or “ Bouchercon ” for short , where the Anthony Award is also presented. Well-known authors such as Michael Connelly , Reginald Hill , Dennis Lehane , Laura Lippman , Peter Lovesey and Val McDermid have been among the winners of recent years . Since 2007, the award has been made in cooperation with the magazine Mystery News in order to upgrade the literature prize.

Award winners

category Original name (s) Award period
Best novel Best novel since 1997
Best first novel Best First Novel since 1997
Best paperback novel Best Paperback Original / Best Paperback Novel since 1997
Best thriller Best thriller since 2005
Best British detective novel Best British Crime Novel 2000 to 2012
Best short story Best Short Story / Best Mystery Short Story 2004 to 2012
Best non-fiction book Best non-fiction 1997

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