Scarlet Stiletto Awards 2014 shortlist announced

The shortlist for the 2014 Scarlet Stiletto Awards has been announced.

Twenty-seven short stories by 23 women have been nominated for the awards, which recognise short crime stories written by Australian women. The list of nominated authors can be viewed here. 

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, this year’s awards include new categories for Best Story by an Indigenous Writer, Best Story with a Disabled Protagonist and Best Story with a Political Edge. The awards also received a boost in prize money this year.

Judges’ spokesperson Michaela Lobb said of the shortlist: ‘The murderous impulses harboured by Australian women had never been so evident nor so inspiring’. ‘We are witnessing an explosion of talent and ideas in women’s crime writing in this country. As always, there were quite a few stories where women kill men, usually their husbands, for often surprising reasons but this time they were counterbalanced by a surge of stories entered in the Body in the Library category and the new category, Best Story with a Disabled Protagonist.’

The awards will be presented by Australian actor Marta Dusseldorp at a dinner in Melbourne on 21 November. For more information about the awards, visit the website here.