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Rzechowicz wins first prize in 2023 Scarlet Stiletto Awards

Tuesday, 28 November 2023   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

Sisters in Crime Australia announced the winners of the 2023 Scarlet Stiletto Awards in a 30th anniversary event in South Melbourne on Saturday night.

Canberra author Romany Rzechowicz won the $2000 first prize for ‘Skin and Bone’, which Sisters in Crime described as ‘a creepy short story about two female artists with strange specialities’. Second prize ($1000) went to Jude Bridge for ‘End of Life’, and the third prize ($750) was awarded to Sandra Thom-Jones for ‘The Safehouse’.

Other awards presented in the evening included:

  • Body-in-the-Library Award ($1250): Alison Pascoe for ‘The Murder in the Library’
  • Award for Best Thriller ($1000): Cheryl Fairclough for ‘Bush Chicken’
  • History with Mystery Award ($1000): JB Rowley for ‘Shanty Town’
  • Body-in-the-Library Runner-Up Award ($750): Kim Graham for ‘Borrowed Time’
  • Clan Destine Press Award for Cross Genre ($750): Josephine Brick for ‘The Body in the Bookshop’
  • Malice Domestic Award ($750): Georgina Coleman for ‘Sticky Fingers’
  • Viliama Grakalic Art & Crime Award ($750): Romany Rzechowicz for ‘Skin and Bone’
  • Great Film Idea Award ($500): Kim Robyn Smith for ‘Lady Bethany Homestead’
  • Liz Navratil Award for the Story with the Best Disabled Protagonist ($400): Sandra Thom-Jones for ‘The Motif in the Motives’
  • Crime and Punishment Award for the Story with the Most Satisfying Retribution: Athena Law for ‘Model Husband’.

On behalf of the judging panel, Christina Lee noted that although murder remained the most common subject of the crime stories, there were also ‘a lot of financial crimes—theft, fraud and embezzlement’, as well as ‘an increased focus on the criminal possibilities of AI and robotics’.

The Scarlet Stiletto Awards are ‘a national award for short stories, written by Australian women and featuring a strong female protagonist’, which was established in 1994.

This year’s winners were selected from 250 entries, which Sisters in Crime said was a record number of submissions. Last year’s first prize winner was Fin J Ross for ‘Tuesday Jocks’.

More information about the awards is available on the Sisters in Crime website.

Pictured: Romany Rzechowicz.

 

Category: Awards Local news