Bouchercon

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Bouchercon
GenreMystery
Location(s)Most recent held virtually, hosted from Sacramento, California, October 16-17, 2020
CountryUnited States
Inaugurated1970
Websitewww.bouchercon.com

Bouchercon, the Anthony Boucher Memorial World Mystery Convention, is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction.[1] It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher,[2] and pronounced the way he pronounced his name, rhyming with "voucher".[3]

It is held annually in Autumn, each year being hosted in a different city by a different group of volunteers.[4] The convention typically starts on Thursday and finishes on Sunday.

Each year, Bouchercon nominates and votes the Anthony Awards for excellence in crime fiction, including: Best Novel, Best First Novel, Best Short Story, Best Critical Non-Fiction, and Best Paperback Original.

People who attend are fans, authors, agents, booksellers, publishers and other people who read and enjoy mystery and crime fiction. The first one was held in Santa Monica, California in 1970. The guest of honor was Robert Bloch of Psycho fame.

Registered attendees of each Bouchercon are designated as 'members', and vote at the annual business meeting (held during the convention) on necessary business items. Bouchercon's governing body is its standing committee, which changes year to year, being made up of people who have hosted and will host the convention, and three at large members who are elected by the membership.

Awards

The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America.

List of Bouchercons

Number Year Location Lifetime Achievement Award Guest(s) of Honor
I 1970 Santa Monica, California no award issued
II 1971
Los Angeles, California
no award issued
III 1972
Los Angeles, California
no award issued
IV 1973
Boston, Massachusetts
no award issued
V 1974 Oakland, California no award issued
VI 1975
Chicago, Illinois
no award issued
VII 1976 Culver City, California no award issued
VIII 1977
New York, New York
no award issued
IX 1978
Chicago, Illinois
no award issued
X 1979
Los Angeles, California
no award issued
XI 1980 Washington, D.C. no award issued
XII 1981
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
no award issued
XIII 1982 San Francisco, California no award issued
XIV 1983
New York, New York
no award issued
XV 1984
Chicago, Illinois
no award issued
XVI 1985 San Francisco, California no award issued
XVII 1986 Baltimore, Maryland no award issued
XVIII 1987
Minneapolis, Minnesota
no award issued
XIX 1988
San Diego, California
no award issued
XX 1989
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dorothy Salisbury Davis
XXI 1990 London, England Michael Gilbert
XXII 1991 Pasadena, California William Campbell Gault
XXIII 1992 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Charlotte MacLeod
XXIV 1993 Omaha, Nebraska Hammond Innes and Ralph McInerny
XXV 1994
Seattle, Washington
Tony Hillerman
XXVI 1995 Nottingham, England no award issued
XXVII 1996
St. Paul, Minnesota
no award issued
XXVIII 1997 Monterey, California Donald E. Westlake
XXIX 1998
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
no award issued
XXX 1999
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Len Moffatt and June Moffatt
XXXI 2000
Denver, Colorado
Jane Langton
XXXII 2001 Washington, D.C. Edward D. Hoch
XXXIII 2002 Austin, Texas no award issued
XXXIV 2003
Las Vegas, Nevada
no award issued
XXXV 2004 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Bernard Cornwell
XXXVI 2005
Chicago, Illinois
Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller
XXXVII 2006 Madison, Wisconsin Robert B. Parker
XXXVIII 2007 Anchorage, Alaska James Sallis
XXXIX 2008 Baltimore, Maryland Lawrence Block
XL 2009
Indianapolis, Indiana
Allen J. Hubin
XLI 2010 San Francisco, California Lee Child
XLII 2011
St. Louis, Missouri
Sara Paretsky
XLIII 2012
Cleveland, Ohio
Mary Higgins Clark
XLIV 2013 Albany, New York Sue Grafton
XLV 2014 Long Beach, California Jeffery Deaver
XLVI 2015 Raleigh, North Carolina Margaret Maron
XLVII 2016
New Orleans, Louisiana
David Morrell
XLVIII 2017 Toronto, Ontario, Canada no award issued
XLIX 2018 St. Petersburg, Florida Ian Rankin
L 2019
Dallas, Texas
Peter Lovesey Hank Phillippi Ryan
James Patterson
Deborah Crombie
Felix Francis
Harry Hunsicker
McKenna Jordan
LI 2020 Sacramento, California TBA Scott Turow
Walter Mosley
Anne Perry
Cara Black
Janet A Rudolph
Catroina McPherson

References

  1. ^ "Bouchercon World Mystery Convention : Home". Bouchercon.info. Archived from the original on 2013-01-12. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
  2. ^ "Bouchercon 2010 by the Bay: The World Series of Mystery". Libraryjournal.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
  3. ^ Marvin Lachman, The Heirs of Anthony Boucher Poisoned Pen Press (2005), p. 83.
  4. ^ "Happy Birthday, Mr. Holmes - The New York Sun". Nysun.com. 2005-01-05. Retrieved 2012-01-30.