Eleanor Taylor Bland Award Opens
Oline H. Cogdill



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Among the authors who left us too soon is Eleanor Taylor Bland, who passed away in 2010.

She gave us complex characters, starting with African-American police detective Marti MacAlister, who was introduced in Dead Time (published in 1992).

The author’s legacy continues with the fourth annual Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, which is now open for submissions.

Administered by Sisters in Crime, the award honors the memory of Taylor Bland with a $1,500 grant to an emerging writer of color, male or female, who has not yet published a full-length work.

The deadline for submission is June 15, 2017, and the winner will be announced on or before August 1, 2017. Guidelines for submission can be found at Sisters in Crime's website

The award was created in 2014 with a bequest from Bland’s estate “to support Sisters in Crime’s vision statement that the organization should serve as the voice for excellence and diversity in crime writing.”

The grant is intended to support the recipient in activities such as workshops, seminars, conferences and retreats, online courses, and research activities required for completion of their debut crime fiction novel or story collection.

Recipients include Maria Kelson (2014), Vera H-C Chan (2015), and Stephane Dunn (2016).

Here’s a link to a video with past winners describing the award.

Oline Cogdill
2017-05-10 03:55:00