Eleanor Taylor Bland Award Winner Announced
Sisters in Crime has announced that the 2017 winner of the annual Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award is Jessica Ellis Laine, whose novel-in-progress won the 2016 Mystery Writers of America-Midwest Hugh Holton Award. The award, named in honor of African-American crime fiction author Eleanor Taylor Bland, comes with a $1,500 grant to an emerging writer of color, male or female, who has not yet published a full-length work. It 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.
