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]

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

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

edit

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

edit
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
Catriona McPherson

References

edit
  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.