Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence

The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, are a group of Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Crime Writers of Canada for the best Canadian crime and mystery writing published in the previous year. The award is presented during May in the year following publication.

Originally, the awards were named for Arthur Ellis, the pseudonym of several of Canada's official hangmen, the first and most famous being Arthur B. English. The award statuette was designed by actor and theatre designer Peter Blais.

In 2021 the Crime Writers of Canada announced that they were retiring Arthur Ellis's name from the awards, renaming them to their current name.

Best Unpublished First Novel - "Unhanged Arthur"
First awarded in 2007 as part of the CWC mandate to recognize and promote the careers of promising new crime writers.

Derrick Murdoch Award
This is a special achievement award for contributions to the genre of crime and mystery writing, awarded at the discretion of the president of the Crime Writers of Canada. When first presented in 1984, it was known as the Chairman's Award; it was later renamed in honour of its first recipient, Derrick Murdoch. Since 2013, it has only been presented in years when the new biennial Grand Master Award, listed below, is not presented.


 * 1984 - Derrick Murdoch
 * 1985 - Tony Aspler
 * 1986 - Margaret Millar
 * 1987 - The CBC Drama Department
 * 1988 - J.D. Singh and Jim Reicker
 * 1989 - not presented
 * 1990 - Eric Wilson
 * 1991 - not presented
 * 1992 - William Bankier, James Powell and Peter Sellers
 * 1993 - not presented
 * 1994 - not presented
 * 1995 - Jim and Margaret McBride
 * 1996 - not presented
 * 1997 - not presented
 * 1998 - Howard Engel and Eric Wright
 * 1999 - Ted Wood
 * 2000 - Eddie Barber, Rick Blechta, John North and David Skene-Melvin
 * 2001 - L.R. Wright
 * 2002 - James Dubro and Caro Soles
 * 2003 - Margaret Cannon
 * 2004 - Cheryl Freedman
 * 2005 - Max Haines
 * 2006 - Mary Jane Maffini
 * 2007 - not presented
 * 2008 - Edward D. Hoch
 * 2009 - Gail Bowen
 * 2010 - Peter Robinson
 * 2011 - Louise Allin and N.A.T. Grant
 * 2012 - Don Graves and Catherine Astolfo
 * 2013 - Lyn Hamilton
 * 2014 - not presented
 * 2015 - Sylvia McConnell
 * 2016 - not presented
 * 2017 - Christina Jennings
 * 2018 - not presented
 * 2019 - Vicki Delany

Grand Master Award
The Grand Master Award is presented every two years as a lifetime achievement award, to a crime writer with a distinguished and successful national and international career.


 * 2014 - Howard Engel
 * 2016 - Eric Wright
 * 2018 - Gail Bowen
 * 2020 - Peter Robinson
 * 2022 - Louise Penny

Best Genre Criticism/Reference
The award for Best Genre Criticism or Reference has only been presented twice.


 * 1991 - Donald A. Redmond, Sherlock Holmes Among the Pirates
 * 1992 - Wesley A. Wark, Spy Fiction, Spy Films and Real Intelligence

Best Play
The award for Best Play has only been presented once.


 * 1994 - Timothy Findley, The Stillborn Lover