Sisters in Crime Australia Inc
Celebrating Women’s Crime Writing Since 1991
The Plot: To celebrate women’s crime writing on the page and screen and bring a collective critical eye to the field.
Launched at the Feminist Book Festival in Melbourne in September 1991, Sisters in Crime in Australia was inspired by the American organisation of the same name, which was founded in 1986 by Sara Paretsky (creator of Chicago PI VI Warshawski) and other women crime writers at the Bouchercon crime convention.
The Motive: To share our collective passion for women’s crime writing.
Modus Operandi:
- To bring together women crime writers, screen-writers, producers, booksellers, publishers, lawyers, judges, police, forensic specialists, librarians, academics, and critics but in the main, readers and viewers
- To discuss and analyse books, film and television shows, law and justice issues, new trends and critical issues of the crime genre
- To explore the contemporary issues at the heart of much crime fiction as well as dissecting its rich history
- To promote the professional development of women crime writers, especially emerging writers
- To provide opportunities for networking between writers, publishers and producers and between writers and their readers and viewers
- To have fun – and lots of it.
Crime Pays (for some)
Sisters in Crime Australia’s annual crime short story competition, the Scarlet Stiletto Awards, is open to women only. It has attracted nearly 3000 stories since it began in 1994. The overall winner receives a cash prize plus coveted trophy, a scarlet stiletto shoe with a steel stiletto heel plunging into a perspex mount.
Click here for more details.
Crime Doesn’t Pay (for Others)
Sisters in Crime has no external funding. National convenors, elected at the Annual General Meeting, take responsibility for running the organisation.
More information can be found on the National Convenors page.
By the Book
The Davitts, Sisters in Crime Australia’s national awards for the best published crime books by Australian women, were first presented at SheKilda Women’s Crime Convention in 2001 – by then Victoria Police Commissioner, Christine Nixon.
Full information about the Davitt Awards can be found on the dedicated page.
The awards are named in honour of Ellen Davitt (1812-1879) who wrote Australia’s first mystery novel, Force and Fraud, in 1865.
Click here for more details about the history of the Davitt Awards.
Partners in Crime
Sisters in Crime Australia also hosts events with partners such as libraries, bookshops, literary festivals and institutions such as the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, the Victoria Police Museum, the National Gallery of Victoria, and Melbourne Museum.
Sun Bookshop in Yarraville runs the bookstall at its regular Melbourne events. Shekilda3: A One-Day Crime Spree
Sisters in Crime Australia marked its 25th anniversary with a one-day convention, SheKilda3, on 19 November 2016 at St Kilda Town Hall, Melbourne where it held its 10th anniversary SheKilda Women’s Crime Convention in 2001 – the first women’s crime writing convention held anywhere in the world
The founder of Sisters in Crime USA meets Sisters in Crime Australia in 1994. Front, (L to R): Helen Halliday, Sue Turnbull, Sara Paretsky, Carmel Shute. Back, (L to R): Jane Inglis, Renata Singer, Lindy Cameron