2016 Dove Award: Janet Rudolph

I usually don't share information about myself on Mystery Fanfare, but  since I try to report all awards, I wanted to let you know how excited, honored, and humbled I am to receive this award from my academic peers.

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Janet Rudolph receives the 2016 George N. Dove Award for Contributions to the Study of Mystery and Crime Fiction 

Janet Rudolph, founder of Mystery Readers International, has been selected to receive the 2016 Dove Award. The honor is bestowed for outstanding contributions to the serious study of mystery, detective, and crime fiction by the Mystery and Detective Fiction Area of the Popular Culture Association. The award is named for George N. Dove, one of the area’s early members, a past president of the Popular Culture Association, and author of outstanding presentations, articles, and books on detective fiction, especially the police procedural.

The 2016 award recognizes Rudolph’s wide-ranging activities promoting the love of mystery and crime fiction, starting with her founding of Mystery Readers International, “the largest mystery fan/reader organization in the world,” which is open to every segment of the mystery-loving population, from readers and writers to editors, publishers, and critics. Other opportunities for mysterious encounters include, among others, the Mystery Readers Journal, which Rudolph edits and which is published four times a year; monthly Literary Salons with well-known crime writers in her own home in Berkeley, CA; and two blogs: Mystery Fanfare, which includes news, cartoons, and Rudolph’s views on mystery-related topics, and Dying for Chocolate, which features chocolate-related topics along with tie-ins to relevant mystery concerns. MRI is also known for sponsoring the annual Macavity Awards, for which members nominate and vote for books and short stories in several categories, and Rudolph’s website is a general resource for mystery lovers, with lists of mystery bookstores, mystery periodicals, and reading groups.

In addition to all of her work with Mystery Readers International, Rudolph is also one of the founders of Left Coast Crime, an annual convention of mystery readers, fans, and writers, 26 years ago and serves on the National Board. She also serves on the International Board of Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention.

As a popularizer of all things mystery-related, Janet Rudolph promotes not only the serious study of mystery and detective fiction, but also the pure enjoyment of the genre in many different forms.

The 2016 Dove Award will be announced at the Mystery and Detective Fiction Area meeting on March 25 during the PCA/ACA annual conference in Seattle (March 21-25, 2016).

Past recipients include Elizabeth Foxwell, H.R.F. Keating, P.D. James, Douglas Greene, and Frankie Y. Bailey.