Sisters in Crime in Richmond?
Not so many years ago, fictional female characters were frequently the victims of graphic sadism and women writers were treated as less than equal to their male counterparts throughout the mystery field. They were rarely nominated for awards and their books weren’t being reviewed at a percentage rate comparable to their participation in the field.
Sisters in Crime (SinC) was formed in 1987 with the express purpose of helping women who write, review, buy, or sell crime fiction. The ultimate goal was “to become a service organization to address issues of concern to everyone involved in the mystery field”. The organization has made great strides over the years but, as recently as November 2009, when Publishers Weekly issued its list of Best Books of 2009, there were no women in the top 10, only two female mystery writers in the fiction section and, of seven titles selected in the mystery section, only two were by women. To make matters worse, in the first three quarters of 2009, only two of fifty publications had reviewed more mystery novels written by women than those written by men. Of the other 48 publications, a number were very heavily weighted in favor of male mystery writers to the tune of 79% or more. Clearly, after 23 years, there is still much to be done.
Today, SinC has 3,600 members in chapters all over the country, involved in many activities to “make things better for our sister writers and strengthen the field for our sister readers” and includes many men in its membership, men who support the aims of the organization. It is the only national mystery association that offers full membership to readers, writers, and industry professionals. Two chapters currently serve Virginia, the Chesapeake chapter representing the District of Columbia, central and eastern Maryland and northern Virginia and the Hampton Roads chapter. There is a growing interest in possibly starting a chapter here in central Virginia. If you think you might like to be a part of this and would like to know more, please leave a comment here or send a message to cncbooks1@gmail.com and I’ll pass your name and email address on to the proper person.
February 23, 2010
Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller
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