Raymond Chandler Award 2020


John Banville
(Wexford, December 8, 1945)
Irish writer and journalist

The RAYMOND CHANDLER AWARD is Italy’s top lifetime achievement honor to a master of the thriller and noir literary genre, and has been presented by the Festival directors every December since 1993. Conceived by journalist Irene Bignardi in 1988, the then director of MystFest in Cattolica, on the centenary of the birth of the American writer, the prize was established in partnership with the estate of Raymond Chandler, which is handled by the heirs of Graham Greene.
The award itself is a perfect, silver replica of the famous Brasher Doubloon (named after Ephraim Brasher), a rare and precious gold coin minted in 1787, which Philip Marlowe recovers for a wealthy widow in his third adventure, The High Window (1942). The award was presented in Cattolica until 1990, in Viareggio in 1991 and 1992, and since then in Courmayeur – and is always given to the writer in person.
On two occasions a Special Award was also given to audiovisual artists: in 1992 to director Quentin Tarantino and in 1996 to screenwriter Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. In 1999, in honor of the centenary of the birth of Alfred Hitchcock, a special award was presented to actor Farley Granger.

RAYMOND CHANDLER AWARD WINNERS

  1. Graham Greene (Mystfest, Cattolica)
  2. Leonardo Sciascia (Mystfest, Cattolica)
  3. James Ballard (Mystfest, Cattolica)
    Donald Westlake (Mystfest, Cattolica)
  4. Frederick Forsyth (Noir in festival, Viareggio)
  5. Manuel VázquezMontalbán (Noir in festival, Viareggio)
    Quentin Tarantino (Special Award)
  6. Osvaldo Soriano
  7. Carlo Fruttero & Franco Lucentini
  8. P.D. James
  9. Ed McBain e Chris Carter (Special Award)
  10. James Crumley
  11. Mickey Spillane
  12. Farley Granger (Speciale Centenario Alfred Hitchcock)
  13. Andrew Vachss
  14. John le Carrè
  15. John Grisham
  16. James Grady
  1. Ian Rankin
  2. George P. Pelecanos
  3. Elmore Leonard
  4. Scott Turow
  5. Alicia Giménez Bartlett
  6. Leonardo Padura Fuentes
    Michael Connelly
  7. Petros Markaris e Andrea Camilleri
  8. Don Winslow
  9. Henning Mankell
  10. Jeffery Deaver
  11. Joe R. Lansdale
  12. Roberto Saviano
  13. Margaret Atwood
  14. Jo Nesbø
  15. Jonathan Lethem