Raymond Chandler Award 2025


Mick Herron

The photo of Mick Herron is by Mikael Buck

Mick Herron will be handed the Chandler Award on December 4th at the Casa del Manzoni, the venue that Noir in Festival has chosen for its leading events. There, the Chandler winner will hold a talk with author and film noir expert Adrian Wootton before Noir audiences, while on the morning of the same day, Herron will meet with students and teachers at IULM University (Noir’s historic partner) and explain how Slow Horses became a global hit and went from a book to a TV series.

Mick Herron (Newcastle, 1963) made his literary debut in 2003 with the novel Down Cemetery Road (turned into the 2025 TV series of the same name), and has gone on to publish over fifteen novels, including two series starring the same character. He also writes stories for Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. His books have won numerous awards, among them the Gold Dagger in 2013, per Dead Lions, and the 2025 Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement, both bestowed on him by the Crime Writers’ Association. Agent Jackson Lamb made his appearance in Slow Horses in 2010, acclaimed as one of the top twenty spy stories of all time. The TV series made for Apple TV+ inspired by the character is one of the most viewed series ever.

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 Vázquez Montalbán
    (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
  7. Michael Connelly
  8. Petros Markaris e Andrea Camilleri
  9. Don Winslow
  10. Henning Mankell
  11. Jeffery Deaver
  12. Joe R. Lansdale
  13. Roberto Saviano
  14. Margaret Atwood
  15. Jo Nesbø
  16. Jonathan Lethem
  17. John Banville
  18. Guillaume Musso
  19. Harlan Coben
  20. Daniel Pennac
  21. Joyce Carol Oates