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 recipients from 1988:
1988 Graham Greene (Mystfest, Cattolica)
1989 Leonardo Sciascia (Mystfest, Cattolica)
1990 J.G. Ballard (Mystfest, Cattolica)
Donald Westlake (Mystfest, Cattolica)
1991 Frederick Forsyth (Noir in Festival, Viareggio)
1992 Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (Noir in Festival, Viareggio)
Quentin Tarantino (Special Award)
1993 Osvaldo Soriano
1994 Carlo Fruttero & Franco Lucentini
1995 P.D. James
1996 Ed McBain / Chris Carter (Special Award)
1997 James Crumley
1998 Mickey Spillane
1999 Farley Granger (Alfred Hitchcock Special Centenary Award)
2000 Andrew Vachss
2001 John le Carrè
2002 John Grisham
2003 James Grady
2004 Ian Rankin
2005 George P. Pelecanos
2006 Elmore Leonard
2007 Scott Turow
2008 Alicia Giménez Bartlett
2009 Leonardo Padura Fuentes
2010 Michael Connelly
2011 Petros Markaris and Andrea Camilleri
2012 Don Winslow
2013 Henning Mankell
2014 Jeffery Deaver
2015 Joe R. Lansdale
2016 Roberto Saviano
2017 Margaret Atwood
2018 Jo Nesbř
2019 Jonathan Lethem
