The inaugural SD Harvey Award was held in 2009 and run by the Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) with the winner announced as part of the Melbourne Writers' Festival at the Ned Kelly Awards.
Between 2015 and 2017 the winning authors were published in Kill Your Darlings.
Some of our winners have gone on to win more prizes and awards. In 2012 Aoife Clifford won the SD Harvey award and is now best selling author of literary crime novels http://www.aoifeclifford.com.
Zane Lovitt won the SD Harvey Award in 2010 and in 2011 won ACWA's Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction for his debut novel, The Midnight Promise. Zane was named one of the Best Young Novelists of 2013 by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Suzanne Frankham's debut novel (she won in 2019) was shortlisted for ACWA’s 2022 Ned Kelly Awards.
Please get in touch with us if you have won in previous years and we are more than happy to publish your winning entry.
Sandra and her co-author Lindsay won the Life Time Achievement Award from the ACWA in 2007, the year before Sandra died in recognition for their contribution to true crime writing.
In 2018 the SD Harvey award was not offered.
From 2019, the SD Harvey Short Crime Story Award has been generously hosted by the Kennedy Foundation.
The winner is generally announced at the Kennedy Lecture, an event held after the Kennedy Awards at which the lecture is delivered by the new Kennedy Awards Journalist of the Year. In 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions in place during those years, the award was generously incorporated into the Kennedy Awards, as ongoing restrictions prevented the Kennedy Lecture from being held.
Les Kennedy, who died of cancer in 2011, was a friend and colleague of Sandra's. Entries from journalists are always welcome as the criteria for the short crime story is 'a ripping yarn'.
Please send an email to sdharveyaward@gmail.com if you have a winning entry and would like it published here.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
Winning entries from previous years we have on file are published on this website under the year of entry.
The 2021 winner was Harry Colfer, a Brisbane paramedic and writer.
Unable to attend the Kennedy Awards gala at Royal Randwick on Thursday November 11, 2021, due to Queensland pandemic restrictions at the time, his award was presented and
accepted on his behalf by Jennifer Cooke, a friend, colleague and co-author of Sandra Harvey.
The 2020 winner – presented by Margie McDonald, a close friend and colleague of Sandra’s
– was Quentin McDermott, formerly of the ABC, for his true crime story on a complex
attempted murder case in South Australia.
In 2019 – the first year the award was hosted by the Kennedy Foundation – the winner was
Victorian fiction writer Suzanne Frankham. Her award was presented by award founder Lindsay Simpson.
Some of the previous winners when the prize was hosted by ACWA can be found on this website.
Finalists in the 2022 competition, which includes a cash prize, will be announced at the
NRMA Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism, expected to be held at Royal
Randwick in August. More details coming closer to the date.
2021 Winner
Number 27: Stabbing
By Harry Colfer