I genuinely believe that most people who come to work in Washington, D.C., want to make the country a better place. Colleen Shogan, author of the “Washington Whodunit” series and senior vice president of the White House Historical Association, explains that “everyone who has worked on the Hill or lobbied the Hill knows that congressional staffers make the place tick. The people behind the politicos are more accessible, relatable, and often less buttoned-up than the people they work for. One tried and true workaround has been for writers to use ancillary characters as their protagonists. But most of the famous personalities-legislators, presidents, and the like-are guarded and only presented through the approving eyes of communications staffers, which doesn’t make it easy for a writer hoping to examine their psyche. More often than not, good writing is accompanied by extensive research, enough to create an intimate knowledge of the character a writer is describing. Ward Just, David Baldacci, Julie Hyzy, Tom Clancy, Neely Tucker, and Matthew Quirk are just some of the many writers who have set captivating stories on the Hill.īut writing about D.C.’s political elite comes with complications. Writers have done well imagining various crimes in the Capitol dome. is conflated with politics, and that conflation has tied into the region’s writing. It’s understandable that, for many readers, D.C. Plenty of thrillers take inspiration from the country’s political elite and a robust number of hardscrabble noir novels chronicle their lives outside of those marble halls. The area has some of the best creative writing programs in the country, as well as active writing conferences and supportive professional organizations. Writers like Laura Lippmanand George Pelecanos have represented this area well, and their work paved the way for exciting newcomers like Angie Kim, David Swinson, Tara Laskowski, Art Taylor, and Nik Korpon. region has consistently asserted its own place as an important hub for the genre. Within writing and publishing circles, New York is still considered the center of crime fiction (and every other genre) and Los Angeles has enjoyed a Chandler-inspired reputation for noir, but, starting with the heady days of the Cold War, the D.C. Every major award in crime fiction this year, and most years, features multiple nominees and winners from our region.Ĭrime fiction and the D.C. Approximately a quarter of the nominated writers were based in the District, Maryland, or Virginia, including this author. On June 8, 2020, the nominees for the Anthony Awards, one of the biggest international awards for crime fiction, were announced. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription.
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