Name Ellen Hart | Role Author | |
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Awards Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery Nominations Lambda Literary Award for Women's Mystery Books The Grave Soul, The Old Deep and Dark: A J, Hallowed Murder, Taken by the Wind, Sweet Poison | ||
Mark david gerson 1 on 1 with mystery author ellen hart
Ellen Hart is the award-winning mystery author of the Jane Lawless and Sophie Greenaway series. She was born in Maine in August 1949. A professional chef for 14 years, Hart's mysteries include culinary elements similar to those of Diane Mott Davidson.
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The author says of her work, "I don't write about the Mean Streets. I don't live there .... I don't do lots of blood and gore. I don't do sex scenes in any great detail. I'd never kill a dog or a cat. I guess you could call my style, maximal suspense and minimal gore." Hart is openly lesbian. Her Jane Lawless series features a lesbian restaurateur and her smart mouth best friend, Cordelia Thorn. The Jane Lawless series began in 1989 and is an early post-Stonewall example of the mystery genre in lesbian literature. Hart's novels deal with LGBT issues and five of the Lawless series have won Lambda Literary Awards.
Dubbed the "lesbian answer to Agatha Christie, " for her Jane Lawless series, Hart also pens the culinary Sophie Greenway mystery series. She frequently tours and lectures on the craft of mystery writing. She has contributed to numerous crime writer anthologies including Resort to Murder: Thirteen More Tales of Mystery by Minnesota's Premier Writers.
In 2005, Hart was inducted into the Saints and Sinners Hall of Fame, joining literary greats such as Dorothy Allison, Felice Picano, Katherine V. Forrest, and others. At the 2007 annual meeting of the Golden Crown Literary Society, Hart was the keynote speaker.
In 2010, Hart was awarded the coveted Trailblazer Award from the Golden Crown Literary Society, an award given to other lesbian luminaries such as Ann Bannon, Jane Rule, and Lee Lynch. In 2017, she became the first openly LGBT writer to be named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.
She is a founding member of The Minnesota Crime Wave along with local Twin Cities crime fiction writers Carl Brookins and William Kent Krueger. The Minnesota Crime Wave's TV show about mysteries and writing airs on CTV-15 in the Twin Cities or episodes can be seen at MinnesotaCrimeWave.org.
Hart has taught introductory classes for mystery writers at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis for many years. She and Kathy, her partner of over thirty years, lived in Minneapolis until 2012 when they downsized and now live in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
Jane Lawless
- Hallowed Murder (1989) – Lambda Literary Award finalist
- Vital Lies (1991)
- Stage Fright (1992) – Lambda Literary Award finalist
- A Killing Cure (1993)
- A Small Sacrifice (1994) – Lambda Literary Award Winner, Minnesota Book Awards Winner
- Faint Praise (1995) – Minnesota Book Awards Winner, Lambda Literary Award finalist
- Robber's Wine (1996) – Lambda Literary Award Winner
- Wicked Games (1998) – Lambda Literary Award finalist
- Hunting The Witch (1999) –Lambda Literary Award Winner
- The Merchant of Venus (2001) – Lambda Literary Award Winner
- Immaculate Midnight (2001) – Lambda Literary Award finalist
- An Intimate Ghost (2004) – Golden Crown Literary Society Award, Lambda Literary Award finalist
- The Iron Girl (2005) – Golden Crown Literary Society Award, Minnesota Book Awards Winner, Lambda Literary Award finalist
- Night Vision (2006) – Lambda Literary Award finalist
- The Mortal Groove (2007) – Golden Crown Literary Society Award, Lambda Literary Award finalist
- Sweet Poison (2008) – Lambda Literary Award finalist
- The Mirror and the Mask (2009) – Lambda Literary Award finalist
- The Cruel Ever After (2010) – Lambda Literary Award finalist
- The Lost Women of Lost Lake (2011)
- Rest for the Wicked (2012) – Lambda Literary Award finalist
- Taken by the Wind (2013) – Lambda Literary Award finalist
- The Old Deep and Dark (2014) – Lambda Literary Award Winner
- The Grave Soul (2015)
Sophie Greenway
- This Little Piggy Went to Murder (1994)
- For Every Evil (1995)
- The Oldest Sin (1996)
- Murder in the Air (1997)
- Slice and Dice (2000)
- Dial M For Meat Loaf (2001)
- Death on a Silver Platter (2003)
- No Reservations Required (2005)