Prize Founded to Honor Thrillers That Don’t Depict Women Being Raped and/or Murdered
Love thrillers but tired of the genre being dominated by stories about brutalized women? You’re not alone. A newly launched honor is set to celebrate books where “no woman is beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped, or murdered,” The Guardian reports.
The Staunch Book Prize is headed by author and screenwriter Bridget Lawless. “As violence against women in fiction reaches a ridiculous high, the Staunch book prize invites thriller writers to keep us on the edge of our seats without resorting to the same old clichés — particularly female characters who are sexually assaulted (however ‘necessary to the plot’), or done away with (however ingeniously),” she writes on the prize’s website.
Inspired to launch the prize after noticing how many films at last year’s BAFTAs relied on rape as a plot device, Lawless determined it was “way past time for something more original.” She explained, “I thought, I can do one small thing. I thought I’d start with books… Read More