2024 Pinckley Prizes
Gillian Flynn and Ashley Elston are the recipients of the Pinckley Prizes in Crime Fiction for 2024. The prizes, named to honor the memory of Diana Pinckley, will be presented on March 29th during the 2025 Tennessee William & New Orleans Literary Festival in New Orleans. The Pinckley Prizes partner with the Women’s National Book Association of New Orleans, of which Diana Pinckley was a founding member.
Gillian Flynn, is the winner of the 2024 Pinckley Prize for a Distinguished Body of Work. She has written Sharp Objects, Dark Places, and Gone Girl, the latter of which became a film. She is presently working on her fourth novel, to be published by Penguin, and collaborating with Tim Burton on a remake of Nathan H. Juran’s classic Attack of the 50 Foot Woman film for Warner Bros. She also has her own imprint at Zando Publishing, Gillian Flynn Books.
"I am deeply honored to accept this award,” Flynn said. “And to be included among my dear friends and fellow writers Margot Douaihy, Laura Lippman, and Megan Abbott. (The jury has excellent taste!) As a lapsed journalist myself, it is humbling to receive an award in memory of Diana Pinckley, whose civic activism and passion for crime fiction is inspiring. I'm grateful that in an era of book bans, when our fundamental right to read is under attack, there are organizations like the WNBA-NO and the Pinckley Prize Committee that carry on Diana's work to not only advocate for writers and literature, but recognize and celebrate their contributions."
Ashley Elston of Shreveport is the winner of the 2024 Pinckley Prize for Debut Novel for First Lie Wins, a New York Times bestseller, and a pick for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club. First Lie Wins is her adult debut, and she is the author of several novels for young adults. First Lie Wins has been optioned for television by ABC Signature with Octavia Spencer and Krista Vernoff attached to the project. Ashley lives in Louisiana with her husband and three sons. “I am overjoyed to receive this award,” Elston said, “and I look forward to being part of such an exciting event.”