New prize named for late author Andrew Pyper will recognize horror and thriller writers | CBC Radio

Announcement of $20,000 award coincides with release of Pyper's final novel

Heidi Pyper says her late husband, Andrew, wasn't just a bestselling author. He was also generous, curious and truly cared about people.

He was a prolific and acclaimed writer of horror, thrillers and other types of speculative fiction, including The Killing Circle and The Demonologist, and Pyper said her husband wrote characters who had great depth.

That's why Andrew's friends and fellow authors, Craig Davidson, Mark Medley and Pasha Malla , helped create the Andrew Pyper Prize for Genre Fiction.

The $20,000 prize will be administered through the Writers’ Trust of Canada. To be eligible to win, writers must have published at least three books in the horror, thriller or speculative fiction genre. Thanks to a massive campaign, enough money has been raised to support the prize for seven years.

As a reader and writer of horror, he believed that the genre could expand people’s understanding of the human condition.

When you listen to Andrew talk about horror and the human condition, what's going through your mind?

When he died, there was this huge outpouring of sadness from this country and beyond. There are people who perhaps only know him from his books. Tell us a little bit more about Andrew.

Many writers told stories of him and his generosity towards them, encouraging them to write, agreeing to come into classrooms to talk to students. The other thing that people kept saying was how he made them feel, he made them feel important. I think that stems from his curiosity. So when you were talking to Andrew, he didn't want to talk about himself, he wanted to hear about you and what was going on in your life.

Andrew Pyper's last novel, Driven, which is about to be released, is the third and final book under his pseudonym Mason Coile. (Submitted by Heidi Pyper)

Then he made the mistake of asking if I wanted to help. I'm sure he regretted that because I'd show up with my to-do list and a work-back schedule. But it came out of love and friendship amongst these men who played cards together.

Yes, I think that was a frustration for him that he was disqualified before even being considered.