About the arthur ellis society

Who was Arthur Ellis? 

Do you know?

Arthur Ellis was not a famous Canadian author as you might have expected from the well-known Arthur Ellis Awards presented by Crime Writers of Canada from 1982 to 2022. 

“Arthur Ellis” was actually the pseudonym for Canada's hangman until capital punishment was banned in the 1960's. 

His real name was Alexander Armstrong, an Englishman who was the official hangman of Canada between 1910 and 1937. It is estimated he carried out close to 300 hangings in all of Canada's provinces and territories.

The spirit of Arthur Ellis endures through the writing awards in recognizing that the ultimate punishment for the crime of murder is capital punishment. 

The Awards do not endorse capital punishment, or hanging in particular, as the debate continues and different conclusions have been reached according to the law in different jurisdictions.

The Arthur Ellis Awards celebrate great Canadian crime writers in both fiction and non-fiction who are dedicated to revealing the truth in their stories and trying to ensure that justice is done.

 Crime writers with a purpose  believe that our stories may help reveal the truth and make a difference in the pursuit of justice.   

 Our primary objective is to celebrate great Canadian crime writing and our Arthur Ellis Award-winning writers in particular.  

We plan to build a community of accomplished Canadian crime writers who can work together to share ideas and experiences, and initiate  projects to promote and support Canadian culture and our outstanding crime writers.  

Our voices need to be heard. We are proud Canadians and we have a unique Canadian perspective with clearly  Canadian values and beliefs that we share, in spite of our differences. 

We intend to share with our various audiences the same discussions and opinions that are expressed among ourselves.