Men of Mystery was the brainchild of Joan Hansen, former Long Beach educator and founder of the Literary Guild of Orange County and its annual Festival of Women Authors, along with children’s author events in ten Los Angeles and Orange County school districts. In the year 2000, the first annual Men of Mystery event opened its doors to 250 guests and 25 authors.

 

Having worked with female authors for years, Joan wanted to create an event that would showcase male authors and be inviting for both men and women to attend. Men of Mystery was the outcome of that dream.

 

Over the past twenty-three years, it has been a consistently popular event with fans and authors alike, growing in size with as many as 500 attendees and more than 65 authors, with current events averaging 325 attendees and 30 authors.

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Men of Mystery has also been awarded the prestigious Raven Award from Mystery Writers of America, which was humbly and joyfully accepted by Joan on behalf of the organization and her dedicated all-volunteer committee at MWA’s convention in 2006.

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The Raven is awarded by MWA as a special award for outstanding achievement to people who support mystery writing — without being writers. The Men of Mystery annual conference sits within an esteemed circle of past Raven Award winners, including Vincent Price, Alfred Hitchcock, Ellery Queen and Vanity Fair magazines, and Angela Lansbury.

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The entire Men of Mystery committee regrets to announce the passing of Joan Hansen in December 2022, but is honored to continue her legacy with this wonderful event. 

 

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