The Crime Writers’ Association has asked book lovers across the nation to nominate their favourite crime authors for the 2016 Dagger In The Library award.

This literary prize is a unique part of the Dagger Awards because the nominations are made by crime readers and are in celebration of an author’s entire body of work, not just one individual book. The CWA continues to be inspired by readers, who flock to libraries to devour crime books. The Dagger In The Library was introduced to give them a voice in the Dagger Awards, which endeavour to showcase the best of the best in the genre.

Last year, the response was amazing, with 1,384 readers voting for 636 different authors. This figure highlights not only the genre’s extraordinary quality and variety but also the passion and enthusiasm of its readership. This year, we hope to beat that total and provide our panel of judges with a great selection of writers on the Dagger In The Library long list. The 2015 Dagger In the Library was presented to Christopher Fowler, and the CWA is delighted that he’s agreed to be part of the judging panel for this year’s award.

To nominate readers should go to http://cwadaggers.co.uk/cwa-daggers/nominate-dagger-in-the-library/ where after completing their ballot, they will be automatically entered into a prize draw to win £200 in National Book Tokens. Not only that, but they will also be asked to nominate their favourite library and the library that receives the most votes will be awarded some great CWA Dagger prizes too. The CWA believes that with funding cuts threatening the future of our libraries it’s even more important than ever to support them and celebrate the service they provide communities.

This year marks the first time the CWA have organised a library promotion for the award, and 150 libraries have already signed up to take part. Any libraries that wish to get involved should contact CWA director Lucy Santos at director@thecwa.co.uk for promotional materials. The selection of offical images for this year’s Dagger In the Library campaign can be found on our Pinterest board https://www.pinterest.com/cwadirector/cwa-dagger-in-the-library-2016/

The nominations close on 1st March 2016. After that the judging panel will whittle the long list down to a shortlist, which will be announced along with the shortlists for the other Dagger Awards later in the year.

For further information, please contact Kate White at the CWA Press Office on pressoffice@thecwa.co.uk or 07814791775.