The Crime Writers’ Association

Social media guide

Social media guide Between Twitter and Facebook the CWA has close to 30,000 social media followers, and also runs a Facebook group with more than 2,000 members. We encourage all members to take advantage of this reach! Twitter The CWA accoun...


Trying Again, by Sherry Rankin

I do not have a risk-taking personality. The whole idea of attempting to find an agent and get published always seemed so daunting to me that, for decades, I was afraid even to try. I always loved to write, however. So a few years ago, I took stock o...


Debut Dagger Deadline Draws Near

The deadline to enter the most hotly contended competition for aspiring crime novelists is fast approaching. Aspiring crime novelists have until the end of February to enter the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Debut Dagger, which is sponsored b...


CWA Announces new Debut Dagger Sponsor

The Crime Writers’ Association has announced a new sponsor for its annual international writing competition for unpublished writers. The CWA Debut Dagger is to be sponsored by ProWritingAid, a platform that operates as a grammar checker, style edi...


St Hilda’s College Crime Fiction Weekend

The Crime Fiction Weekend at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, celebrates its 30th year in 2023 with an all-star line-up of bestselling authors. Centred on this year’s theme, ‘Celebrations: innocent parties, guilty pleasures’, our guest speakers wi...


Crime Writers Emerging from Lockdown with JG Harlond

Escaping through a picture window... My study has a sliding picture window opening onto a balcony. From my desk I can see the Sierra de Las Nieves in the Province of Málaga, Spain. This was where the Moors of al-Ándalus harvested snow for sherbet ...


Self-published author membership checklist

Self-published author membership checklist Thank you for your interest in joining the CWA. Membership is subject to meeting the membership criteria and completing the application form does not guarantee membership. Your eligibility will be assess...


The Board

The Board The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) is a company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales (no. 3495776). It’s a non-campaigning, non-sectarian body. Our primary objective is to promote the prestige and appreciation ...


Awards & competitions

Awards & Competitions The CWA hosts a number of awards and competitions. Many of these are for books nominated by publishers and selected by independent judging panels, others are awards made by the CWA or other bodies, such as libraries. Yet ot...


Gold Dagger

Gold Dagger This award is for the best crime novel by an author of any nationality, originally written in English and first published in the UK during the judging period. The broadest definition of the crime novel applies. Eligible books include thr...


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