The Crime Writers’ Association

After 20 years, would-be crime novelists find it more rewarding than ever to enter the CWA Debut Dagger Competition

Amended 8.12.17 The CWA Debut Dagger for the opening of a crime novel, established in 1998, is renowned within the crime writing world as a way for unpublished authors to get known, with former winners and shortlisted entrants going on to win publish...


CWA Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition 2018 Now Open

The Crime Writers’ Association are once again running the prestigious Margery Allingham Short Story Competition in 2018. The international competition is for an unpublished story in under 3,500 words that fits into the famous Golden Age crime write...


Libraries

Supporting libraries The places where many of us first discovered a love of books, and the places that for many form the centre of their reading experience, libraries are a national treasure. The CWA does not assume a political role – we leave tha...


Bookshop of the Month – April 2022: Reading Matters


Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival

Lin Anderson and Alex Gray started the festival in 2012 and now it’s huge. This year’s featured authors include Chris Curran, Val McDermid, Irvine Welsh, Louise Penny, Ann Cleeves, Peter James, Stuart Macbride, Chris Brookmyre, Ragnar Jonasson, M...


Time to Get Crime Writing for Prestigious CWA Competitions

Two crime writing competitions are open now. 1)The CWA Margery Allingham Short Story Competition Not to be missed for lovers of short-story writing – and being shortlisted for this renowned competition brings attention and prestige to the writing C...


2022 CWA Dagger Awards Announced

Ray Celestin, MW Craven, Janice Hallett and Mark Billingham awarded 2022 CWA Daggers. The winners of the 2022 CWA Daggers, which honour the very best in the crime writing genre, have been announced. [For photos of the event, see: https://thecw...


Blending Fact & Fiction – panel discussion on historical crime fiction

CWA LONDON IS THRILLED TO HOST: BLENDING FACT & FICTION with Dr Emma Darwin, Alex Reeve, Luke Deckard, James Benmore and Bonnie MacBird. (NB this online event is hosted by the CWA London Chapter but open to all CWA members and members of the pub...


Politics and Prose with Julie Anderson

In an age in which we are all citizen journalists and political commentators on social media and the political blog has found a place in the mainstream media in a way undreamed of thirty years ago, what place does political fiction have? The power s...


An Evening with David Fennell & Kate Bradley

CWA author David Fennell will be joined online by Kate Bradley in an evening hosted by The Bookshop, East Grinstead. David is the author of The Art of Death, an intensely creepy serial killer thriller debut, for fans of Chris Carter, MW Craven and T...


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