2023 winning story
How to Catch a Bullet in a Plate and Other Tricks to Astound - Judith O’Reilly He never performed the trick at a matinee show as he didn’t like to worry the children in the audience. At least there was that, Mrs Conway thought, as the red bloo...
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...
Debut Dagger Writing Tips
Here are tips from recent newsletters compiled for you by Dea Parkin, the CWA’s Competitions Coordinator (and professional editor). If you’re at the stage where your entry is finished and you’re into the all-important revision and editing pr...
Submitting for CWA Competitions: In at the Kill
The deadline’s getting close! So here’s some last-minute advice for you on the practicalities of submitting. Please remember the rule: if you have any problems with your Debut Dagger submission, you must let us know on comps@thecwa.co.uk befor...
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...
About the CWA
About the CWA The Crime Writers’ Association was founded in 1953 by John Creasey (pictured). Our overall aim is to support, promote and celebrate this most durable, adaptable and successful of genres. The CWA’s everyday aim is to support writers...
ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction
ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction This Dagger is for any non-fiction work on a crime-related theme by an author of any nationality as long as the book was first published in the UK in English during the judging period. The Dagger encompasses, tho...
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The Crime Writers’ Association has announced a new sponsor for its annual international writing competition for unpublished writers.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...
Private: Into the River: how a last-minute decision led to an award-winning bestseller, by Mark Brandi
In a river, on the outskirts of an isolated country town, two young brothers discover a wheelie bin, partly submerged beneath a fallen tree. Curious, the older brother goes closer to investigate. He steps carefully across the tree’s smooth trunk, ...
Private: Trust your gut: how a Debut Dagger longlisting led to a publishing deal
People often ask me where the initial idea for “Trust Me, I’m Dead” came from, and I talk about an article I read many years ago where one snippet caught my eye, and then stuck in my brain. It was a small thing, about a man who’d left behind ...
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