The Victorian Fear of Poison Murder
In the nineteenth century the prospect of being poisoned was a very real fear, and the poisoner has frequently been denounced as the worst kind of criminal. Poison is secret and treacherous, administered by someone close to the victim, hidden in food...
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...
International Literary Properties (ILP) to sponsor the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2023
International Literary Properties (ILP), the global company that invests in, acquires, and manages the intellectual property rights to books, plays and other literary works, has announced their sponsorship of the 2023 Crime Writers' Association John ...
Victorian Mysteries: Murder, Marvels and Morality
The CWA presents "Victorian Mysteries: Murder, Marvels, and Morality", a talk by Linda Stratmann, Anna Mazzola and Kate Griffin! Linda Stratmann has a virtually life-long interest in true crime, and a large collection of books on the subject. She ha...
Notes on Word Count for CWA Writing Competitions
Different competitions have different rules – and different levels of rigour in the way they apply them. For the Debut Dagger we are super-strict. We ask for entries not to exceed 3,000 words (1,500 words for the synopsis) by even a word. The ti...
Emerging Author Dagger Rules
Rules and Submission Guidelines Emerging Author Dagger The Emerging Author Dagger (formerly the Debut Dagger), an international competition for the opening of an adult/YA crime novel and synopsis, is aimed at debut writers. The CWA defines a de...
Associate membership
Join the CWA - Associate membership 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. Please fill in your details below and a m...
Corporate membership
Join the CWA - Corporate membership 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. Please fill in your details below and a m...
Northern Ireland is Set for NCRM 2024
PRESS RELEASE The Crime Writers Association, National Crime Reading Month NI Crime Writers team up with Libraries NI and local bookstores to celebrate National Crime Reading Month with a host of events across the province throughout June. Fo...
CWA Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition – Winner Announced
The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has announced the winner of its Margery Allingham Short Mystery Prize. Camilla Macpherson beat strong competition with her short story, ‘Heartbridge Homicides’. Camilla lives in The Hague in the Nether...
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