The Crime Writers’ Association

Debut Dagger Tips: Kristina Stanley

  Prepare to be deeply jealous when you find out the circumstances in which Kristina Stanley penned her Debut Dagger shortlisted novel, Blaze. However, despite a deeply glamourous writing story, the Canadian newcomer faced the same struggle as a...


Daggers Announced Online in Daggers Live!

CWA Dagger Awards 2020 Winners Announced Michael Robotham, Lou Berney, Trevor Wood, Casey Cep, and Abir Mukherjee win 2020 CWA Dagger awards. The winners of the 2020 CWA Daggers, which honour the very best in the crime writing genre, were announced ...


CWA Dagger Awards Longlists Announced

The 2021 longlists for the prestigious CWA Dagger awards, which honour the very best in the crime writing genre, have been announced. The world-famous Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers are the oldest awards in the genre, and have been synony...


Dagger Shortlists Announced

A debut novel is up against one of Britain’s biggest and most celebrated authors for the crime novel of the year. The 2021 shortlists for the prestigious CWA Dagger awards, which honour the very best in the crime writing genre, have been announced....


CWA Launch High Profile National Crime Reading Month

Ian Rankin, Anthony Horowitz, Elly Griffiths and Vaseem Khan announced as new ambassadors for NCRM The Crime Writers’ Association launches National Crime Reading Month (NCRM) this June – a major initiative designed to celebrate the genre and g...


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...


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...


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...


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...


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...


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