The Crime Writers’ Association

Debut Dagger

Emerging Author Dagger (Debut Dagger) Announcements Congratulations to our 2024 Longlist Authors! See below for details. Shortlist: CrimeFest, Bristol on Friday 10 May, early evening Winner: Dagger Awards Dinner, evening of Thursday 4 Jul...


An Evening of Cyber-Espionage with Antony Johnston – was 28 February, now 15 March

PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO BAD WEATHER THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL THURSDAY 15 MARCH An Evening of Cyber-Espionage with Antony Johnston Presented by Imagined Things & Destination Venus Antony will read from his acclaimed new spy thriller...


“Proof Behind the Plot” – a forensic workshop for crime writers

In celebration of National Crime Reading Month, Think Forensic are hosting an interactive workshop led by their forensic and crime investigation experts, in Huddersfield. The workshop has been designed specifically to give all writers, whether new...


CWA Announce Longlists for Prestigious Crime Writing Daggers

The Crime Writers’ Association announced the much anticipated longlists for the annual CWA Dagger awards for the best of the year’s crime writing at a reception during international convention CrimeFest in Bristol on the evening of Friday 10 May....


Promote yourself

Promote yourself Members can take advantage of our wide range of platforms to promote books, news and events, including our main CWA website, the Crime Readers’ Association (CRA) website and our regular monthly newsletters. Here are some of the wa...


Emerging Author Dagger

Emerging Author Dagger The Emerging Author Dagger (formerly the Debut Dagger) opens 1 October and the deadline for entry is Friday 28 February at 6pm GMT. Please return here after 1 October for the full rules and terms of entry. The internationa...


The Best Bit of Writing Advice I Was Ever Given by Morgan Cry

Gordon Brown aka Morgan Cry When I signed a two-book deal with Polygon back in 2019 under the new name of Morgan Cry, I was ecstatic. I delivered both books to the publisher by late 2019 and thought, what do I do now? I knew that there was editing a...


Wild Words Festival

A Brand New Festival … It’d be a Crime to Miss it! Wild Words Festival is a brand new literary festival in Cuffley, Hertfordshire, taking place over the Jubilee Weekend of 3–5 June 2022. Featuring a host of true crime and crime fiction write...


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...


Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate 19-22 July 2018

The world-class, award-winning Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, now in its 15th year, returns to the magnificent Old Swan Hotel this summer from the 19-22 July. Celebrating the very best in crime fiction, the Festival is a firm date in ...


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