The Crime Writers’ Association

The CWA Daggers

Congratulations to the 2024 Winners! On 4 July, the 2024 Daggers winners were announced at the annual Dagger Awards' Dinner in London at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London City. To learn more about each award and its 2024 winner, please click on the...


Chiswick Book Festival

Murder and Mayhem in Leafy Chiswick Saturday September 14th The Art of the Thriller Former soldier and diplomat Alan Judd and former BBC journalist Peter Hetherington discuss with Julian Worricker the art of writing gripping fiction. Crime and Suspen...


Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation

Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation Sponsored in honour of Dolores Jakubowski. This award is for crime novels (defined by the broadest definition to include thrillers, suspense novels and spy fiction) as long as the book was not originally wr...


Private: Joffe Books New Publication Prize for Crime Writers of Colour

Joffe Books, in conjunction with bestselling crime writer Dorothy Koomson and literary agent Susan Yearwood, is seeking to discover a new crime fiction writer to join our bestselling list. We are launching a new writing prize for unagented crime fict...


Crime-writing festivals star in Radio4 Short Cuts

In the month that thousands of fiction fans head to Yorkshire for the Harrogate Crime Festival, this new short story series, Short Cuts, from BBC Radio 4 celebrates the very particular atmosphere of such festivals. It’s often said that there is...


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...


Crime in the North East Festival

22 & 23 February 2019 Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts, Newcastle University. Whodunnit? NCLA in the frame for crime fiction festival. One of the most popular and intriguing forms of fiction comes under suspicion at Newcastle Univ...


Murder in the Library!

Author Talk with Leye Adenle, Alison Bruce & James Carol Celebrate National Libraries Week with the launch of our new bi-monthly Crime Panel, where best-selling authors will visit Chiswick and Osterley Libraries. With the CWA Daggers due to be a...


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...


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