The Crime Writers’ Association

CWA 2014 Dagger in the Library Award winner announced

The winner of the CWA’s Dagger in the Library award has been announced at an event at Waterstones Piccadilly. Unlike most other literary prizes, the Dagger in the Library honours an author’s body of work to date rather than a single title, and an...


The CWA sends its sincere condolences to the staff of Charlie Hebdo

The CWA sends its sincere condolences to the staff of Charlie Hebdo. Your loss is our loss. Your fight is our fight. “Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself.” Salman Rushdie  ...


The submission deadline for the CWA DEBUT DAGGER is the 31st January 2015.

The submission deadline for the CWA DEBUT DAGGER is the 31st January 2015. For 15 years the CWA has been encouraging new writing with its Debut Dagger competition for unpublished writers. The submissions are judged by a panel of top crime editors and...


Diamond Dagger winner 2015 to be announced

  “I value that brooch more than anything else I own apart from for my wedding ring.” – Sarah Paretsky, Diamond Dagger winner 2002   The Diamond Dagger is our award for lifetime achievement. It has been awarded every year...


Jean McConnell

JEAN McCONNELL, a founder member of the Writers Guild and an Honorary Member of the Crime Writers Association, died on January 6th in Tunbridge Wells. Jean was also a Vice President and former Chair of the Society of Women Writers & Journalists ...


CWA Diamond Dagger Winner 2015

The Crime Writer’s Association is delighted to announce that the recipient of this year’s prestigious Diamond Dagger is Catherine Aird. Following in the footsteps of luminaries such as Simon Brett, P.D James, Lee Child and Frederick Forsyth, Cath...


CWA Margery Allingham Short Story Competition

Have you penned one of the murkiest, most deadly crime stories the nation has yet to be intrigued by? We’re looking for the best unpublished stories to send chills up the spines of our judges for this year’s Margery Allingham Short Story Competit...


Dagger in the Library

The Dagger in the Library is one of six highly prized CWA Dagger Awards, which have been awarded to crime writers since 1955. It is a unique literary award in that it offers a chance for readers to nominate their favourite British crime fiction autho...


New Chair for the CWA

At the CWA AGM on the 28th March 2015 L C Tyler was voted in as new Chair of the CWA. L C (Len) Tyler is a British writer of comic crime fiction. His Elsie and Ethelred mysteries feature Ethelred Tressider, a crime writer, and Elsie Thirkettle, his l...


CWA Debut Dagger Longlist Announced

We are delighted to announce the long list for the CWA Debut Dagger 2015.                     The longlisted authors are: Kate Evans The Art of the Imperfect Nige...


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