Crime Writers' Association

Last updated

The Crime Writers' Association
Formation1953;71 years ago (1953)
Headquarters London
Membership
800+
Official language
English
Chair
Vaseem Khan
Key people
Antony Johnston, Jean Briggs, Dea Parkin, Sarah Ward
Website www.thecwa.co.uk

The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors' organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its "Dagger" awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. [1] The Association also promotes crime writing of fiction and non-fiction by holding annual competitions, publicising literary festivals and establishing links with libraries, booksellers and other writer organisations, both in the UK such as the Society of Authors, and overseas. The CWA enables members to network at its annual conference and through its regional chapters as well as through dedicated social media channels and private website. Members' events and general news items are published on the CWA website, which also features Find An Author, where CWA members are listed and information provided about themselves, their books and their awards.

Contents

The CWA publishes a monthly magazine exclusively for members called Red Herrings, edited by Matthew Booth since 2020.

The CWA runs a sister organisation aimed at readers of crime fiction and non-fiction called the Crime Reader's Association. Anyone can join free of charge and receive two digital magazines: the bimonthly Case Files and the monthly CRA Newsletter. On the site are blogs, short stories and author profiles.

Terms of membership

Annual membership is open to any author who has had a crime novel published via a traditional publishing contract or to self-published authors who meet the membership criteria. Associate and corporate membership also offered to individuals and organisations in the publishing industry such as editors, bloggers, literary agents and publishers. Provisional membership is offered to authors who have a contract with a publisher but whose book is not yet published. The CWA enables writers to contact each other by various means, promotes crime writing with annual awards, and organises social events. It also supports writing groups, festivals and literary events through its authors. The main aims of the CWA are to promote the crime genre and to support professional writers. The CWA has been providing social and professional support for its members for more than half a century, as well as running the prestigious Daggers.

In June every year, the CWA actively promotes National Crime Reading Month. [2]

The CWA was founded by John Creasey in 1953. It was chaired by Maxim Jakubowski (from April 2021) and has over 900 members. The chair, as of May 2023, was turned over to Vaseem Khan. [3] The Secretary of the Crime Writers' Association is currently Dea Parkin, who also runs editorial consultancy Fiction Feedback. Jess Faraday is the Membership Secretary. The day-to-day management of the organisation is by CJAM of Colchester and the CWA's official accountants and registered CWA address are at H W Fisher in William Road, London.

CWA Archives are held at Gladstone's Library in Hawarden, North Wales. Archivist is Martin Edwards, who chaired the CWA from January 2017 to April 2019 – the longest-serving CWA chair since John Creasey. Edwards is also editor of the CWA's anthology, a collection of stories by members usually published in alternate years.

Daggers

The Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards, the "UK's top crime writing awards", [4] were started in 1955, less than two years after the association was founded, with the Crossed Red Herring given to Winston Graham for The Little Walls .

Over the years, the number of CWA Daggers has increased. Eleven Daggers are now awarded annually by the CWA, with Red Herring awards made for those who have made a significant contribution to the CWA or crime writing. The Dagger longlists are traditionally announced at the international literary convention CrimeFest in Bristol in May, the shortlists at a London event in the summer and the winners at a glittering Dagger awards dinner. From 2022, authors can now self-nominate for the Daggers. Traditionally published authors are eligible provided their book is published in the UK in 2022, and self-published authors provided they are CWA members.

Other Daggers

Anthologies

The CWA has produced many collections of crime writing (mainly fiction, but occasionally true crime). The editor of the CWA anthology since 1996 has been Martin Edwards. In 2003, he edited a special collection, Mysterious Pleasures, to celebrate the CWA's Golden Jubilee. Original Sins is the 2010 anthology of crime from a distinguished selection of British writers published by Severn House. In 2013, the CWA anthology Deadly Pleasures was published and in 2015 an anthology of True Crime stories was released. Mystery Tour was published in December 2018, and Vintage Crime followed in 2020.

See also

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References

  1. "Crime Writers' Association home page". Crime Writers' Association. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  2. "Events". National Crime Reading Month.
  3. "The Board: The Crime Writers' Association". The Crime Writers’ Association. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  4. Flood, Alison (12 October 2016). "US debut writer wins gold dagger at UK's top crime writing awards". The Guardian.
  5. "Emerging Author Dagger". The Crime Writers’ Association. Retrieved 1 August 2024.