CWA Dagger Awards 2020 Winners Announced

 

    

Michael Robotham, Lou Berney, 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, have been announced.

The world-famous Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers are the oldest awards in the genre and have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century. 

The winners were announced during a live virtual ceremony (22 October, from 7.30pm), hosted by one of the UK’s leading experts on crime fiction, the writer and reviewer Barry Forshaw. The evening also featured guest speaker, Richard Osman. 

The 2020 CWA Gold Dagger for the best crime novel went to Michael Robotham for Good Girl, Bad Girl, featuring forensic psychologist, Cyrus Haven. Born in Australia, Michael worked as a journalist in Australia, America and the UK as senior feature writer for the Mail on Sunday before becoming a ghost writer collaborating with politicians and show business personalities to write their autobiographies. Since his first psychological thriller, The Suspect caused a bidding war at the London Book Fair in 2002, his novels have won numerous awards and have been translated into 25 languages. He was previously awarded the Gold Dagger for Life or Death in 2015.

Lou Berney has won the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller for November Road, a poignant crime novel set against the assassination of JF Kennedy. The novel attracted widespread acclaim from reviewers and fellow authors alike, with Stephen King declaring it ‘exceptional’. The American author has previously won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Barry, and Oklahoma Book awards. Berney was also Highly Commended in the CWA Gold Dagger category.

The much-anticipated John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger highlights the best debut novels. This year the accolade goes to Trevor Wood for The Man on the Street, featuring a homeless veteran grappling with PTSD, dubbed by Lee Child as ‘an instant classic’. Wood, a journalist and playwright, has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. He served in the Royal Navy for 16 years.

Abir Mukherjee wins the Sapere Books Historical Dagger for his fourth novel featuring Sam Wyndham, Death in the East. The accountant turned crime writer was inspired to become an author after watching Lee Child on breakfast TV say he started writing age 40. Abir’s debut, A Rising Man, won the Dagger for best historical crime novel in 2017. Death in the East explores the legacy of colonialism in India.  The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger goes to Hannelore Cayre for The Godmother, translated by Stephanie Smee. Hannelore Cayre is an award-winning French novelist, screenwriter and director, as well as a practising criminal lawyer. The Godmother has been made into a feature film starring Isabelle Huppert. Stephanie Smee, who lives in Sydney, worked as a lawyer in Sydney and London before becoming a translator, specialising in French to English.  The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction is awarded to Casey Cep, a staff writer at the New York Times whose first book Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee, has received acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. An instant New York Times bestseller, Furious Hours was a Barack Obama Book of the Year. The CWA Daggers are one of the few high-profile awards that honour the short story. Lauren Henderson receives the Short Story Dagger for #Me Too which features in the anthology Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski.  Linda Stratmann, Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: “The winners, and all those who were in contention for a Dagger are, as always, to be commended. One thing the pandemic and lockdown has taught us is the value and importance of books and storytelling – for escapism and comfort and for our well-being. Books have always been the conduit to other worlds and into other lives. They let us know we are not alone, so our 2020 virtual awards feel even more significant as many vulnerable people are in enforced isolation and we are all socially distancing. We’re proud to celebrate the crime genre.” The Dagger in the Library is voted on exclusively by librarians, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries. This year it goes to Scottish novelist Christopher Brookmyre, whose books mix comedy, politics and social comment. The journalist turned award-winning novelist is widely considered as one of Britain’s leading crime authors, selling more than two million copies of his novels in the UK alone. One of the anticipated highlights of the annual Daggers is the Debut Dagger competition, open to unknown and uncontracted writers. The competition for unpublished writers can lead to them securing representation and a publishing contract. This year the winner is Josephine Moulds for Revolution Never Lies. Anna Caig was Highly Commended for The Spae-Wife.  The Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger, which celebrates publishers and imprints demonstrating excellence and diversity in crime writing, goes to Orenda Books. The London-based publisher was established in 2014 by Karen Sullivan.  Writer Barry Forshaw, MC for the Dagger Awards evening, said: “The CWA Dagger Awards are the most prestigious prizes in crime fiction, and this year has furnished a particularly strong set of books and authors. Nothing dampens the excitement of the Daggers – not even pandemics!” DIAMOND DAGGER Awarded every year to an author whose crime-writing career has been marked by sustained excellence, and who has made a significant contribution to the genre. Votes from CWA members go forward to be deliberated on by an independent panel.  This Dagger is announced in early spring each year and in 2020 goes to celebrated Golden Age specialist, anthology editor, reviewer and fiction writer Martin Edwards. One of the UK’s most prominent societies for the promotion and promulgation of crime writing, the CWA was founded in 1953 by John Creasy; the awards started in 1955 with its first award going to Winston Graham, best known for Poldark. They are regarded by the publishing world as the foremost British awards for crime-writing. The Winners: GOLD DAGGER  Michael Robotham: Good Girl, Bad Girl (Sphere) Lou Berney: November Road (Harper Fiction) – Highly Commended IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER Lou Berney: November Road (Harper Fiction) JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER Trevor Wood: The Man on the Street (Quercus Fiction) SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER Abir Mukherjee: Death in the East (Harvill Secker) CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER Hannelore Cayre: The Godmother, translated by Stephanie Smee (Old Street Publishing) SHORT STORY DAGGER Lauren Henderson: #Me Too in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books) ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION Casey Cep: Furious Hours (William Heinemann) DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY Christopher Brookmyre DEBUT DAGGER  Josephine Moulds: Revolution Never Lies  Anna Caig: The Spae-Wife - Highly Commended  PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER  Orenda Books

Bloody Scotland Reveals Team Captains for Annual Scotland v England Football Match

Bloody Scotland Team Managers, Craig Roberston (Scotland) and Luca Veste (England) today revealed that their teams will again be captained by Chris Brookmyre and Mark Billingham for the annual Bloody Scotland Crime Writers Football Match which will take place at 2pm on Saturday 21 September.

The football match was the brainchild of Craig Robertson in 2014 and the first year Ian Rankin, Mark Billingham, Chris Brookmyre and Martyn Waites all signed up to play.  Following a resounding victory for Scotland Craig Robertson said “In a drunken, triumphalist haze we waved our English friends a fond and patronising farewell, sending them homeward to think again. Unfortunately, they did think again and they came back two years later and gubbed us”. 

The football has taken place on the Bowling Green at Cowane’s Hospital ever since though following a dispute when Thomas Enger (a Norwegian semi-professional footballer) joined the Scottish team new rules were drawn up. Teams now have to be made up exclusively of Scottish crime writers and English crime writers. No publishers, no editors, no agents, and definitely no professional footballers. One highlight for the English team this year is former Gladiator turned crime writer, Mark Griffin.

It is free to watch and in recent years has had the addition of a pop-up gin bar courtesy of Stirling Gin who provide Bloody Scotland cocktails for the fans – and sometimes for the players!

If you would like to interview Craig Robertson, Luca Veste, Mark Billingham or Chris Brookmyre please contact fiona@brownleedonald.com

NOIRELAND to return in Spring 2019

Belfast’s NOIRELAND International Crime Festival is delighted to announce a spring 2019 return, with another weekend of stellar names from the world of crime fiction.

NOIRELAND launched in October 2017 with a brilliant line-up featuring the best in local talent, international crime-writing stars, and some of the greatest names from TV crime drama. Highlights included the Line of Duty event with its BAFTA-winning creator Jed Mercurio and star Adrian Dunbar, author panels with Robert Crais, Benjamin Black, Adrian McKinty, Arne Dahl and Liz Nugent, and a closing event with internationally renowned actor Aidan Gillen, discussing the role crime fiction has played in his life and career.

NOIRELAND will be moving from the autumn to become a spring festival, and will take place once again at Belfast’s iconic Europa Hotel. Plans are already afoot and it is shaping up to be another superb weekend of crime fiction, with interviews and discussions featuring some of the greatest names from page and screen.

NOIRELAND takes place 8-10 March 2019. The festival programme will be announced and the ticket office will open on 16 November 2018.

NOIRISH NIGHTS IN NOVEMBER

Following the success of NOIRELAND, the audience has been crying out for more events. So we are delighted to announce that NOIRELAND will be hosting two very special events this autumn:

FUN LOVIN’ CRIME WRITERS Friday 2 November

A unique evening of music and books, with crime fiction’s supergroup, the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers. Featuring authors Mark Billingham, Val McDermid, Christopher Brookmyre, Stuart Neville, Luca Veste and Doug Johnstone.

IAN RANKIN in Conversation with Brian McGilloway Friday 16 November

International bestseller Ian Rankin will be talking about his latest novel In A House of Lies and the recent 30th anniversary of his iconic detective John Rebus.

http://www.noireland.com

For more information on NOIRELAND or NOIRISH NIGHTS contact Angela McMahon angela@flow-comms.co.uk | 07753 384711

Theakston's 2017 Crime Novel of the Year

Chris Brookmyre has scooped the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award for Black Widow.

Celebrating its thirteenth year, the Award is considered one of the most coveted crime writing prizes in the country.

Black Widow is a story of cyber-abuse, where ‘even the twists have twists’. It features Brookmyre’s long-time character, reporter Jack Parlabane. Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that she had been given the novel as an early Valentine’s Day present by her husband, declaring it ‘brilliant’.

Brookmyre said: “I’m really quite taken aback. I’ve been shortlisted three times before for this award, always the bridesmaid, today I get to walk up the aisle. A book is not just the work of the author behind it. I’d like to thank my editor, Ed Wood, for his calibre and daring that made a good book greater. I’m mainly just very proud.”

Brookmyre was presented the award by title sponsor Simon Theakston and broadcaster Mark Lawson at the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. The annual Festival, hosted in Harrogate, is the world’s biggest celebration of the genre.

Chris beat off stiff competition from the shortlist of six, whittled down from a longlist of 18 crime novels published by British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback from 1 May 2016 to 30 April 2017.

The 2017 Award is run in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith, and The Mail on Sunday.

Brookmyre collected a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade, engraved oak beer cask made by Theakston Old Peculier.

A special presentation was made to Lee Child - the winner of the eighth Outstanding

Contribution to Crime Fiction Award.

Lee Child joins Val McDermid, Sara Paretsky, Lynda La Plante, Ruth Rendell, PD James, Colin Dexter and Reginald Hill as recipients of the Award.

Lee Child said: “It’s an honour - probably undeserved - to be placed in the same category as the previous recipients of this prize.  In particular I would like to thank Simon Theakston for his generous and visionary support of the genre.”

Child has been dubbed a ‘billion-dollar brand’ for his blockbuster Jack Reacher series, adapted to film by Tom Cruise.

Title sponsor and executive director of T&R Theakston, Simon Theakston, said: “We’re particularly delighted to be honouring Lee Child. He is nothing short of a phenomenon. The Jack Reacher series tops bestseller lists worldwide, with a staggering 100 million books sold.  Lee is very deserving of this accolade, and will have his rightful place in a pantheon of legendary crime authors who have achieved this honour to date.”

Bloody Scotland

My attendance at Bloody Scotland depended on whether or not I managed to catch my overnight train (The Caledonia Sleeper) from Euston to Stirling.  I am please to say that I did and I was she only one who got off at Stirling Station at 5:00am in the morning much to the dismay of the train guard who looked at me rather anxiously and asked if I was going to be okay.  What can I say?  Not much.  It was equally nice that the hotel where I was staying was not very far from the train station and took me less than five minutes to get there.  Though I think that the porter must have been rather surprised when I pressed the doorbell and asked to be let in.

Housekeeping aside, so far Bloody Scotland has been amazing. It is always nice to come to these events and not only hear interesting talks but also catch up with various people.  It is extremely well run and huge thanks must go to the Festival Director Dom Hastings and the Press Officer Kirstin Innes (along with all the volunteers) for the way in which the event is being managed.

My first event was not one that I had intended on going to but I was persuaded by the lovely Karen Sullivan to go with her to the panel on current crime market trends which she had been asked to do at very short notice.  Also on the panel were Al Guthrie who has his fingers in a number of different pies at the moment to very good effect and Jo Dickerson from Simon and Schuster.  The audience was made up of over 50 people who had been on the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Masterclass earlier in the day.  It was a very informative panel with all three panel members covering various topics such as what they are looking for in the books that are submitted to them, what they are working on, public relations and marketing along with the fact that writers should write what they are interested in and not write on trends. They also touched on short stories; the fact that as a writer you have to accept the fact that sometimes self-publishing might be the way to go for you.  The pros and cons of self publishing and being proactive. As they said, they are looking for passionate writing, writing that will stand out and books that will resonate.  Claire Squires who is the Director of the Stirling Centre for International Publishing & Communication moderated the panel. 

The opening ceremony took place at the Cowane’s Hospital with Ragnar Jonasson giving a brief opening speech along Provost Mike Robins of Stirling and along with Jenny Brown the Chair of Bloody Scotland.

©Eoin Carey

The first event of the evening was a talk between Val McDermid and Peter May which was moderated by Douglas Skelton. With over 600 people it was a fascinating to listen to them both talk about their careers and the way in which they write. It was pointed out that with crime fiction you can accomplish anything and also that the themes that were being written about today were very interesting.  Both Val McDermid and Peter May agreed that the process is always working away in their heads and that it is not a stop and start way of writing as something will always be bubbling a way at the back of your mind even if you are doing something else.  Saying that, most writers always have a love hate relationship with the process and it never gets any easier no matter how long you have been a writer.

One of the issues that came up was research and as Val McDermid pointed out you can get

© Eoin Carey

funny looks when you are doing research.  The example she gave was when she was doing research for The Mermaid Singing and having to do research on torture.  She also praised Professor Sue Black for all the help that she has given her. Peter May likewise indicated that the research help that he has been given has been invaluable.  They both agreed that it had taught them to be fearless about research and that being former journalists it helped.  As Val McDermid commented, “sometimes research buggers you up!”. 

After the event both Val McDermid and Peter May signed books for the huge queue of people that waited patiently inline.

If you didn’t get to see Whose Crime is it Anyway then you missed a treat.  Hosted by comic Hardeep Singh Kohli it saw authors Caro Ramsay, Christopher Brookmyre and Kevin Wignall improvise a new novel on the spot with some help from some props which included a spinning wheel and Katie Price’s biography.  

For my first night at Bloody Scotland I had a wonderful time.  As can be expected after the first two events most people wandered off back to the hotel bar, went and had some supper or just hung around.

I ended up going out to dinner with Craig Robertson and James Oswald which was wonderful.  So what about Saturday? Lots of things to do and the anticipation of seeing The Slice Girls in action for what may turn out to be their one and only performance.

Newcastle Noir!

Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd | Newcastle Noir – after such a popular and successful event last year, we have another crime-filled weekend for you. Workshops, walks, talks and panel discussions with some of the best crime writers around. Book early, it’s sure to fill up.

A weekend pass is available for all nine panel discussions for £40/25.

Advance payment essential.

Saturday 2nd May

10-12noon | Writing Workshop with Christiana Gregoriou, Bea Davenport and Barbara Nadel. £25/20 (includes Saturday and Sunday workshops).

11am-12pm Classic Crime Readings with Kay Hepplewhite FREE

11am-1pm Murderous Newcastle Walking Tour with Pat Lowery, Newcastle City Guide. Begins at the Castle Keep, ends at the Lit & Phil. £4.

12.30-1.30pm Panel discussion: Northern Landscapes with authors Howard Linskey, Nick Quantrill and David Mark Craig Robertson, chaired by Luca Veste £5/3

2.30-3.30pm Panel discussion: Writers in Prison with Mari Hannah, Russ Litten and Alexandra Sokoloff, chaired by Louise Ridley £5/3

4.30-5.30pm Panel discussion: Award winning crime-writers Martyn Waites and Mark Billingham in conversation £5/3

6.30-7.30pm Panel discussion: From page to screen to page with Cilla and Rolf Börjlind, Erin Kelly and Christopher Brookmyre £5/3

8.30pm-9.30pm Panel discussion: Gangsters & Gangs with Philip J. Howard, David McCaffery and Steve Wraith, chaired by Charlotte Bilby £5/3

Sunday 3rd May

10-12noon Writing Workshop with Christiana Gregoriou, William Ryan, Bea Davenport and Barbara Nadel. £25/20 (includes Saturday and Sunday workshops).

11am-1pm Murderous Newcastle Walking Tour with Pat Lowery, Newcastle City Guide. Begins at the Castle Keep, ends at the Lit & Phil. £4.

11.30am-12.30pm Panel discussion: Crime in Translation with Dominique Mannotti, Roz Schwartz, Quentin Bates and Ragnar Jónasson, chaired by Jacky Collins £5/3

1.30-2.30pm Panel discussion: Crime Authors/Creative writers with William Ryan, Bea Davenport and Barbara Nadel, chaired by M. J. MacGrath £5/3

3.30-4.30pm Panel discussion: Legal Eagles with Peter Murphy, Steve Cavanagh and Clare Donoghue, chaired by Ayo Onatade £5/3

5.30-6.30pm Victorian Villanies with Gail-Nina Anderson FREE.

7.30-8.30pm Panel discussion: New Blood with Eva Dolan, Susi Holliday, Kati Hiekkapelto and Susan Wilkins, chaired by Sarah Ward £5/3

Newcastle Noir is assisted by a grant from the Northern Rock Foundation and an anonymous donation from a French screw-making company.

To reserve your place:

Please reserve your seat by calling (0191) 232 0192, emailing library@litandphil.org.uk or by calling in.

You can also follow Newcastle Noir on Twitter @NewcastleNoir