New Blood for CWA Daggers with Awards’ Sponsorship

 

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers – the genre’s oldest and most famous awards - has announced two new sponsors.

The 2025 Dagger Awards sees the editorial consultancy Fiction Feedback sponsor the Emerging Author Dagger, and Morgen Witzel sponsor the Historical Dagger in memory of his wife, Dr Marilyn Livingstone.

One of the UK’s most prominent writers’ societies, the CWA was founded by the prolific author John Creasey in 1953. In 1956, it hosted its first awards ceremony for the best crime book of the year, which went to Winston Graham, best known for Poldark. Agatha Christie was the principal guest.

The prestigious Dagger awards celebrate the best in crime writing, with 13 Dagger Awards in total, including the highest honour in crime writing - the CWA Diamond Dagger - which recognises careers marked by sustained excellence. Recipients over the years include PD James, Ruth Rendell, Colin Dexter, John Le Carré, Lee Child, Ann Cleeves, Ian Rankin, and Martina Cole.

Fiction Feedback was established in 2008 by editor Dea Parkin, the CWA’s secretary then coordinator for eight years. Her guiding principle is to provide exceptionally helpful services to writers, while properly rewarding her stable of freelance editors for their expertise. As a result, writers return for Fiction Feedback critiques and editing year after year.

Dea said: “The CWA and the wonderful crime writers they support have helped me to pursue the career of my dreams: editing fiction and helping talented writers get published. It’s an honour to give something back by supporting the Emerging Author Dagger as a sponsor, as well as continuing the best role in the world as the CWA’s Competitions Coordinator.”

The Emerging Author Dagger (formerly the Debut Dagger) is an international competition, open to any unpublished author in the world writing in English. The competition has been running for over 20 years, and helps launch careers. To date, agents and editors have signed over two dozen winners and shortlisted Emerging Author competitors.

Morgen Witzel is a writer and lecturer. Together with Marilyn Livingstone, writing under the pen names A.J. MacKenzie and R.L. Graham, they wrote thirteen historical crime novels and thrillers, set in locations as diverse as Europe in the Middle Ages, Romney Marsh during the era of smuggling, the Canadian frontier in the War of 1812 and the last fatal voyage of the Lusitania.

Under their own names, they also wrote two works of historical non-fiction analysing the battles of Crécy and Poitiers. Separately, Morgen teaches ethics and leadership at the University of Exeter Business School and is the author of numerous books and articles on these and other subjects.

Morgan said: “I am sponsoring the Historical Dagger in memory of Dr Marilyn Livingstone, historian, writer, musician, and composer, who passed away in September 2023. Marilyn and I were married for 43 years, during which time we wrote fifteen books together and planned many more. Her death from cancer at the age of 63 was far too soon, and robbed the world of a renaissance woman whose talents had really begun to shine. I hope that this award will help to preserve her memory.”

Other sponsors of the awards include the family-owned company that looks after the James Bond literary brand, Ian Fleming Publications, which backs the CWA’s Ian Fleming Steel Dagger.

The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), a not-for profit organisation that supports authors to receive fair payment, sponsor the Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction.

Sponsors of the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger is the intellectual property specialists, International Literary Properties (ILP).

The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger is sponsored by former CWA chair, Maxim Jakubowski, in honour of his wife Dolores Jakubowski, who was a translator and university lecturer but now suffers from Alzheimer’s.

The CWA is keen to hear from other individuals or organisations with an interest in sponsoring a Dagger.

Heather Fitt, co-ordinator at the CWA, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to Dea Parkin and Morgen Witzel for their support for 2025’s Dagger Awards. As a members’ organisation, the support of authors and organisations who work in the genre is crucial. It helps us deliver these prestigious annual awards, which in turn puts new and emerging authors on the map, as well as celebrating established talent.”

The CWA’s founding aims were to provide a social network, as well as help crime writers with business matters. Today, the CWA’s determination to promote the genre remains central to its mission.

Nominations for the 2025’s Daggers are now open.

For more information go to: The CWA Daggers - The Crime Writers’ Association

Judging the Daggers: an insider’s view

Earlier on this year I wrote an article for the CWA Red Herring Magazine about being a Dagger Judge and judging books for book awards in general. I have decided to put it up on the blog. I hope that it gives some insight into what judging books for awards entails. Comments welcome.

Book awards are fantastic things and authors love winning them, but what about those people who judge the award? How do they feel about the pressure that is on them?

Being a judge for a book award is an honour, and as someone who has judged the CWA Short Story Dagger among other awards I have enjoyed it immensely. However, judging a book award is not an easy job as there are tough decisions to be made. Be prepared to have your views challenged and your taste in books widened.

When judging a book award there are various things to bear in mind. 

• What you like, others may not and vice versa. You have to broaden your horizons as you are bound to read a book which you find disappointing but others think is wonderful. 

• Do not pre-judge the book because you’ve read a negative or positive review. Approach it with your mind as a blank slate.

• Consider the sense of place, characterisation and plot. Do you still think about the book after you’ve finished reading it?

And this is what we’re looking for in the books submitted:

- Immersion in a different milieu
- Originality of approach
- Fresh dialogue/descriptive power
- Demonstration of trust in the reader’s imagination
- Well-written prose that’s consistent in holding readers’ attention

Whichever author wins the award has won because their book stood out to all the judges. Nevertheless, just as with readers, every judge's taste in books is different, which is why when the longlist and shortlist are revealed there’s always an eclectic mix of books.

Just because it is a popular book does not make it a well-written book and just because it is a well-written book does not make it a popular book. Nor are judges swayed by the popularity of an author: it is entirely about the book; every book is judged on its merit.

I found that judging awards takes a lot of commitment; commitment of time and more – you have to love crime so much that you’re prepared to spend a lot of time reading books that take you out of your comfort zone.

The Dagger judges operate entirely independently from the CWA and are made up of booksellers, reviewers, librarians, journalists and readers who are fascinated by the genre. The CWA committee has no say in the decisions over what books win, nor do they have any say in the books that are submitted. The judges can only read the books that are submitted or which they call in. The onus is on the publishers to submit their books. No author has any say at all in the composition of the judges for each Dagger; our Daggers Liaison Officer takes the lead in that. 

Aside from the Chair of each judging panel, the judges change every three years. Judges enjoy a meal on the CWA at the final judging meeting.

No one takes on the role of Dagger judge for such benefits. It’s done for the pleasure of being part of the most prestigious book awards in the world. It’s also exciting; I found myself immersed in a genre that is constantly changing. I’ve been reading crime for over 40 years, and getting the chance to give back to the genre that has brought me so much pleasure was very satisfying. It also helped me to fully appreciate the hard work of those at the heart of the awards - the authors.

Ayo 

Former Chair of Judges of the CWA Short Story Dagger 

 

Countdown to the Daggers!!

Tickets are available from today (Thurs 15 Oct) for the virtual awards ceremony of the 2020 Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers, which honour the very best in crime writing.

The oldest awards in the genre, the CWA Daggers have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century. The awards take place live via Zoom webinar on Thursday 22 October from 7.30pm.

The night is compered by book reviewer, author and journalist Barry Forshaw, one of the UK’s leading experts on crime fiction. Guest speaker will be TV presenter and Pointless creator, Richard Osman, whose debut The Thursday Murder Club became a record-breaking Sunday Times number one bestseller.

Barry Forshaw said: “The Daggers are one of the annual highlights in the literary calendar. The crime writing and reading community is famed for its convivial events, and although virtual, we still promise an entertaining and engaging evening for these Oscars of the crime genre.”

Winners of the Daggers – including the Gold for best crime novel, the Ian Fleming Steel for best thriller, the ALCS Gold for Non-fiction, the John Creasey (New Blood) for first-time authors, and the Sapere Books Historical Dagger – will be announced on the night.

Shortlisted authors for the 10 coveted Daggers include Mick Herron, Eva Dolan, Abir Mukherjee, Casey Cep and Christopher Brookmyre. The awards also feature the Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year and the Dagger in the Library, voted exclusively by librarians, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries. The winner of the Debut Dagger will also be announced – a competition for unpublished writers which can lead to them securing representation and a publishing contract.

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.

Tickets are free, but limited. To book a place, visit:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cwa-dagger-awards-2020-tickets-123647704613

The Shortlists in Full:

GOLD DAGGER

What You Pay For by Claire Askew (Hodder & Stoughton)

November Road by Lou Berney (Harper Fiction)

Forced Confessions by John Fairfax (Little, Brown)

Joe Country by Mick Herron (John Murray)

Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)

Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham (Sphere)

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

November Road by Lou Berney (Harper Fiction)

This is Gomorrah by Tom Chatfield (Hodder & Stoughton)

One Way Out by AA Dhand (Bantam Press)

Between Two Evils by Eva Dolan(Raven Books)

Cold Storage by David Koepp (HQ)

The Whisper Man by Alex North (Michael Joseph)

JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha (Faber & Faber)

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing (Michael Joseph)

Little White Lies by Philippa East (HQ)

The Wreckage by Robin Morgan-Bentley (Trapeze)

The Man on the Street by Trevor Wood (Quercus Fiction)

SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER

In Two Minds by Alis Hawkins(The Dome Press)

Metropolis by Philip Kerr (Quercus Fiction)

The Bear Pit by SG MacLean (Quercus Fiction)

Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)

The Anarchists’ Club by Alex Reeve (Raven Books)

The Paper Bark Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu (Constable)

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

Summer of Reckoning by Marion Brunet, translated by Katherine Gregor (Bitter Lemon Press)

The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre, translated by Stephanie Smee (Old Street Publishing)

Like Flies from Afar by K Ferrari, translated by Adrian Nathan West (Canongate Books)

November by Jorge Galán, translated by Jason Wilson (Constable)

The Fragility of Bodies by Sergio Olguín, translated by Miranda France (Bitter Lemon Press)

Little Siberia by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston (Orenda Books)

SHORT STORY DAGGER

The Bully by Jeffery Deaver, in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)

The New Lad by Paul Finch, in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)

The Washing by Christopher Fowler, in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)

#Me Too by Lauren Henderson, in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)

The Recipe by Louise Jensen, in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)

Easily Made by Syd Moore, in 12 Strange Days of Christmas (Point Blank Press)

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Furious Hours by Casey Cep (William Heinemann)

Corrupt Bodies by Peter Everett (Icon Books)

Honour: Achieving Justice for Banaz Mahmod by Caroline Goode (Oneworld Publications)

The Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury by Sean O’Connor (Simon & Schuster)

The Professor and the Parson: A Story of Desire, Deceit and Defrocking by Adam Sisman (Profile Books)

The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective by Susannah Stapleton (Picador)

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Christopher Brookmyre

Jane Casey

Alex Gray

Quintin Jardine

DEBUT DAGGER

The Spae-Wife by Anna Caig

Whipstick by Leanne Fry

Pesticide by Kim Hays

Emergency Drill by Nicholas Morrish

Revolution Never Lies by Josephine Moulds

Bitter Lake by Michael Munro

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER

Bitter Lemon Press

Harvill Secker

Head of Zeus

HQ

Michael Joseph

Orenda

Raven Books

Severn House

Sam Hawken's Tequila Sunset

Today’s guest blog is by author Sam Hawken.  His first novel The Dead Women of Juárez was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Dagger. Sam Hawken is a former historian and a native of Texas who now lives on the east coast of the United States.  Tequila Sunset is his second novel.

Try to imagine, if you will, a city of 1.3 million people built around a once-thriving industrial sector.  Imagine, however, that the city is plagued with rampant unemployment and, worse yet, an unbelievable murder rate that kills five to ten people a day.  Imagine, too, that these murders have a one percent chance of being resolved by the police.

There’s kidnapping, too.  And drug use.  And thuggish tactics by a heavily armed police force that occupies the city like an army.  Sometimes innocent people come under fire from those cops because the good guys can’t tell the innocents from the crooks.  Imagine a city that’s rotting away from all this crime.  That city is Ciudad Juárez, a border town in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

Directly across the Rio Grande, literally just yards away, is El Paso, Texas.  This city has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.  In fact, it’s been called the safest city in the United States.  Occasionally bullets from Ciudad Juárez will strike buildings (or people) on the American side, but for the most part El Paso represents an entirely different world.

Back in 2011, Serpent’s Tail released a book of mine called The Dead Women of Juárez.  In it, I discussed the ongoing problem of the feminicidios, or female homicides, a phenomenon that has made the city infamous.  I chose not to discuss the outrageous violence rampaging through Juárez’s streets in favor of a more personal story about loss and tragic injustice, but I always knew that eventually I would return to tell a more complete tale.  That idea turned into Tequila Sunset, another Serpent’s Tail release scheduled for November 2012.

Who is responsible for all this violence?  The easy answer is the Sinaloa and Juárez drug cartels, both of which are locked in a death struggle for domination of the Juárez “plaza,” or smuggling route.  But the masters of these cartels don’t just snap their fingers to make people die.  To execute their orders — and I do mean execute — they have recruited the numbers of various gangs in the city, armed them with high-powered weapons and set them loose on one another.  They go by the names La Línea, Los Artistas Asesinos, Los Mexicles, Barrio Azteca.

Evidence suggests that the Sinaloa Cartel is winning the war in Ciudad Juárez, but despite that fact, the most violent gang in the city operates under the aegis of the Juárez Cartel: Barrio Azteca, or Los Aztecas as they are known in Mexico.  A prison gang formed in Texas in 1986, Barrio Azteca took hold of the drug trade in El Paso and rapidly metastasized into Ciudad Juárez.  At the time when I began writing Tequila Sunset, it was estimated that Barrio Azteca was responsible for 85% of the murders in Juárez.  Try to wrap your head around that statistic.

I wanted to know: how could two cities, El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, be so interdependent and yet so markedly different?  As El Paso grew more peaceful, Juárez grew exponentially more violent.  Police in El Paso cracked down on Barrio Azteca and all but drove them off the streets completely, while Los Aztecas across the border went on a killing rampage unparalleled in criminal history.

To this end I came up with a story with three characters.  One, a cop assigned to the gang unit in El Paso.  A second, a Mexican policeman pursuing Los Aztecas in Juárez.  The third, a Barrio Azteca member dangerously balanced between both worlds and looking for a way out.

The Dead Women of Juárez took place exclusively in Ciudad Juárez, but Tequila Sunset spends most of its time in El Paso.  It’s naïve to think that crime has truly vanished in that city, especially when it thrives across the border, so I wanted to explore how groups like Barrio Azteca have largely learned to exist underground, still going about their business, but subtly.  It takes a cleverer cop to root out these smarter, cannier gang members, whereas on the Mexican side it requires little more than the application of brute force.

My characters could not just be archetypes, however.  They had to be people.  El Paso and Ciudad Juárez are populated by every sort of person, good and bad and a mixture of both.  They have lives and family and crises that do not just revolve around cops and robbers.  I tried very hard with The Dead Women of Juárez to depict realistically the kind of people who persevere through this kind of existence and I wanted to bring that sensibility to Tequila Sunset.  Whether I succeeded is a matter of conjecture.

As for Ciudad Juárez and El Paso in a civic sense, both cities continue to survive despite of their wildly disparate experiences with crime.  Juárez may be dying, but El Paso thrives.  Which city is feeding off which?  What does it mean if El Paso has truly exported its crime problem to Mexico to let their overwhelmed authorities deal with it?

My work is called crime fiction because it deals with that side of life, but I like to think that I’m writing in a broader sense with crime as the linchpin.  It really is impossible to discuss these two cities and their citizens without addressing the issue of crime in some way or another, but it’s my hope that readers of Tequila Sunset or my earlier book will come to see them as human stories of which crime is a part, but not the whole.  I was called a mystery writer once, but to me the only mystery in my books is how these people handle the intense pressures under which they’re placed.  I know that if I were living in Ciudad Juárez I would be too afraid to set foot outside my doorstep for fear that I would be killed or kidnapped, and yet life continues, even for those whose job it is to step into the line of fire.  In El Paso, where it is so much safer, one’s thoughts must still return to the hell that lurks on the far side of the river.  Maybe you’d try to do something to help.  Maybe you’d turn away.  In either case, you’d be forced to make a decision, like my characters are forced to make decisions.  That’s what Tequila Sunset is all about.  I hope readers feel I’ve done a fair job of it.