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Last week, we announced the shortlists for the CWA Daggers - the genre's most respected awards. The story went far and wide thanks to support from the Press Association, syndicating…
Last week, we announced the shortlists for the CWA Daggers – the genre’s most respected awards. The story went far and wide thanks to support from the Press Association, syndicating the news across the UK, as well as featuring in trade bible, The Bookseller, and influential crime writing blogs. We’ll be announcing the winners on behalf of the CWA this October.
Full release below…
CWA Dagger Awards 2020 Shortlists Announced
The 2020 shortlists for the prestigious CWA Dagger awards, 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.
Mick Herron’s Joe Country, Claire Askew’s What You Pay For and Lou Berney’s November Road are all in contention for the CWA Gold Dagger, awarded to the best crime novel. November Road is also on the shortlist for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the best thriller, up against One Way Out by AA Dhand, Between Two Evils by Eva Dolan and the Richard and Judy pick The Whisper Man by Alex North.
Linda Stratmann, Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: “As the CWA Daggers are unmatched for their reputation and longevity, these shortlists offer a showcase of the finest writing in crime fiction and non-fiction. They reveal the remarkable variety and huge relevance of the genre, which continues to dominate book sales and to shape our cultural landscape.”
The much-anticipated John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger highlights the best debut novels. Among the six shortlisted debuts are Little White Lies by Philippa East, acclaimed as ‘unputdownable’, and Trevor Wood, who served in the Royal Navy for 16 years, makes the list with The Man on the Street, featuring a homeless veteran grappling with PTSD, dubbed by Lee Child as ‘an instant classic’.
Abir Mukherjee’s Death in the East is not only shortlisted for the Gold Dagger but also the Sapere Books Historical Dagger. He contends with Metropolis, completed just before Philip Kerr’s untimely death and SG Maclean, who won the Dagger last year for Destroying Angel; she returns with The Bear Pit.
The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger shortlist features Finland’s acclaimed and award-winning writer, Antti Tuomainen, with Little Siberia translated by David Hackston. The king of Helsinki noir is up against Marion Brunet, the winner of the prestigious Grand Prix de Littérature policière in 2018, whose novel Summer of Reckoning is translated by Katherine Gregor.
The CWA Daggers are one of the few high-profile awards that honour the short story.
Syd Moore, who was shortlisted in the category in 2019, returns with her short story “Easily Made” in 12 Strange Days of Christmas. Paul Finch, a former cop and journalist turned bestselling crime writer, sees his short story “The New Lad” (published in the anthology Exit Wounds) make the shortlist. They are up against established authors including Christopher Fowler, author of over fifty novels and short-story collections, and the blockbuster American mystery writer Jeffery Deaver, who won the Short Story Dagger in 2004.
The shortlist for the ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction includes 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. Also on the shortlist is Caroline Goode for Honour: Achieving Justice for Banaz Mahmod. It’s the heart-breaking true story of Banaz Mahmod, the young Londoner murdered by her own family for falling in love with the wrong man, adapted for TV starring Keeley Hawes as Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode.
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’s shortlisted nominees are Christopher Brookmyre, Jane Casey, Alex Gray and Quintin Jardine.
One of the anticipated highlights of the awards is the Debut Dagger competition, open to unknown and uncontracted writers. Settings for the shortlisted novels are varied and range from modern-day America, rural Australia, an organic farm near Bern, 2011 Cuba, a contemporary offshore oil platform and sixteenth century Orkney.
This year also features the Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger, launched in 2019, which celebrates publishers and imprints demonstrating excellence and diversity in crime writing.
The winners of the 2020 Daggers will be announced at an awards ceremony, due to take place on 22 October.
The Shortlists in Full:
GOLD DAGGER
Claire Askew: What You Pay For (Hodder & Stoughton)
Lou Berney: November Road (Harper Fiction)
John Fairfax: Forced Confessions (Little, Brown)
Mick Herron: Joe Country (John Murray)
Abir Mukherjee: Death in the East (Harvill Secker)
Michael Robotham: Good Girl, Bad Girl (Sphere)
IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER
Tom Chatfield: This is Gomorrah (Hodder & Stoughton)
AA Dhand: One Way Out (Bantam Press)
Eva Dolan: Between Two Evils (Raven Books)
David Koepp: Cold Storage (HQ)
Alex North: The Whisper Man (Michael Joseph)
JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER
Steph Cha: Your House Will Pay (Faber & Faber)
Samantha Downing: My Lovely Wife (Michael Joseph)
Philippa East: Little White Lies (HQ)
Robin Morgan-Bentley: The Wreckage (Trapeze)
Trevor Wood: The Man on the Street (Quercus Fiction)
SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER
Alis Hawkins: In Two Minds (The Dome Press)
Philip Kerr: Metropolis (Quercus Fiction)
SG MacLean: The Bear Pit (Quercus Fiction)
Alex Reeve: The Anarchists’ Club (Raven Books)
Ovidia Yu: The Paper Bark Tree Mystery (Constable)
CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER
Marion Brunet: Summer of Reckoning, translated by Katherine Gregor (Bitter Lemon Press)
Hannelore Cayre: The Godmother, translated by Stephanie Smee (Old Street Publishing)
K Ferrari: Like Flies from Afar, translated by Adrian Nathan West (Canongate Books)
Jorge Galán: November, translated by Jason Wilson (Constable)
Sergio Olguín: The Fragility of Bodies, translated by Miranda France (Bitter Lemon Press)
Antti Tuomainen: Little Siberia, translated by David Hackston (Orenda Books)
SHORT STORY DAGGER
Jeffery Deaver: The Bully in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
Paul Finch: The New Lad in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
Christopher Fowler: The Washing in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)
Lauren Henderson: #Me Too in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)
Louise Jensen: The Recipe in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
Syd Moore: Easily Made in 12 Strange Days of Christmas (Point Blank Press)
ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION
Casey Cep: Furious Hours (William Heinemann)
Peter Everett: Corrupt Bodies (Icon Books)
Caroline Goode: Honour: Achieving Justice for Banaz Mahmod (Oneworld Publications)
Sean O’Connor: The Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury (Simon & Schuster)
Adam Sisman: The Professor and the Parson: A Story of Desire, Deceit and Defrocking (Profile Books)
Susannah Stapleton: The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective (Picador)
DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY
Christopher Brookmyre
Jane Casey
Alex Gray
Quintin Jardine
DEBUT DAGGER
Anna Caig: The Spae-Wife
Leanne Fry: Whipstick
Kim Hays: Pesticide
Nicholas Morrish: Emergency Drill
Josephine Moulds: Revolution Never Lies
Michael Munro: Bitter Lake
PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER
Bitter Lemon Press
Harvill Secker
Head of Zeus
HQ
Michael Joseph
Orenda
Raven Books
Severn House
ENDS
For further media info please contact Ann Chadwick, ann@causeuk.com M: 07534 892715.
Notes to Editors
About the CWA
The CWA was founded in 1953 by John Creasey. Its aim is to support, promote and celebrate this most durable, adaptable and successful of genres and the authors who write within it.
It holds the prestigious CWA Dagger Awards, which celebrate the best in crime writing, hosted every autumn.
A thriving, growing community with a membership encompassing authors of all ages and at all stages of their careers, the CWA is UK-based, yet attracts many members from overseas.
It supports author members (plus literary agents, publishers, bloggers and editors) with a monthly magazine; a digital monthly newsletter showcasing CWA authors and their books and events that goes to over 11,500 subscribers; and Case Files, a bimonthly ezine highlighting new books by CWA members. www.thecra.co.uk
The CWA also supports the Debuts; as yet unpublished writers, many of whom enter the Debut Dagger competition and the Margery Allingham Short Mystery competition.
In normal times, the CWA runs an annual conference and holds chapter meetings throughout the UK so members can access face-to-face networking and socialising.
It supports libraries and booksellers, with two Library Champions and a Booksellers Champion. It has links with various festivals and many other writers’ organisations such as the Society of Authors.
https://thecwa.co.uk/
CWA Dagger Judging Panels
All the panels are independent of the CWA. The full lists of judging panels can be found at https://thecwa.co.uk/the-daggers
The 2020 CWA Dagger longlist is available on the CWA website.
CWA Daggers – The Categories
This award is for the best crime novel by an author of any nationality. It was originally created in 1955, under the name of the Crossed Red Herrings Award. It was renamed the Gold Dagger in 1960.
Eligible books in this category are thrillers set in any period and include, but are not limited to, spy fiction, psychological thrillers and action/adventure stories.
This award is for the best crime novel by a first-time author of any nationality.
CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION
This award is for a crime novel not originally written in English and which has been translated into English for UK publication.
This award is for any non-fiction work on a crime-related theme by an author of any nationality.
This award is for the best historical crime novel, set in any period up to 50 years prior to the year in which the award will be made.
CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER
This award is for any crime short story first published in the UK in English in a publication that pays for contributions, or broadcast in the UK in return for payment.
The Dagger in the Library is a prize for a body of work by an established crime writer who has long been popular with borrowers from libraries, and who has supported libraries and their users. Librarians nominate the authors.
A competition for the opening of a crime novel and synopsis, chosen by judges: bestselling author Leigh Russell, editor Stephanie Glencross (of Jane Gregory/ David Higham Associates), Editorial Director at Bonnier Zaffre Katherine Armstrong, and director of literary agency A.M. Heath and Co. Oli Munson.
This prestigious Dagger is awarded annually to the Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year.
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.
To view past winners, or find out more, please visit https://thecwa.co.uk/the-daggers
Dagger Sponsors
ALCS – Sponsors of the Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction
The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a not-for-profit organisation started by writers for the benefit of all types of writers. Owned by its members, ALCS collects money due for secondary uses of writers’ work. It is designed to support authors and their creativity; ensure they receive fair payment and see their rights are respected. It promotes and teaches the principles of copyright and campaigns for a fair deal. It represents over 100,000 members, and since 1977 has paid around £500 million to writers (alcs.co.uk).
Ian Fleming Publications Ltd – Sponsors of the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger
Ian Fleming Publications Ltd is the Fleming family-owned company that looks after the James Bond literary brand, by promoting and making available all of Ian Fleming’s 007 books across the world. They also keep the brand alive through the publication of new stories by authors such as Anthony Horowitz, William Boyd, Jeffery Deaver, Sebastian Faulks, Raymond Benson, John Gardner, Kingsley Amis, Samantha Weinberg, Steve Cole and Charlie Higson. Alongside James Bond publishing, the company also manages the rights for Fleming’s two non-fiction books and his only children’s book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Sapere Books – Sponsors of the CWA Historical Dagger
Sapere Books is a digital-first publisher with a keen interest in historical and contemporary crime fiction and thrillers. Having launched in March 2018, Sapere Books now has many authors signed to its list and continues expanding. It is always keen to hear from crime writers, particularly those who are working on a planned series, or who have out-of-print titles which could be reissued digitally.