The CWA Debut Dagger

Fancy a stab at crime writing?

All these authors were short-listed for the Crime Writers’ Association’s Debut Dagger Competition. Think you’ve got what it takes to be a published author? Read on.

The 2012 Competition opened on 22 October 2011 and closed on 21 January 2012. The shortlisted entries will be announced at Crimefest in May. The overall winner will be announced at the CWA Awards ceremony in July.

Sign up for our free mailing list (see foot of page) to be emailed a newsletter every two weeks with the latest news and useful hints and tips to help you perfect your entry.

Winning the Debut Dagger doesn’t guarantee you’ll get published. But it does mean your work will be seen by leading agents and top editors, who have signed up over two dozen winners and shortlisted Debut Dagger competitors.

The Debut Dagger is open to anyone who has not yet had a novel published commercially. All shortlisted entrants will receive a generous selection of crime novels and professional assessments of their entries. The first prize is £700 plus two tickets to the CWA Awards.

Building on success

The string of successes below has been joined – some would say capped – by Belinda Bauer. Having been Highly Commended in the 2008 Debut Dagger competition, Belinda’s first novel Blacklands won the 2010 CWA Gold Dagger, and was selected for More4 television’s book club.

Inaugural winner Joolz Denby was short-listed in 2005 for the Orange Prize for Fiction, while 2001 winner Ed Wright was awarded the 2005 Shamus award for best P.I. novel by the Private Eye Writers of America. Allan Guthrie won the 2007 Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year for Two Way Split, developed from his entry shortlisted in 2001. Barbara Cleverly, shortlisted in 1999, won the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger award in 2004. Louise Penny, highly commended by the judges of the 2004 Debut Dagger, was awarded the 2006 CWA New Blood Dagger. Whilst Orion will publish I’m Half-sick of Shadows in November 2011 – the fourth book in the popular Flavia de Luce series by our 2007 winner Alan Bradley.

Follow this link to find out how to enter the competition. To receive regular reminders of the competition deadline, as well as useful hints and tips, sign up for our free mailing list. There's a form at the foot of this page. More help and guidance can be found on our What to Write and Style Guide pages, and in the mailing list archive. If you have any questions, please first check the frequently asked questions page to see if your query is answered there.