The CWA Dagger Awards are the longest established literary awards in the UK and are internationally recognised as a mark of excellence and achievement.

This year the Daggers are being announced in two stages. The winners of the International, Short Story, Library and Debut Daggers were announced at a drinks reception held at the Tiger Tiger nightspot in London on the evening of July 15. 

The second stage see’s the CWA join forces with Specsavers, Cactus TV and ITV3 to bring you the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2009. The awards ceremony took place on Wednesday 21st October at London’s Grosvenor House and will be televised on ITV3 on Tuesday 27 October at 9pm.

Literary Awards presented will include the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year, the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller, the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger for a new author of note, and the Hall Of Fame Dagger, which honours the achievements of the genre’s greatest exponents, past and present. In addition, the evening will introduce a brand new award, the ITV3 Bestseller Dagger, sponsored by Specsavers, voted for by ITV3 viewers.

CWA Chair Margaret Murphy comments: “The Crime Writers’ Association Daggers have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over fifty years. This exciting partnership will enable us to create a mass media platform for the CWA’s proud heritage in recognising great crime writing talent.”

Please note: The Debut Dagger is a new-writing competition open to anyone writing in the English language who has not yet had a novel published commercially. The winner for 2009 was Catherine O'Keefe with "The Pathologist".

To find out more about the CWA Dagger Awards you may visit the CWA website by clicking here.

The “Daggers” name and Crossed Daggers logo ® are registered Trade Marks of the Crime Writers’ Association.