CWA Dagger awards announced; Australian author wins Debut Dagger for an unpublished writer

Australian writer Mark Brandi has won the Debut Dagger for an unpublished writer at this year’s Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger awards in the UK.

Brandi was recognised for his manuscript ‘Wimmera’, which explores the ‘dark underbelly of Australian rural life’. Brandi’s writing has appeared in numerous literary journals and been broadcast on Radio National.

The winners were also announced in a number of other categories. US first-time author Bill Beverly picked up the Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year and the New Blood Dagger for best debut crime novel for his book Dodgers (No Exit Press)—‘a modern and deadly Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn road journey from the ghettos of Los Angeles to the heart of the US midwest’.

Don Winslow won the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best crime thriller of the year for The Cartel (Arrow), Andrew Hankinson won the Gold Dagger for Nonfiction for You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat] (Scribe), David Young’s Stasi Child (Zaffre Publishing) won the Endeavour Historical Dagger for best historical crime novel, and Pierre Lemaître’s The Great Swindle (trans by Frank Wynne, MacLehose Press) was awarded the International Dagger for the best crime novel not originally written in English.

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, Australian author Tim Baker was shortlisted for the New Blood Dagger for his ‘multi-stranded new examination of the JFK assassination’ Fever City (Faber).

To see the full list of winners, click here.

Category: Awards Local news